In January, 2004, Potomac Stages began sponsorship of an award program recognizing excellence in live theater as judged by the unsung theater-lovers who usher at theaters in the area. This is an effort to both help spread the word about the fine live theater productions that play on the stages in the Potomac region, and to offer a bit of recognition to the ushers who work to make theater going easier and more enjoyable.

Theater enthusiasts who usher in the theaters usually do so out of their love of theater, and many see a great number of shows in the process. Therefore, they have a unique basis on which to judge shows that offer the most satisfying experience for audiences.

For 2007, the monthly winners were:

January - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater
February - Macbeth at Synetic Theater
March - Meet John Doe at Ford's Theatre and Doubt at National Theatre
April - Saving Aimee at Signature Theatre
May - Musical of Musicals: The Musical! at MetroStage and Opus at the Washington Stage Guild
June - The Witches of Eastwick at Signature Theatre
July - The Witches of Eastwick at Signature Theatre and Souvenir at Studio Theatre
August - 33 Variations at Arena Stage
September - 33 Variations at Arena Stage, My Children! My Africa! at Studio Theatre and The Unmentionables at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
October - My Children! My Africa! at Studio Theatre and The Word Begins at Signature Theatre
November - The Studio at Signature Theatre
December - Avenue Q at National Theatre

The Winner of the Ushers' Favorite Show Award for 2006 was Signature Theatre's production of Assassins, directed by Joe Calarco.

For 2006, the monthly winners were:

January - Fat Pig at Studio Theatre
February - The Velvet Sky at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
March - Hamlet at Rep Stage and Fanny's First Play at Washington Stage Guild
April - The Retreat from Moscow at Round House Theatre
May - The Elephant Man at Olney Theatre Center and  A Bright Room Called Day at Rorschach Theatre
June - Assassins at Signature Theatre
July - Assassins at Signature Theatre
August - 3/4 of a Mass for St. Vivian at Theater Alliance
September - Girl in the Goldfish Bowl at MetroStage and In The Continuum at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
October - The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at Catalyst Theater Company
November - Martha, Josie and the Chinese Elvis at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
December - She Loves Me at Arena Stage

The Winner of the Ushers' Favorite Show Award for 2005 was Signature Theatre's production of Urinetown, directed by Joe Calarco.

For 2005, the monthly winners were:

January - Fallen From Proust  at Signature Theatre and Black Milk at Studio Theatre
February - Romeo and Juliet at the Folger Theatre
March - The Goat or Who is Sylvia? at Arena Stage
April - Ten Unknowns at Signature Theatre
May - Take Me Out at Studio Theatre
June - Take Me Out at Studio Theatre
July - The Clean House at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
August - Urinetown at Signature Theatre
September - Urinetown at Signature Theatre
October - I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given to Me by a Young Lady from Rwanda
    at African Continuum Theatre Company and Born Yesterday at Arena Stage
November - The Beard of Avon at Rorschach Theatre Company and The Comedy of Errors at The Shakespeare
    Theatre Company
December - A Year with Frog and Toad at Round House and Damn Yankees at Arena Stage

The Winner of the Ushers' Favorite Show Award for 2004 was Studio Theatre's production of The Syringa Tree, directed by J.R. Sullivan and starring Gin Hammond.

The 2004 monthly winners were:

January - Allegro at Signature Theatre
February (Tie) - The Syringa Tree at Studio Theatre and Wintertime at Round House Theatre
March - The Syringa Tree at Studio Theatre
April - Five by Tenn, a Shakespeare Theatre production at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
May - A Streetcar Named Desire at the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater
June - The Radiant Abyss at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
July - The Glass Menagerie at the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater
August - Mary's Wedding, produced by the Theater Alliance at the H Street Playhouse.
September - M. Butterfly at Arena Stage
October - The Elephant Man at Catalyst Theater Company
November - The Highest Yellow at Signature Theatre
December - Pericles at the Shakespeare Theatre

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To be eligible to participate in the Ushers' Favorite Show Award program, a theater lover must regularly usher at live theater events and also regularly see shows at a number of theaters.

To sign up to be an Ushers Judge, simply send an email message to Ushers@PotomacStages.com providing the following information:

• name
• address
• phone number
• email address
• names of theater companies for which you currently usher
• names of theaters where you regularly attend

It should be noted that it is not our intention that the list of Usher Judges be made public; the only way a theater will know that one of its ushers is a judge is if that judge tells them.  This should help avoid any pressure to vote a particular way.

Once an usher has been added to the Ushers' Favorite Show Award program, he or she will receive an email query at the end of each month asking for a reply with the name of the favorite show seen in the month. It need not be a show for which he or she ushered, simply the favorite show seen that month.  Both community and professional productions are eligible.

Potomac Stages will tabulate the results and issue an award to the production which received the most votes for the month. Depending on production schedules, it would be quite possible for a production to receive the award in more than one month.  At the end of the year, a final ballot will be issued to the judges listing the monthly winners from which the Ushers Judges will be asked to choose the production to receive the Ushers' Favorite Show Award for the year.