Ray Of Light Award Guidelines

A minimum of seven CTL judges will be attending the participating productions. All of the judges have received training and have a strong interest in students and theatre. None of the judges are involved in any of this year’s participating productions.

Awards will include Best Actor and Best Actress (musical and non-musical), Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress (musical and non-musical), Best Featured Performer (musical and non-musical), Best Ensemble, Best Musical, Best Play, and the Ray Phillips Best Program Award. Nominees will be announced in early May. The actual awardees will be kept secret until the Awards Ceremony.

The judges have the authority to add awards. For example, if a student crew is particularly adept at complicated scene changes, the judges may recognize their effort with an award.

Each of the judges has an Adjudicator’s Score Sheet, for each production. A blank form is available on this website, however judges’ scoring and deliberations are confidential.

Each winner will receive an honorarium and trophy. Best Musical and Best Play winners will receive a monetary award for their school’s drama program.

Eligibility

• The Ray of Light Awards are open to schools within a 40 mile radius of Williamsport, PA.
• Productions must occur during the current school year.
• Each school may submit two productions, preferably one play and one musical. If a school does not submit one of each, two of the same type may be submitted.
• Schools must allot up to 20 complimentary tickets per production for use by the judges.
• Large and small scale musicals are determined by ranking the shows by the number of participating students on stage. The list is cut in half with the top half designated as large scale and the bottom half as small scale.
• All productions must be concluded by first Sunday in May. 

Eligibility for musicals

• Musicals must be full-length with at least 2 acts, unless the original Broadway production was intended to be presented without intermission.
• Selected musicals must be published and licensed through a reputable publishing company (i.e. Music Theatre International, Samuel French, Rodgers and Hammerstein Music Library, etc.).
• Productions should substantially recreate productions in the spirit of the original production or subsequent revivals. CTL does not wish to stifle creativity. Significant deviations from the original production design are eligible only upon approval of a comprehensive production description*, detailing the scope of the deviations and director’s interpretation.

The following genres are not eligible:

• Revues, whether assembled by the director or officially sanctioned by a reputable publishing house
• Versions of classic musicals modified for presentation by younger groups; this would include MTI Broadway Junior, Kids, or TYA titles; Rodgers and Hammerstein G2K versions; and similar types of productions.
• Concert versions of classically staged works, whether sung while stationary or partially staged.
• Musicals developed and published specifically to be performed by middle or elementary students.

Eligibility for plays

• Plays should be a minimum of 75 minutes in length. Multi-act plays may be presented without intermission. The time requirement should be met by the playwright’s work and not reached by adding superfluous music or activities to take up time.
• Productions should substantially recreate productions in the spirit of the original productions or subsequent revivals. Significant deviations from the original production design are eligible only upon approval of a comprehensive production description*, detailing the scope of the deviations and interpretation.

The following genres are not eligible:

• Reader’s theatre
• Dinner theatre in which the show is specifically designed around a meal. Productions performed in a dinner setting, where food or refreshments are served during an intermission are permitted.
• Performances of multiple scenes/cuttings or shorts
• Plays developed and published specifically to be performed by middle or elementary students.
• Performances of improvisation

* Failure to submit a comprehensive production description prior to the presentation of a questionable work may result in the production being deemed ineligible after the fact.

Special Musical or Performance Events

CTL wishes to support all musical and theatrical endeavors and realizes that not all performances meet the above requirements. Such events might include performances by special needs students, student-written plays, concert versions, or other types of events. We would love to be able to support what’s being done by having a few ROL representatives attend the productions, and for the students involved in those productions to be included in the Ray of Light Event. Please make us aware of any events that may fit this description and we will endeavor to attend and provide feedback as requested.