Theatre Company of Saugus

Each year the Eastern Massachusetts Association of Community Theatres (EMACT) evaluates shows and makes nominations for DASH Awards (Distinguished Achievement and Special Honors) in many categories. The nominees for the 2025-2026 season were announced on Sunday 19 July 2026.

The Theatre Company of Saugus (TCS) production of Ride the Cyclone, presented in October 2025, earned several nominations and is a special awards winner. The nominations include:

• Ensemble of a Musical
• Direction of a Musical – Jason Hair-Wynn
• Supporting Performer in a Musical Comedy – Link Bowen as Noel Gruber
• Supporting Performer in a Musical Comedy – Amanda Raponi as Constance Blackwood
• Lighting Design for a Musical – Billy Thompson & Jason Hair-Wynn
• Prop Design for a Musical – Patrick Cleary & Jason Hair-Wynn

Ride the Cyclone was also the winner of two Consultants Choice Awards:

• Excellence in Specialty Makeup Design – Kristen Sehn
• Excellence in Video Production Design – Nick Wass, Billy Thompson, and Jason Hair-Wynn

Other current and former TCS members or production staff were also nominated for their work on shows done by other community theatre organizations. These include:

• Music Direction – Steven Bergman for Matilda the Musical at the Footlight Club
• Lead Performer in a Musical Comedy – Adam Sell for Matilda the Musical at the Footlight Club
• Choreography – Samantha Brior-Jones Sullivan for Anything Goes at Hingham Civic Music Theatre
• Costume Design for a Musical – James Valentin and others for Anything Goes at Hingham Civic Music Theatre
• Lead Performer in a Play Drama – Em Sheeran for She Kills Monsters at Concord Players
• Supporting Performer in a Play Drama – Jay Gould for The Crucible at Marblehead Little Theater
• Set Dressing for a Play – Patrick Cleary for The Savannah Disputation at the Burlington Players
• Makeup & Hair Design for a Musical – Luisiana Cruz for Rocky Horror Show at Colonial Chorus Players

Consultants Choice Awards were also given to:

• Excellence in Fight Direction – Richie DeJesus for The Aria of Julie d’Aubigny at Theatre @ First
• Distinguished Achievement in Inclusive Casting – Susan Harrington and others for Once On This Island at Arlington Friends of the Drama

The winners will be announced at the annual EMACT DASH Gala, on Sunday 23 August 2026, at Cary Hall in Lexington, Massachusetts. This is like the Tony Awards for local community theatres, including performances of nominees for best musical. For tickets and more information, see the EMACT website.

We are very sad to learn that Michael Giusti passed away on May 14, 2026. He was 88 years old and had a heart failure.

Mike had stories about his own appearances on stage when he was young, with the Winthrop Playmakers in the 1960s. But in his later years he liked being in the audience or behind the scenes. Or watching horror movies, or buying and selling antiques.

If you have come to a Theatre Company of Saugus show in the past ten years, it was Mike who handed you your ticket at the door. Not only did he run our box office, he provided most of our refreshments and raffle prizes sold during intermission at every performance. He loved watching TCS shows, and we loved having such a generous, loyal volunteer working our front of house.

Mike also served a term on our Board of Directors, 2018-2020, and often helped with our stage lighting setup. We will sorely miss him, because of all he did for us, and his engaging demeanor.

We are very sad to learn of the passing of Benjamin Tan, on May 14, 2026. He was only 36 years old and had been fighting cancer for a few years. He was an integral part of the Theatre Company of Saugus for several years. He was a talented music director that we enjoyed working with on several productions.

Ben’s first show with TCS was as the musical director of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in April-May 2018.

He would have been the music director of our cancelled show The Marvelous Wonderettes in April-May 2020. He led a Zoom class in reading music in August 2020. He appeared in and music directed for our video-streamed Look What I Can Do…From Way Over Here in March 2021.

Ben was the music director/vocal coach for our Youth Theatre Workshop production of The Little Mermaid Jr. in July 2021. He was the co-music director and created the backing tracks for the musical interludes in our short play festival Lovely Thoughts and Other Stories in March 2022. Most recently he was the music director for our production of Peter and the Starcatcher in 2023.

He also served on our Board of Directors for a term, 2022-2024, after having served as an Alternate board member for a few years. Ben Tan’s day job was as an elementary school music teacher for the Boston public schools.

You can donate in his memory the Scholarship Foundation of Wakefield.

We are very sad to learn of the unexpected passing of Rhona D’Onofrio, on January 28, 2026. Rhona assisted back stage and with the front of house for several TCS productions. She most recently worked on the April-May 2025 production of Picasso at the Lapin Agile, in which her husband Paul D’Onofrio played the role of Gaston. Rhona had also worked front of house and box office for the Winthrop Playmakers for many years, as well as for several other community theatres in the region.

The funeral will be on Friday 30 January. Click here for the obituary and arrangements.