The satirical musical Urinetown was a big winner at the Betty Mitchell Awards, taking home five awards, including best musical.

The Betty Mitchell Awards, the annual honours for outstanding performances in Calgary theatre, were presented on Monday evening.

The Overcoat won the Betty Mitchell Award for outstanding production of a play.
(Theatre Calgary/Canadian Stage/Citadel Theatre)

Urinetown pokes fun at government, bureaucracy, and corporate mismanagement with a story about a town so dry everyone has to use public toilets run by big corporation. It debuted at the New York Fringe Festival and moved to Broadway in 2001 before being picked up by theatre companies across North America.

The Calgary production was created by Ground Zero Theatre and Hit & Myth.

Two of the leads, Carson Nattrass and Victoria Lamond, took home outstanding actor and actress in a comedy or musical. Nattrass shared the best actor honour with Bruce Horak for his role in Alberta Theatre's This is Cancer.

Urinetown's Mark Belamy won the Betty for outstanding choreography and Randy Mueller won for musical direction.

The Overcoat, the musical extravaganza from Theatre Calgary, Toronto's Canadian Stage and Edmonton's Citadel Theatre, won the Betty Mitchell award for outstanding production of a play. It had been nominated for six awards.

Betty Mitchell Awards
Best play	The Overcoat
Best musical	Urinetown
Best actor (drama)	Ryan Luhning, The Pillowman
Best actress (drama)	Jennie Esdale, Confessions of a Paperboy
Best director	Kelly Reay, Trainspotting
Best actor (musical/comedy)	Bruce Horak, This is Cancer and Carson Nattrass, Urinetown
Best actress (musical)	Victoria Lamond, Urinetown
Best new play	Age of Arousal, Linda Griffiths
Best supporting actor (drama)	Trevor Leigh, The Pillowman
Best supporting actress	Jamie Konchak, Thy Neighbour's Wife

Age of Arousal, from veteran playwright Linda Griffiths, winner of five Dora Mavor Moore awards and a Gemini, was named outstanding new play. Set in 1885, it follows the course of five Victorian women who pursue new liberties in an age of erotic freedom.

Costume designer Jenifer Darbellay won a Betty for her work on Age of Arousal.

Kelly Reay won the award for best direction for the Sage Theatre production of Trainspotting.

Jennie Esdale was named best actress in a drama for her role in Confessions of a Paperboy.

Ryan Luhning of The Pillowman, a surreal drama set in a totalitarian country, won the award for best actor. Trevor Leigh won the best supporting actor honours in the same play, produced by Ground Zero and Hit & Myth.

Best supporting actress was Jamie Konchak in Thy Neighbour's Wife.