P.O. Box 691 Sebring Florida USA 33871 Tel: 863-382-2525
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P.O. Box 691 Sebring Florida USA 33871 Tel: 863-382-2525 |
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Jet Hansen - Nineteenth Janelou Buck Significant Achievement Award Winner By: Roy Riedy |
Jet Hansen had to go without recognition for his behind the scenes work on the first three plays that he was involved with at HLT. In all cases: South Pacific, in November,1979; Camelot, in November, 1982, both directed by Frank Oberhausen; and a third show, Guys and Dolls, directed by Carol Gose in April of 1983; Jet was asked to lend a hand after the play programs had been printed, leaving him uncredited and officially unappreciated, but as we have come to know, things did change.
His name did eventually appear for the first time in the program of the first production of Annie Get Your Gun, in February, 1984 as Mr. Schuyler Adams near the bottom of the list. Two plays later, in the June,1984 production of Carol Gose's Can-Can, Jet's name headed the cast list as the Bailiff, and again, two months later, he was listed as the Stage Manager of Peter Pollard's carefree The Owl and the Pussycat; Jet had caught the theatrical bug and caught it good. Besides these appearances in early Playhouse programs, his name has appeared in HLT Newsletters, later programs, and newspaper articles no less than 249 more times.
Mr. Hansen's first effort at directing was in August of 1987 when he served as Tina Conyer's co-director of The Odd Couple. The play won a Best Supporting Zenon for Susan Spiegel for her part as Gwendolyn Pigeon at the Second Zenon Awards Ceremonies.
The Third and Fourth Zenon presentations were hosted by Mr. Hansen and it was at the Fourth, in October, 1989, that he received his first Best Actor in a Leading Role Zenon for his brilliant portrayal of Elwood P. Dowd in Mary Chase's Pulitzer Prize comedy, Harvey.
Mr. Hansen directed the precedent setting musical Oklahoma! as the first play of the Seventeenth Season in November, 1990 . His work was well received and won a Best Supporting Actress Zenon for Beverly Brando who played the role of Aunt Eller and a Best Costume Zenons for Leena Violette and Mary Guaraldi.
The following November, Mr. Hansen opened the Eighteenth Season with another musical, Jerry Herman's smash hit Mame. This play too won two Zenons, a Best Supporting Actress Award for Denise Miriani's hilarious Agnes Gooch; and a Best Stage Manager Zenon for Margie Pollard.
Another precedent setting musical was Mr. Hansen's choice for the end of the Nineteenth Season in August, 1993, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's celebrated Show Boat. Besides the entertainment value of these plays, Mr. Hansen's choices were giving HLT's audiences a short course in good American Theater.
In October, 1996, Jet kicked off HLT's Twenty-third season with the retro-musical Forever Plaid, a play that contained over two dozen pop songs from the 1950s and '60s. The nostalgic show won 2 Production and Technical Zenons: one for Lois Prettyman's music and choral direction, and the other for Melanie Angus Boulay's assistance and choreography.
In November of 1998, Mr. Hansen was Melanie Boulay's Stage Manager for her phenomenally successful production of The Wizard of Oz that captured 9 Zenons, one of which was won by Mr. Hansen for Best Stage Manager. Michael Frayn's Noises Off was Jet's choice for his sixth directorial endeavor in August, 1999, the other bookend of the season that started with The Wizard of Oz.
Mr. Hansen's latest directing effort opened HLT's Twenty-seventh Season in November, 2000, with a sparkling production of Ernest Thompson's On Golden Pond, a play that won another Zenon award for his Assistant Director Melanie Boulay.
In the Twenty-eighth Season Mr. Hansen served once again as Melanie Boulay's Stage Manager for her hugely successful production of Peter Pan. At the close of the season, Mr. Hansen was named as one of the nominees for the Janelou Buck Significant Achievement Award at the Seventeenth Annual Zenon Awards.
Jet spent the entire Twenty-ninth Season working in HLT's kitchen as a Master Chef during the theater's five play presentations. Again at the season's concluding Zenon Award Ceremonies, he was once again named as one of the nominees for the Janelou Buck Significant Achievement Award.
During the Thirtieth Season, besides his Master Chef duties, Jet acted as the stage manager for Jennifer Westergom's Zenon winning presentation of the lavish costume musical, The Scarlet Pimpernel. He culminated the season by being nominated for and winning the greatly esteemed Janelou Buck Significant Achievement Award becoming its nineteenth recipient which brought his Zenon winning score to three.
In all, Mr. Hansen has appeared or worked in over 42 shows at Highlands Little Theatre. He has emceed six of the Zenon Awards Ceremonies and has worked in all of the theater's production areas including stage managing, sound, and lighting. As busy as this may sound, he has also found time to perform more magic in the kitchen of the theater where he can be found cooking on Friday show nights.
Thank you Jet for your many and varied contributions to HLT. It's you and members like you that have made Highlands Little Theatre the dramatic success it has become.
