Tom Jackson and John Mann in Beyond Eden (David Cooper/Vancouver Playhouse)

Beyond Eden by Theatre Calgary and The Highest Step in the World by Alberta Theatre Projects have each earned five nominations for Betty Mitchell Awards, the annual awards for excellence in Calgary theatre.

Nominees for the awards were announced Thursday in Calgary. Calgary's two largest theatre troupes grabbed the lions' share of the nominations — ATP has 26 nominations, while Theatre Calgary has 15.

Beyond Eden, composer Bruce Ruddell's choral work about a 1957 trip to take down the totem poles of Haida Gwaii, was nominated for best musical and B.C. musician Bill Henderson has a nod for best musical director.

Theatre Calgary worked with The Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company to produce Beyond Eden, which was staged in Vancouver during the Winter Olympics. It also was nominated for best lighting, costume and set design.

The Highest Step in the World, an aviation fantasy mounted by Alberta Theatre Projects with Ghost River Theatre, is one of six works nominated for best production.

David van Belle — star and co-creator of Highest Step with Eric Rose — is nominated for best actor and best new play and the work has a nod for best sound design and best choreography for its gymnastic depiction of early NASA aviation tests.

Communion, the third play in acclaimed Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor's trilogy that began with Confession and Redemption, also has a vote for best production, as well as best direction for Linda Moore.

Its leads, Valerie Planche and Esther Purves-Smith, who played mother and daughter in a fraught, sometimes comedic relationship, have double nominations for best actress in a drama.

Highest Step and Communion are vying for best dramatic production with another ATP work I, Claudia and with In the Wake by Downstage 4 and Blood Relations and Evelyn Strange, both by Vertigo Theatre.

In the Wake, a theatrical examination of eco-terrorism and I, Claudia, the one-woman show about the pain of adolescence, each earned four nominations including best actress for Liisa Repo-Martell as Claudia.

Theatre Calgary's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee earned four nominations, including best musical, best choreography and best actor in the musical for Kevin Corey. The quirky musical comedy follows six adolescents through a fictional spelling bee.

The guy behind the music, Joe Slabe, earned two nominations for best musical direction, for Spelling Bee and But this is my Day Job.

Calgary Opera's Manon also was recognized for musical production and tenor Richard Troxell, playing a lead character tempted by lust and greed, has a Betty nomination for best performance.

Isis: A Shadow Opera by Green Fools Theatre and The Producers by Stage West also have nominations for best musical.

The Betty Mitchell Awards will be presented Aug. 30, 2010, in Calgary.