2011 Diamond Award Winners - Douglas Perri & Norman White

Below is Theatre BC VP Larry Martin (c) with Norman White (l) and Douglas Perri (r)

 Theatre BC's Diamond of the Year Award honours a Theatre BC member(s) who in the past year has worked toward furthering the Mission Statement of Theatre BC: 

"To promote and encourage the development of community theatre in British Columbia by providing leadership and opportunities for participation, education and sharing the enjoyment of diverse theatre experiences."

About our winners, Doug holds a BFA in Theatre in Education from UVIC, and has managed box office, acted, and designed costumes for theatres in Victoria, Whistler, Vancouver, and North Vancouver.  Doug’s most memorable performance was as “Linus” in First Impression Theatre’s production of “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown”. 

Norman has his School of Hard Knocks Diploma in Theatre, starting as “Clarence & His Classical Clarinet” in the Mascot Players Production of “Gypsy” in 1976. Norman, has acted, backstage crewed, stage managed, set  & costume designed, and more recently directed shows, also in Victoria, Whistler, Vancouver, and North Vancouver.

Where did they meet – in Victoria (1988) – and immediately fell into making costumes for Savoyard Society’s production of “HMS Pinafore” – all the ladies dresses from scratch they might add.  From there to Whistler, to Vancouver, and now living in Burnaby – serving as board members of TBC’s North Shore Zone since 1991. They are both recipients of the North Shore Zone's Don Marsh Award " for creating a spirit of harmony amongst groups on the North Shore".

TBC’s philosophy of promoting education & cooperation among the community & professional theatre organizations within BC is one that these two want to encourage all Thespians in BC to embrace.  From the nomination form:

 "Douglas and Norman have spent thousands of dollars over the years for the good of the organization through donations, patronages, and expenses they haven’t claimed while working on our behalf.  When Theatre BC had to move offices in late 2009, they both travelled to the island (at their own expense) to help with the huge organizational and culling job that had to be done before the move. They were a life-saver for (employees) Michelle and Lisa at the time.

Norman took over as Treasurer at an extremely difficult time and managed all the extra time and work necessary with skill and grace. He and Douglas have always been willing and available to help whenever asked, ie: as drivers for the Board of Directors and Theatre BC staff for the Board Camp last January in the lower mainland, and helping out in so many extra ways during the Mainstage Festival last year (2010) in Kamloops. 

We can think of no one who has put in more time, more work, or much-needed capital into the organization in the past few years, and they always do it so quietly and happily. They certainly deserve some recognition and our heartfelt thanks."

They both are humbled by the recognition that has been awarded on them – and want everyone to know that they did what they did – not for the recognition but because they believe in TBC and what it means to Community Theatre in this province.

So glad you're on our team, guys!!