Sigonella Players on Top at TOPPERS

By Megan Mills, NAS Sigonella Public Affairs

Back in February 2020, before COVID-19 caused lockdowns throughout the world, the Sigonella Players performed a series of short comedic plays titled “Contagious Laughter.”

Jeanne Ragonese, director of the Sigonella Players, had chosen the title many months before COVID-19 had been a part of anyone’s vocabulary. “What I thought was just a cute title became a bit ironic in the winter of 2020,” she said. “We were actually VERY fortunate because if our production had been even a week later, we would have had to cancel due to the beginning of coronavirus restrictions.”

Sponsored by Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella’s Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) department, the Sigonella Players Community Theater was founded by Ragonese in 2019 and includes active-duty service members, civilians, and dependents from the Sigonella community who are at least eighteen years old and out of high school. All of the cast and crew volunteered their time to produce the shows, which were performed at Midtown Theater on Feb. 28-29, 2020. “We are incredibly grateful for the help and support MWR has provided in order to make the Players possible,” said Ragonese.

New faces joined returning members from the inaugural year, and after only a month of rehearsals, costume creation, and set design, the show opened to full houses on both nights of shows. Audiences were treated to uproarious scenes of dogs in a film-noir mystery, two police officers investigating a baffling sign-stealing crime, a bank robbery with a strange twist, a group of boys conducting a business meeting to discuss whether or not to like girls, and a series of very unfortunate blind dates.

While community theaters are common throughout Army and Air Force bases in Europe, Sigonella is currently the only naval base with a group that competes in the annual U.S. Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM) Tournament of Plays.

For the Tournament of Plays, IMCOM sends judges to view performances and provide feedback to the cast and crew as well as to host workshops open to the community. Afterwards, they judge the competition, select nominees, and announce winners in a variety of categories. This year, instead of a spring gala, the 60th annual US Army IMCOM Europe Entertainment TOPPERs Awards were announced in a virtual video released on December 19. Celebrity recorded announcers are always a highlight, and this year they included actors Harvey Fierstein and Chris Pine.

The Sigonella Players earned 13 nominations and two wins among the cast and crew this year. Petty Officer 2nd Class David Lane won “Outstanding Military Performance in a Play,” and Justice Smith won “Outstanding Debut in a Play,” both for multiple roles in the show.

“I’m especially proud that for the second year in a row, The Sigonella Players have won Best Military Performance at the IMCOM Tournament of Plays, since one of goals for starting the group was to provide something fun and a little bit different for the many active military personnel here at Sig,” said Ragonese. “I’m also proud to see a naval base represented to showcase the many talented Sailors and civilians we have here.”

While there are no current plans for upcoming performances by the Sigonella Players due to the current restrictions, Ragonese is eager to get the group back on stage as soon as possible. In the meantime, the Sigonella Players have continued to gather virtually to read plays. After playwright Jonathan Rand sat in on one event, he requested that the group read a brand new work so he could hear it performed. “It was exciting to be part of the process and have actors reading the script in four different time zones!” said Ragonese.

SIGONELLA TOPPERS WINNERS:

Outstanding Military Performance in a Play: PO2 David Lane in multiple roles

Outstanding Debut in a Play: Justice Smith in multiple roles

SIGONELLA TOPPERS NOMINEES:

Outstanding Costume Design for a Play: Kelly Todd

Outstanding Stage Manager of a Play: Mary Dunlap & Nancy Hines

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play: Jada Henley, Stephanie McCutcheon-Kalish, Justice Smith

Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Play: Sierra Lewis, Megan Mills, PO1 David Olvera

Outstanding Actor in a Play: PO3 Jordayn Fisher

Outstanding Military Performance in a Play: Senior Airman Queen-Alexxas Bradley

Outstanding Director of a Play: Jeanne Ragonese