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Showing diverse facets of the performing arts and seating more than 200 people, the Abbey Theater of Dublin brings much-appreciated glamor and character to the Dublin community.
The theater and its team of artists have impressed performing arts experts for years. In 2024, the local establishment welcomed eight more BroadwayWorld Columbus Awards to join its growing collection.
The BroadwayWorld Regional Awards celebrate more than 100 cities across the United States, Canada, South America, Europe and Asia, according to its website, bringing recognition to local productions, touring shows and theaters.
The 2024 winners represent performances from Oct. 1, 2023, through Sept. 30, 2024. For the third consecutive year, the Abbey Theater of Dublin was declared Columbus’ favorite local theater by BroadwayWorld.
“It’s really cool – I think that speaks to the depth and breadth of the programming,” Theater Supervisor Joe Bishara says. “We have our own slate of productions that we offer the community, but then we also work with other organizations that don't have a space of their own, and so I think it speaks to the quality of the work across the board.”
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Columbus particularly enjoyed the Abbey Theater of Dublin’s 2024 performance of American Idiot, which won the Best Musical award. The production was directed by Bishara, a now four-time winner of the Best Director of a Musical award, alongside his co-director Jamie Markovich McMahon.
“That one was pretty special to me,” Bishara says. “American Idiot is a show that is very near and dear to me; I grew up listening to Green Day, and so having the chance to bring that rock album to life on stage as a musical was a really, really cool treat.”
Bishara says the production of American Idiot marked the theater’s first incorporation of a live band as well as projection designers who gave the show custom graphic arts.
Bishara was additionally awarded the 2024 Best Supporting Performer in a Musical award for his contribution to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He says his role in this performance was unexpected, as he was not initially cast to play the part.
“I first started doing theater in Columbus fresh out of college 25 years ago and the first show I ever did in Columbus was actually Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and I played Joseph,” he says. “So, 25 years later, to then play Elvis, the Pharaoh part, was a lot of fun.”
The Best Costume Design of a Play or Musical award went to Dayton Willison of the Abbey Theater of Dublin, also for his work in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Others on the American Idiot crew took home awards, including Iz Nichols for the Best Lighting Design of a Play or Musical, C.G. Ryan for the Best Scenic Design of a Play or Musical and David Crone for the Best Sound Design of a Play or Musical.
“It’s always an honor when your works are recognized,” Bishara says. “There’s not a shortage of substantive theater that’s going on in our space here and I just want more people to, A, know about it and, B, come and see it for themselves.”
Frances Denman is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
