Last night, Marketsquared had the privilege of presenting three awards at the 15th annual Spotlight Awards at the Portsmouth Music Hall. If you haven't been to the music hall in awhile, you really should go, as they've completely rebuilt the first floor into this ridiculously amazing bar that seems like something out of Pan's Labrynth. We didn't get any really good pictures of it, so stay tuned for a music hall review in the future.
Naturally, we dressed up.
We were graciously invited by Spotlight editor Jen Stevens (okay really Heather was invited, since she's a columnist for the Spotlight. Jayson was invited because he's her "platonic partner in crime"), and ended up presenting the last three awards - Best Production of a Play, Best Production of a Musical, and Best Rock Band (in our opinion, the best three categories ever). The full list of winners can be found here.
The Spotlight awards is voting-based, so you know that things aren't the manufactured opinions of some elite academy. We're very thankful for this, as it meant that the wildly entertaining "Gay Bride of Frankenstein" musical, written by Portsmouth natives and very clearly Broadway calibur, swept the awards ceremony. It's our deepest regret that we missed it while it was out, but luckily, we've been invited to the CD release party at the Muddy River on April 20th. Its creators include the famous Billy Butler, who now lives in New York but is a Portsmouth regular through and through (and had a great song about the reality of Portsmouth vs. Dover from last year's Spotlight awards).
The afterparty was also held at the Muddy River, with the stylings of Tim McCoy and the Papercuts.
Anyway, it was fun and a good taste of the culture Portsmouth has to offer, as well as a sobering look at how far our little town of 20,000+ is starting to reach. It also made us realize we really need to go out and see some more plays!
*A Sequin is like a Penguin from the Caribbean. Except, instead of being flightless birds, they are swimless fish. Go ahead. Look it up.
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Naturally, we dressed up.
No Sequins* were harmed in the making of Heather's dress
We were graciously invited by Spotlight editor Jen Stevens (okay really Heather was invited, since she's a columnist for the Spotlight. Jayson was invited because he's her "platonic partner in crime"), and ended up presenting the last three awards - Best Production of a Play, Best Production of a Musical, and Best Rock Band (in our opinion, the best three categories ever). The full list of winners can be found here.
(J): I was told "No Witty Banter" by Heather. Your loss.
The Spotlight awards is voting-based, so you know that things aren't the manufactured opinions of some elite academy. We're very thankful for this, as it meant that the wildly entertaining "Gay Bride of Frankenstein" musical, written by Portsmouth natives and very clearly Broadway calibur, swept the awards ceremony. It's our deepest regret that we missed it while it was out, but luckily, we've been invited to the CD release party at the Muddy River on April 20th. Its creators include the famous Billy Butler, who now lives in New York but is a Portsmouth regular through and through (and had a great song about the reality of Portsmouth vs. Dover from last year's Spotlight awards).
The afterparty was also held at the Muddy River, with the stylings of Tim McCoy and the Papercuts.
See Jenn, this is what I was really taking pictures of.
Anyway, it was fun and a good taste of the culture Portsmouth has to offer, as well as a sobering look at how far our little town of 20,000+ is starting to reach. It also made us realize we really need to go out and see some more plays!
*A Sequin is like a Penguin from the Caribbean. Except, instead of being flightless birds, they are swimless fish. Go ahead. Look it up.
