Photo by Howard Owens
As the saying goes, the show — or, in this case, the awards gala — must go on no matter what.
And no matter if there hasn’t been a definitive answer to Batavia Players’ third attempt to fulfill the city’s request for a five-year financial plan to pay rent and pay back rent owed, the group is preparing for its Harvie Awards gala later next month, Patrick Burk says.
"I have not heard from the city. I think the last letter that we got from the city was an explanation of what they were required to make a decision, and that was on December 19. We have sent them a number of pages of information, including our budget,” Burk said Monday. “You know, we have been working on making sure that we are attempting a plan to pay that COVID rent back; even though many people are questioning why we have to pay rent when we weren't allowed to go into the facility, we still just want to get on with what we do best, which is entertaining people and providing theater. And we're doing that very successfully.
“It's important for people to understand that we've been paying all of our bills. We owe nobody, every single month we've paid every single bill,” he said. “We've made arrangements for things to be paid on a timely basis, and we're doing our best with everything, including sell-out shows, and more audience members and bigger box office numbers than we've ever seen before.”
The five-year plan was requested as part of a resolution to the Players owing back rent for its new theater, which was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The theater folks have said it was difficult to raise revenue during a time when they weren’t even allowed in the building to put on a show and charge admission.
Meanwhile, city officials and the theater’s landlord have said there are still operating and maintenance expenses and that unpaid bills end up costing taxpayers. City Council President Eugene Jankowski has said that no one is against the theater but that the tab does have to be paid, and he’s hoping a solution can be found.
During council’s Dec. 10 conference meeting, two representatives of Batavia Players spoke about the attributes of their organization and asked that city leaders give them some time and understanding to pay back the money. City Manager Rachael Tabelski said the owed amount was approximately $27,000.
“We are awaiting an executive summary and five-year financial projections of the Players' plan moving forward,” she had said.
The lease expires on Wednesday, Jan. 1.
Burk is taking the contract to its word that the lease is “automatically renewed” on the first of the year, he said. Since he hasn’t heard from the city otherwise, plans are already being made for three events in January, including the 2025 Pure Imagination Harvie Awards Gala.
“We’re just going through that it's automatically renewed. I don't know what else we can do. Again, I only want to provide good entertainment shows. We've got a lot of things planned for the coming year; we're going to be announcing a new season relatively soon. We're working on securing that, like, right after the first of the year so that we can make a definitive announcement at the gala,” he said. “We've already started with programs in January that are not season-related. We have three weekends, the 11th, the 18th and the 25th, where things are going on at the theater. Two of them are from outside groups, and our gala is going to be wonderful.”
Set for 7 p.m. Jan. 11 at Main St. 56 Theater in Batavia City Centre, this annual event recognizes and honors exceptional talents of actors showcased in Batavia Players productions from throughout the past year. Awards are given in several categories for male and female lead and supporting performances, venues of plays, cabarets, musicals, and from child to adult actors.
Tickets are $30 and available at Batavia Players.
2025 Harvie Award nominations are:
Best Male Lead Performance in a Play
- James Barcomb - Whirligig in Time
- Richard Ferris – Pygmalion
- Anthony Haitz – King John
- Stephen Van Valkenburg – Love Lines
Best Female Lead Performance in a Play
- Samantha Balbi – Love Lines
- Dorothy Gerhart – King John
- Sarah Hill – Whirligig in Time
- Sophie Houseman – Pygmalion
Best Male Supporting Performance in a Play
- Seth Coburn – Whirligig in Time
- Steve Coburn – Pygmalion
- Richard Ferris – King John
- Kerrick Woyshner – King John
Best Female Supporting Performance in a Play
- Dorothy Gerhart – Pygmalion
- Dorothy Gerhart – Whirligig in Time
- Abigail Noonan – Love Lines
- Amanda Melissa Taylor – Love Lines
Best Male Featured Performance in a Play
- Samuel Bowman – King John
- Patrick Burk – Love Lines
- Jack Patrick Crandall – King John
- Deacon Smith – Murder in the Speakeasy
- Elijah Van Epps – Pygmalion
Best Female Featured Performance in a Play
- Sophie Crandall – Love Lines
- Spencer Efing – Pygmalion
- Heather Ferris – King John
- Sophie Houseman – Whirligig in Time
- Mollie Wadhams – Pygmalion
Best Male Lead Performance in a Musical
- Anthony Haitz – White Christmas
- Sam Sevor – White Christmas
- Deacon Smith – Bye Bye Birdie
- Elijah Van Epps – Evita
Best Female Lead Performance in a Musical
- Samantha Balbi – Bye Bye Birdie
- Kristin Gelia – Evita
- Kristin Gelia – White Christmas
- Sophie Houseman – White Christmas
Best Male Supporting Performance in a Musical
- Robert Balbick – White Christmas
- Skylar Dence – Evita
- Cameron Liedmann – Bye Bye Birdie
- Deacon Smith – White Christmas
Best Female Supporting Performance in a Musical
- Cass Dzielski – Bye Bye Birdie
- Teressa Hirsch – White Christmas
- Rose Mosher – Bye Bye Birdie
- Maia Zerillo – Bye Bye Birdie
Best Male Featured Performance in a Musical
- Seth Coburn – Bye Bye Birdie
- Bill Moon – White Christmas
- Deacon Smith – Evita
- Kerrick Woyshner – Evita
- William Zerillo – Bye Bye Birdie
Best Female Featured Performance in a Musical
- Jessica Brandt – White Christmas
- Mia Pellegrino – White Christmas
- Rory Van Epps – Evita
- Mollie Wadhams – White Christmas
Best Male Performance in a Cabaret
- James Barcomb – Just One More Time & Something New
- Patrick Burk – Just One More Time & Something New
- Deacon Smith – Four the Record
- Kerrick Woyshner – Wickedly Musical
Best Female Performance in a Cabaret
- Jocelyn Coburn – Four the Record
- Kristin Gelia – Just One More Time & Something New
- Sophie Houseman – Just One More Time & Something New
- Amelia Schuster – Wickedly Musical
- Tess Uline – Wickedly Musical
Best Group Performance in a Cabaret
- At the Ballet – Four the Record
- Murder Murder – Wickedly Musical
- Side by Side – Just One More Time & Something New
- Standing On the Corner – Just One More Time & Something New
- This Man – Just One More Time & Something New
Best Solo Performance in a Cabaret
- Ian Cannioto – Confrontation – Wickedly Musical
- Kristin Gelia – What Only Love Can See – Just One More Time & Something New
- Sophie Houseman – When It All Falls Down – Just One More Time & Something New
- Lilah Mordell – Circus – Wickedly Musical
- Kerrick Woyshner – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow – Wickedly Musical
Best Youth Performance in a Cabaret
- Lilah Mordell – Just One More Time & Something New
- Lilah Mordell – Wickedly Musical
- Elle Williams – Christmas Party
- William Zerillo – Just One More Time & Something New
Best Youth Performance in a Musical or Play
- Sophie Crandall – King John
- Ephraim Hanna – King John
- Lily Kaspryzyk – King John
- Maia Zerillo – Bye Bye Birdie
Best Child Performance in a Musical or Play
- Annalie Crandall – Little Mermaid Jr.
- Adelynn Gephart – Little Mermaid Jr.
- Adam Jursted – Bye Bye Birdie
- Sylar Kuenzi – Little Mermaid Jr.
- Elle Williams – White Christmas
Best Solo Performance in a Musical
- Kristin Gelia – Don’t Cry For Me Argentina – Evita
- Kristin Gelia – Love You Didn’t Do Right By Me – White Christmas
- Rory Van Epps – Another Suitcase Another Hall – Evita
- Elle Williams – Let Me Sing/I’m Happy – White Christmas
- Maia Zerillo – How Lovely To Be A Woman – Bye Bye Birdie
Best Group Performance in a Musical
- And the Money Kept Rolling In - Evita
- Baby Talk to Me – Bye Bye Birdie
- Human Stuff – Little Mermaid Jr.
- I Love A Piano – White Christmas
- White Christmas – White Christmas
Photo by Howard Owens
Photo by Howard Owens
