Perennial front-runner Diamond Head Theatre emerged as the biggest winner once again when the Hawaii State Theatre Council announced the recipients of the 2010 Po’okela Awards last night at the Koolau Golf Club.

DHT received 27 awards spread across 15 of the 22 categories, with its spring production of “Guys and Dolls” accounting for eight of them. Manoa Valley Theatre and The Actors Group tied for second place in the awards tally with 17 each. Productions by All The World’s A Stage, Army Community Theatre, Hawaii Pacific University, the Hawaii Shakespeare Festival, ’Ohi’a Productions and the Paliku Theatre also received awards.

Three other community theater groups — Honolulu Theatre for Youth, Kumu Kahua and the University of Hawaii at Manoa theater program — choose not to participate in the Po’okela Awards.

Under the awards process, each judge independently selects two honorees in each category. This ensures a minimum of two honorees per category and a maximum of six.

Brett Harwood’s precedent-setting production of “The Threepenny Opera” accounted for five of Army Community Theatre’s six awards. The show was one of four honorees for Overall Musical and also earned awards for Larry Paxton (Leading Male), Daniel Sakimura (Lighting Design) and two for Harwood (Director and Set Design).

Manoa Valley Theatre’s season-ending production of “Once Upon One Time” received six awards, including Overall Musical, with the sophisticated musical comedy “Forbidden Broadway SVU” earning the troupe another five Po’okelas. MVT’s bowdlerized version of “Hair” won two awards: Featured Male in a Musical to Braddoc DeCaires for his performance as a transvestite, and Hair, Make-up and Wig Design to Greg Howell. The award was one of three Howell received in that category, all for his work at MVT.

Several other people won multiple awards. Mikel Humerickhouse received three for sound design at Diamond Head Theatre; Katherine Jones got two for choreography at MVT; Elitei Tatafu Jr., also was honored with two Po’okelas for his work as a director at MVT; and Emmett Yoshioka was recognized for his work as musical director in two DHT’s productions, “Guys and Dolls” and “White Christmas.”

DHT artistic director John Rampage received awards in two categories, as he was honored for his performance as the male lead in “The Drowsy Chaperone” and for directing “White Christmas.” Michelle Hurtibise became a two-category winner with nods for her acting in “The Shape of Things” and “Richard II.”

2010 Po’okela Awards

(ATWAS, All The World’s A Stage; ACT, Army Community Theatre; DHT, Diamond Head Theatre; HPU, Hawaii Pacific University; HSF, Hawaii Shakespeare Festival; MVT, Manoa Valley Theatre; ’Ohi’a, ‘Ohi‘a Productions; Paliku, Paliku Theatre; TAG, The Actors Group.)

» Leading Male in a Play: Todd Coolidge, “Sleuth,” MVT; Russell Motter, “November,” TAG; Allan Okubo, “Miso,” TAG.
» Leading Female in a Play: Betty Burdick, “Happy Days,” TAG; Michelle Hurtibise, “The Shape Of Things,” ATWAS; Jessica Y.L. Ka‘uhane, “Miso,” TAG; Danielle Vivarttas-Ahrnsbrak, “Richard II,” HSF.
» Featured Male in a Play: Reb Beau Allen, “The Shape Of Things,” ATWAS; William Ammons, “The Piano Lesson,” TAG; Eric Nemoto, “Miso,” TAG; Ryan Sueoka, “Merry Wives of Windsor,” HSF.
» Featured Female in a Play: Michelle Boudreau, “The Shape of Things,” ATWAS; Elissa Dulce, “Miso,” TAG; Michelle Hurtibise, “Richard II,” HSF.
» Leading Male in a Musical: Larry Paxton, “The Threepenny Opera,” ACT; John Rampage, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” DHT; Buz Tennent, “The Sound of Music,” DHT.
» Leading Female in a Musical: Aubrey Lee Glover, “Guys and Dolls,” DHT; Sarah Halford, “The Sound of Music,” DHT; Pomai Lopez, “Once Upon One Time, ” MVT; Lydia Pusateri, “Guys and Dolls,” DHT.
» Featured Male in a Musical: Braddoc DeCaires, “Hair,” MVT; Kyle Malis, “Guys and Dolls,” DHT; Jim Price, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” DHT; Johnathan Reed, “Guys and Dolls,” DHT.
» Featured Female in a Musical: Tori Anguay, “West Side Story,” Paliku; Nicole Chaffin, “The Sound of Music,” DHT; Lisa Konove, “White Christmas,” DHT.
» Ensemble, Play: “Joy Luck Club,” DHT; “The Night of January 16th,” TAG; “Pericles,” HSF; “Topdog/Underdog,” TAG.
» Ensemble, Musical: “Forbidden Broadway SVU,” MVT; “Shout!” DHT.
» Director, Play: R. Kevin Doyle, “Pericles,” HSF; Joyce Maltby, “Quiptease,” HPU; Tony Pisculli. “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” HSF; Harry Wong III, Topdog/Underdog,” TAG.
» Director, Musical: Brett Harwood, “The Threepenny Opera,” ACT; Brett Harwood, “Winter Wonderettes,” MVT; John Rampage, “White Christmas,” DHT; Elitei Tatafu Jr., “Forbidden Broadway SVU,” MVT; Elitei Tatafu Jr., “Once Upon One Time,” MVT.
» Musical Director: Roslyn Freitas Catracchia, “Once Upon One Time,” MVT; Kenji Higashihama, “Forbidden Broadway SVU,” MVT; Emmett Yoshioka, “Guys and Dolls,” DHT; Emmett Yoshioka, “White Christmas,” DHT.
» Choreographer: Grace Bell, “A Chorus Line,” ACT; Katherine Jones, “Forbidden Broadway,” MVT; Katherine Jones, “Once Upon One Time,” MVT; Christine Yasunaga, “Guys and Dolls,” DHT.
» Overall Play: “The Night of January 16th,” TAG; “November,” TAG; “Topdog/Underdog,” TAG.
» Overall Musical: “The Drowsy Chaperone,” DHT; “Guys and Dolls,”     DHT; “Once Upon One Time,” MVT; “The Threepenny Opera,” ACT.
» Costume Design: Evette Tanouye Allerdings, “The Velveteen Rabbit,” Paliku; Dusty Behner, “Forbidden Broadway SVU,” MVT; Katherine Jones, “The Princess and the Iso Peanut,” ’Ohi’a; Karen Wolfe, “Guys and Dolls,” DHT.
» Sound Design: Mikel Humerickhouse, “Guys and Dolls,” DHT; Mikel Humerickhouse, “Shout!” DHT; Mikel Humerickhouse, “White Christmas,” DHT; Kainoa Jarrett, “The Princess and the Iso Peanut,” ’Ohi’a.
» Set Design: Andy Alvarado, “Topdog/Underdog,” TAG; Andy Alvarado/Brad Powell, “Miso,” TAG; Brett Harwood, “The Three Penny Opera,” ACT; Ben Mackrell/Julia Pons, “Sleuth,” MVT.
» Light Design: Janine Myers, “Arms and the Man,” HPU; Dawn Oshima, “Joy Luck Club,” DHT; Daniel Sakimura, “The Threepenny Opera,” ACT; Thomas Tochiki, “Miso,” TAG.
» Hair, Make-up and Wig Design: Jess Aki, “Shout!” DHT; Greg Howell, “Hair,” MVT; Greg Howell, “Once Upon One Time,” MVT; Greg Howell, “Winter Wonderettes,” MVT.
» Non-Resident Guest Artist: Clair Davidson, director, “Miso,” TAG; James Patterson, director/choreographer, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” DHT; Greg Zane, director/choreographer, “The Sound of Music,” DHT.
» Pierre Bowman Lifetime Achievement Award: Terence Knapp