The Guild Awards is an annual event designed to recognise and celebrate the achievements of LeedsCAN groups who have put on live performances throughout the year. The adjudications programme on which the Awards are based is designed to give constructive criticism and help groups to constantly improve all facets of their shows, as well as identify cases of exceptional performance.
More information on the Guild Awards can be found below, Programme and Nominees for 2018 can be found at the link.
The Guild Awards, originally named for Leeds Civic Arts Guild and now the end-product of each year’s Adjudications Guild, aims to give recognition to excellence on and off-stage. A team of adjudicators attends every show and gives constructive criticism as well as a score for each aspect of a performance.
LIGHTING
COSTUMES, HAIR & MAKEUP
PROPS, SCENERY & PROJECTIONS
SOUND
MUSICAL DIRECTION / ORCHESTRA / BAND
VOCAL PROJECTION
ACTING
SINGING
DIRECTION, CHOREOGRAPHY & MOVEMENT
OVERALL PRODUCTION / ENTERTAINMENT VALUE
Joining the LeedsCAN Adjudications Panel can be very rewarding, seeing what all the societies are up to and having the opportunity to attend a number of shows that you might not necessarily have seen. An adjudicator will typically be asked to see two or three shows per season (for free!) and write their report within a fortnight.
If you are interested in joining the LeedsCAN Adjudications Panel, please email james.sidgwick@leedscan.org.uk
THE PERFORMANCE AWARDS
For each show the adjudication team identifies individuals who have given exceptional performances and nominates them for one of the performance awards. All the nominations are counted, and the person with the most wins the award. This means that everyone who was nominated gave an amazing performance.
CHRIS FOX COMEDY AWARD
A special award, open to both musical and dramatic productions. This award was created for us to honour a performer who played a particularly comedic role, without upstaging other characters or being self-indulgent; and who displayed excellent comedic timing.
TONY HOYLAND YOUTH AWARD
This award is for an exceptional young person who has gone above and beyond for their society not just on the stage, but off stage too. This is an award to honour the commitment, innovation and energy that can be brought by an outstanding young person.
FREDA MCHALE TROPHY FOR COMMITMENT IN A NON-ACTING ROLE
We all appreciate the massive commitment every production and project takes to achieve. Nothing would be possible without the many amazing volunteers we have across our societies. This award honours those who are tireless in their commitment, but rarely seen in the lights.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
The Outstanding Achievement Award honours a lifetime of commitment an individual has provided to their society. Nominated by their own society, this award is a very special achievement.
SYBIL JENKINS TROPHY FOR BEST VISUAL PRESENTATION
The show which achieved the highest marks in Lighting, Costumes, Hair, Makeup, Props, Scenery, Projections and Sound combined. We honour the visual wizardy that societies create.
PEARL BAXTER ROSE BOWL FOR BEST PLAY
JOYCE MOWER ROSE BOWL FOR BEST MUSICAL
The play and musical which achieved the highest marks overall. These awards celebrate direction, musical direction, choreography and all the other elements of a show working together in harmony. These are awards a society should be extremely proud of.
Tonight was amazing/rubbish! How can I get involved in organising next year’s Guild Awards?!
Just drop an email to guildawards@leedscan.org.uk with the subject “GUILD AWARDS 2019” and tell us how you’d like to be involved and we’ll make sure you’re informed every step of the way
LAC, LIDOS and Leeds G&S were featured this evening, how can I get my society to perform next year?
We’d love to see all the societies perform every year! Just drop us an email to guildawards@leedscan.org.uk and we’ll add you to the list! Pieces should be no longer than about five minutes.
Do you ever do multi-group collaborative pieces that aren’t from musicals?
At the moment the strengths of the LeedsCAN Guild Awards Creative Team lie in musical theatre as we don’t have anyone from a purely dramatic background. If you’re able to lend your time and skills to making it happen, we want to hear from you!
I disagree with the winner of XYZ.
Not strictly a question, but we get what you’re trying to say. The adjudications guidelines state that regardless of whether an adjudicator likes the material or not, the performance should be judged objectively on the aspects listed above. If scores are wildly different between two adjudicators, this is immediately flagged and discussed.
Why is this programme so bright? It’s hard to read in this dark auditorium!
Scroll up and download the official programme! (It’s got a dark background)
I’m looking at this web page from a desktop computer and the layout of the Nominees table is really shonky. How can I fix it?
It’s not broken, it’s designed primarily for use on a mobile phone or a tablet. If you’re on desktop, please download the official programme PDF above.
Please can you feature my business in the programme?
Of course! If you help us out that is – we’re very grateful to the businesses who have helped us this year. We don’t make any profit, and if we ever find we have surplus money it is put straight back into the community.