New Bedford Festival Theatre honored in 13 categories on BroadwayWorld.com. Here's what.

NEW BEDFORD — After its biggest season yet, New Bedford Festival Theatre is celebrating 31 nominations in 13 categories for the professional division of the 2023 BroadwayWorld Regional Awards.

After expanding its season with three musicals — "White Christmas," "The Wiz" and "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" — the productions have been nominated in categories such as Best Musical, Best Ensemble, Best Performer and Best Director.

"Artistic Director Elizabeth Bettencourt and I worked to produce the very best shows we could for our audiences, while continuing to be accessible and equitable to our community," said Wendy Hall, Executive Producer.

"It is also an honor to be nominated amongst some powerhouse theatre companies in such a wide radius."

More: The Zeiterion is closing for renovations soon. Here's where its programming is going.

Voting is now open for the 2023 Regional Awards, which recognize regional productions, touring shows and more that had their first performance between October 1, 2022 and September 30, 2023.

The outlet's local editors set the categories, while readers submitted nominees from over 100 cities across America, Canada, Central and South America, Europe and Asia.

The nominations for New Bedford Festival Theatre are as followed:

1. Best Musical - "White Christmas" (WC), "The Wiz," and "Joseph and the Amazing Color Dream Coat" (Joseph)

2. Best Ensemble - WC, The Wiz, Joseph

3. Best Dance Production - WC, The Wiz, Joseph

4. Favorite Local Theatre 

5. Best Theatre for Young Audiences - The Wiz

6. Best Performer - David Elder (WC), Lawrence Flowers (Joseph), Kelsey Seaman (Joseph)

7. Best Supporting Performer - Jesse Luttrell (Joseph), Kelly Sheenan (WC), Kyla Jade (The Wiz), Lawrence Flowers (The Wiz), Neil Jeronimo (Joseph)

8. Best Director - Elizabeth Bettencourt (Joseph), Kenny Ingram (The Wiz), Patrick O'Neill (WC)

9. Best Choreographer - Brooklyn Toli (Joseph), Kenny Ingram (The Wiz), Patrick O'Neill (WC)

10. Best Set Design - Trevor Elliott (Joseph) 

11. Best Costume Design - Sydney L. Hawes (Joseph) 

12. Best Sound Design - Jason Choquette (The Wiz, Joseph) 

13. Best Lighting Design - Matt Guminski (The Wiz), Michael Wonson (Joseph) 

As of Monday, November 27th, the latest standings for the Boston Awards were released, with New Bedford Festival Theatre's nominations in the lower percentile for most categories. However, anything can happen as voting does not end until Dec. 31.

As renovations begin for the Zeiterion, which will be closed until winter 2025, due to cost factors and the need for infrastructure, the theatre company decided to take a break from doing any big musical productions until The Zeiterion completed its renovations.

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However, they are still planning to perform shows out in the community and have their own shows which companies can bring in for entertainment for special events, and they will continue their master classes and other educational components.

"NBFT wishes everyone luck and is eager to return to producing the very Best of Broadway once the Zeiterion renovations are complete," Hall said.

Standard-Times staff writer Seth Chitwood can be reached at schitwood@s-t.com. Follow him on twitter:@ChitwoodReports.Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times today.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: New Bedford Festival Theatre, 31 nominations on BroadwayWorld.com