2023 BPA Award Recipients

ARTS FOR LIFE conducts an annual special event to honor the contributions of community volunteers to musical theatre in the Metro-St. Louis area entitled Best Performance Awards for Community Musical Theatre. A theatrical event in itself, musical numbers from nominated shows are performed, Lifetime Achievement awards to St. Louis “legends” in the Arts are conferred and Special Achievement awards for “unique applications of theatre” are presented with narration, guest appearances and special effects.  

Nomination and selection of the community theatre awards are done by a special committee, i.e., the Theatre Recognition Guild, made up of theatre critics, drama teachers, music and voice teachers, professional performers or artists, members of community theatre groups, and people who just have an avid interest in musical theatre. This committee reviews each of the musical theatre productions as an audience member and scores each participant in each category.  

To the hundreds of local musicians and amateur thespians, the Best Performance Awards for Community Musical Theatre is a way for the community to say thank you to its volunteers in the Performing Arts; it showcases individual theater groups with musical production numbers from nominated shows, and recognizes individual and ensemble performers through awards recognition.
 

Theatre groups within a 35 mile radius of Clayton, Missouri who hold open auditions for non-paid actors are invited to participate.

• Legally Blonde - Alfresco Productions, Nov 8-1A & 15-17, Alfresco Performing Arts Center

• Oliver! - Gateway Center for Performing Arts -   Nov 22-24 - KPAC  

• Anastasia - Young People's Theatre - Dec 13-15 - Shook Theatre at St Chales Community College    

The 2025 Best Performance and Theatre Mask Awards participation forms are now available. Groups wishing to have their shows judged in 2025 need to fill out the forms 8 weeks prior to their opening night.

View Photos from past Best Performance Awards