Fairfield, CA – Solano College Theatre (SCT) won three Arty Awards for the 2023/2024 theatre season. Christine Mani won in the category “Director for Adult Musicals” for her work on Anything Goes, SCT’s 2024 spring musical, while Liz Andrews won for her Choreography work on the show, and Sheena Beeson won Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Moonface Martin.
“Anything Goes was a passion project for me,” said Mani during her acceptance speech. “This show was very special—we had ASL interpreting throughout, and we brought tap back! It was such a pleasure working with Michael Reilly, our musical director, and Liz Andrews, our choreographer. Bringing it all back was wonderful.”
Andrews recognized the dancers who interpreted her choreography. “I owe a huge, huge thank you to the cast–ninety percent of them came in and couldn’t tap… and they left tap dancers. This cast was the hardest working group of people I’ve worked with in a long time, and I’m so proud of them,” said Andrews. “Christine, thank you for taking me on this journey.”
Beeson is the theatre instructor at Armijo High School, which won several awards throughout the evening.
“I don’t often get to be myself, acting on the stage. I’m often doing all the other stuff,” Beeson said. “I love this show, and when Christine Mani was going to be putting it on, oh my God you guys, I jumped at that opportunity! And as Moonface Martin, it couldn’t have been a better fit.”
SCT students performed “All Through the Night” from Anything Goes during a musical interlude, sung by Calem Hough and Ashlynn Kertianis and ASL-interpreted by Luna Swarner and Angelito Guevarra.
In addition to SCT’s 18 nominations, several members of the SCC community were also nominated for awards. SCC communications professor Janene Whitesell was nominated for her performance in Twelve Angry Jurors at the Winters Theatre Company, and several SCT community members, including Trish Armstrong, Sheena Beeson, Angelito Guevarra, and Sheccid Donatt, were nominated for their work across Solano County.
Sponsored by On Stage Vacaville, The Artys celebrate the best of Solano/Napa/Yolo County theatre. For forty years, The Artys have paid tribute to local actors, directors, technicians, and the theatrical shows they labor so hard to produce here in Solano County.
About Solano Community College
Solano Community College (SCC) has served Solano County and the city of Winters since 1945, offering associate degrees, certificates, and transferable courses to California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) campuses. SCC also offers a variety of career and technical education classes, programs, and certifications and is one of only fifteen California community colleges to offer a bachelor’s degree.