Local talent nominated for awards
The cast and crew of Turtle Island Theatre’s Murder
Afoot (pictured) are among those leading this year’s BroadwayWorld nominations. Courtesy Eric Curotte-Ryder
The annual BroadwayWorld Montreal Awards nominees are officially public, and some of Kahnawake’s finest acting talent are amongst those heading up the list.
“I’m an artist and I can feel confident in that now because people are recognizing me for it, and that feels amazing and just so special,” said Brandi Kahnekanoron Jacobs, who is nominated for Best Performer in a Play for her role as Collette Lamarre in Turtle Island Theatre’s Murder Afoot.
Voting is open to the public and ends at 11:59 p.m. on December 31 - right now, Jacobs is in fourth place out of 10 nominees in her category.
Another familiar face on the nominee list is Eric Curotte-Ryder, who is nominated for Best Supporting Performer in a Musical for his role as Mr. Lawrence in Starcatcher Production’s Little Women.
The cast of Turtle Island Theatre’s The Matchmaker
“It means a great deal to us all, it means that theatre arts is supercharged here in Kahnawake, and it gives us more confidence to continue with where we’re going,” said Curotte-Ryder.
Other local nominees include Tricia Sky and Kyle Zachary who are both also nominated in the Best Performer in a Play category for their roles in Turtle Island Theatre’s The Matchmaker, a production that also earned a Best Direction of a Play nomination for Kevin John Saylor.
Angel Robertson also earned two nominations, one in the Best Performer in a Musical category for her performance as Beth March in Little Women and a second in Best Supporting Performer in a Play for her role as Minne Fay in The Matchmaker.
Both Turtle Island Theatre and Starcatcher Productions are also nominated for Favourite Local Theatre - Starcatcher Productions is currently in second place, with nine per cent of the vote.
Jacobs found out about the nominations after the closing night of Murder Afoot, and she was delighted to see so much local talent in the cohort of this year’s nominees.
“I know how much work people have put into this, so knowing they got the recognition they deserve just makes me so proud,” Jacobs said.
She resumed her childhood theatre journey as an adult with Robertson at Starcatcher Production back in 2022 - she remembers them both pulling into the parking lot of the Legion and bonding over feeling nervous for auditions.
Starcatcher Production’s Little Women is up for numerous BroadwayWorld awards
“It was a brand-new world for us and we just motivated each other to go through with it, and ever since we’ve just stuck through it and done a bunch of productions together,” she said.
“It’s really nice to see these awards show that progress and growth we’ve both made in our acting journeys, and just to see people moving up in the world and in our community.”
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For Ryder, the nominations are just the cherry on top of what has already proven to be a great year for theatre in the community - and a glimpse of what’s to come, with more opportunities abound once Kanatahkwèn:ke, Kahnawake’s new Cultural Arts Center opens with a 178-seat theatre.
“I’m happy about everyone’s nominations, because they deserved their nominations and I hope they win too, but being nominated in and of itself is a win to me,” he said. “The teamwork and dedication that we put into our craft really encouraged us to get that drive going. I’m proud of them all, let’s make 2026 all the more exciting!”
Votes can be cast online at www.broadwayworld.com/montreal/awards.
