IT began with the most nominations — 15; and at the end of Monday night, Fairfield Theatre’s production, White Witch, went home with the most Actor Boy trophies — 13.

From the curtain-raiser to the night’s final award, White Witch, the musical written by Jane Crichton, was the choice of the judges for the 21st staging of the Actor Boy Awards held at the Pantry Playhouse in New Kingston, copping all the major categories.

The stack of trophies headed to Fairfield in Montego Bay comprises: Best Set Design, Best Costume Design, Best Choreography, Best Original Song — Flowing Free, Best Original Score, Best New Play, Best Musical, Best Supporting Actor — Phillip Clarke, Best Supporting Actress — Noelle Kerr, Best Lead Actor — Keiran King, Best Lead Actress — Maylynne Lowe-Walton, Best Director — Douglas Prout and Best Production.

For the two other nominations for which they did not take home a trophy, White Witch was beaten by itself for Best Original Song, as it had two nominations in the category. Their only true loss of the night came in the category Best Lighting Design, in which Trevor Nairne and Patrick Brown won for Midnight At Puss Creek.

The production’s domination of the night made some of the categories almost predictable, at one stage, a presenter trying to create some suspense, paused after the obligatory “And the Actor Boy goes to…” His pause was interrupted by a patron who yelled “White Witch,” to which the presenter responded, “Duh!”

Speaking to the Observer following what was a great night for his production, White Witch director Douglas Prout noted that the armful of trophies is testament to the really hard work put in by his cast and crew. The stage veteran noted that the night’s win caps a truly hectic year for him in theatre and, therefore, he is taking the next few months to recharge his batteries. Meanwhile, an obviously exhilarated Jane Crichton could not contain herself and was only able to muster one word — “overwhelmed!”

Credit must be given to the producers of this year’s awards show, who did their best to present a show that at no time lagged, instead moved along at a lively pace. This was due, in no small part, to the efforts of the evening’s hosts, actors Teisha Duncan and Maurice Bryan.

From their Chicago-esque song and dance opening number, complete with bowler hats and canes, to their take on some of the night’s nominated productions, complete with costume changes, Duncan and Bryan had the audience transfixed. The laughter grew louder in their adaptation of White Witch, when Duncan demanded her bar of cake soap to become the ‘white’ witch.

The hilarious excerpt from the University Players production Tartuffe, featuring Alwyn Scott, Marsha-Ann Hay and Teisha Duncan, was another of the night’s highlights.

This year, the Actor Boy Award for Excellence in Theatre was presented to the 60-year-old Jamaica Schools’ Drama Festival. This annual event was recognised for being the incubator for some of the country’s top theatre practitioners.

Here again the producers can take a bow in selecting presenters who are all a product of this year’s honouree. These included Actor Boy judge Tony Patel, who participated in the 1963 festival, Owen ‘Blacka’ Ellis, Fae Ellington, Marsha-Ann Hay, Michael Holgate, Sabrena McDonald, Craig McNally and Rishille Bellamy-Pelicie. Not even in this area was White Witch to be left out as writer Jane Crichton wrote her first play as a teacher at Cornwall College in Montego Bay for the festival, which featured a young Douglas Prout.

Despite White Witch’s domination there were other winners. Midnight at Puss Creek was the only other production to win more than one Actor Boy. In addition to Best Lighting Design, the team of Trevor Nairne and Patrick Brown also won for Best Special Effects.

The evening’s other lucky productions were The Plumber, which won for Best Comedy. Against His Will — Best Drama, Best Revue — Graffiti and the lone nominee for Best Children’s Theatre, Cindy.