An Airdrie actor and Nose Creek Players member is riding high after recently being nominated for a CAT Award for her portrayal in The Pink Unicorn earlier this year.
The CAT Awards, also known as Calgary's "Community Theatre Awards," are sponsored by Calgary-ACTS. The annual event commemorates the previous season of local community theatre productions.
Nominations for the CAT Awards are open from September to June and are accepted from both theatre audiences and the Calgary-ACTS adjudication team. Eligible community theatre productions in the area, produced by a Calgary-ACTS member company, are considered for recognition during this celebration.
Mandi Fusaro, the talented lead actress in Nose Creek Players’ recent production of The Pink Unicorn, expressed her gratitude upon receiving the nomination for the CAT award in the category of "Outstanding Performance for Lead Role in a Play."
In an interview with the Airdrie City View, Fusaro shared her excitement about the nomination and acknowledged the significance of the recognition, as it reflects the performance's connection with the audience.
“It’s just very exciting to be honoured for that,” she said. “It just means people who attended the play went after and nominated me, and I think that speaks volumes to how the play resonated with them.”
The play, written by Elise Forier Edie, is a one-actor performance that delves into the life of Trisha-Lee, a Christian widow in Texas who comes to terms with her child's gender identity.
In The Pink Unicorn, Trisha-Lee's world turns upside down when she learns her teenage child identifies as “gender-queer” and plans to establish a Gay and Straight Alliance chapter at their local high school. The heartwarming story follows Trisha-Lee's journey towards acceptance and her unconditional support for her child, despite the societal challenges they face.
In a separate interview, Nose Creek Players' president and the play's director, Robin McKittrick, had only positive words to say about Fusaro's performance.
“Mandi's performance just brought this real sense of humanity, empathy and authenticity to the role,” McKittrick said. “She was able to really find those aspects of the character that people could relate to.
“The script is 37 dense pages, but she was able to just make it such a conversational piece.”
Even though Fusaro was performing alone, McKittrick noted that her performance still managed to foster a feeling of togetherness among the audience.
“It felt like everyone in the audience was with her on the stage and in that moment, that's the spirit of real quality performances,” he said.
“Mandi is incredibly receptive to collaboration, so we were able to try things and really dig down deep. She was able to use her phenomenal acting skills to bring that to life.”
Nose Creek Players’ production starring Fusaro was held in mid-June, in partnership with Airdrie Pride Society’s annual Pride Festival.
Fusaro attributed the success to the collaboration with her director, McKittrick, and the months of preparation they invested in understanding the character's emotions and experiences.
To gain insight into the challenges faced by parents of transgender children, Fusaro and McKittrick read Beyond Pronouns: The Essential Guide for Parents of Trans Children – a guidebook written by Tammy Plunkett, a local writer from Airdrie.
Fusaro said reading Plunkett's book greatly contributed to her and McKittrick's understanding of her character's journey.
“We started months ahead of time. We would go through the questions of the book and just kind of fully understand what that meant for the character to go through that,” Fusaro said.
“It was amazing to have that kind of resource from a local writer and to see their perspective of what they went through.”
The involvement of Airdrie Pride in the production further ensured the play represented the LGBTQ2S+ community in the most respectful and accurate manner possible.
“Any time we do any sort of play like this, we always work with Airdrie Pride,” Fusaro said. “I think they are a huge pillar in our community and I think it’s important that are represented in the best way possible.
“It was really important for us to have them be a part of it as to be a voice.”
While Fusaro is humbled by her CAT Award nomination, she acknowledged the efforts of the entire team behind The Pink Unicorn, recognizing Nose Creek Players’ invaluable contributions in bringing the play to life.
“Even though I was nominated for the play, there was a team of people that were incredibly important to making this play what it was,” she said. “My director Robin McKittrick was pretty incredible to work with.”
The CAT Awards ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 9 at Telus Spark in Calgary.
