Courter: Theatre Centre presents annual Miss Annie Awards

The Chattanooga Theatre Centre presented its annual Miss Annie Awards Sunday. The awards are named after Annie Head and honor the performers, volunteers and crews that worked on the previous season's productions.

This year's big winners were:

  • Most Promising Debut in a Circle Production: Dajourne Waller/"Rent"

  • Most Promising Debut in a MainStage Production: Gracie Bramlett/"Hairspray"

  • Ensemble of the Year: "Hairspray"

  • Audience Favorite Actor in a Circle Production: Andrew Chauncey/"Rent"

  • Audience Favorite Actress in a Circle Production: Hayley Graham/"Songs for a New World" and "Rent"

  • Audience Favorite Actress in a MainStage Production: Azusa Q. Dance/"Hairspray"

  • Audience Favorite Actor in a MainStage Production: Jermaine Purifory/"Hairspray"

  • Best Featured Actor on the MainStage: Ray Laliberte/"The Fantasticks"

  • Best Featured Actress on the MainStage: Judy LaMance/"The Women"

  • Best Supporting Actor on the MainStage: Jermaine Purifory/"Hairspray"

  • Best Supporting Actress on the MainStage: Brittni Rhodes/"Hairspray"

  • Best Actor in a Leading Role on the MainStage: John Hammons/"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"

  • Best Actress in a Leading Role on the MainStage: Gracie Bramlett/"Hairspray"

Chattanooga lost two of its personalities in recent weeks.

Dick Ramsey passed away back in July. Dick and wife Alice lived two houses down from me, but his real claim to fame was his many years of work in the local theater scene and at several area churches, where he sang in the choirs. He also sang with the Chattanooga Bach Choir and the Scenic City Chorale.

I was fortunate enough to work with Dick on a couple of civic boards, and he was a very organized, diligent volunteer and a voice of reason. He also had a wonderful sense of humor and enjoyed having get-togethers, such as the annual New Year's neighborhood open houses he and Alice hosted. Homemade soup was always the highlight of the menu.

Longtime radio listeners will recognize the name Larry "the Legend" Johnson. He passed away last week at 73 in Milwaukee.

Johnson was a local radio star in the 1950s and '60s on WDXB. He capitalized on his fame and moved on to bigger markets in Chicago and Milwaukee in the early '70s. His shows mixed talk and music, and he was known for telling callers to "speak your onions."

According to his obituary in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, he was good at self-promotion and at one time had special "Larry the Legend" fly swatters made while at WISN there. The swatters had a quarter-inch hole in them to give the fly a sporting chance.

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