Filumena, the new critically acclaimed Albertan opera co-produced by The Banff Centre and Calgary Opera, received awards in four major categories at the 2003 Betty Mitchell Awards, an annual celebration honouring outstanding achievement in Calgary professional theatre.

The opera, created by librettist John Murrell and composer John Estacio, garnered awards for Outstanding New Play (John Murrell), Outstanding Musical Direction (Bramwell Tovey), Outstanding Performance in a Musical (Laura Whalen), and Outstanding Production of a Musical (Calgary Opera) at yesterday’s awards ceremony held at Stage West Dinner Theatre in Calgary.

"This has been a phenomenally rewarding year," said Murrell, OC, AOE, artistic director, Theatre Arts, at the Centre. "It was very emotional for me to see Filumena come alive on the stage after years of hard work and collaboration. Then to have our opera receive Betty awards in four categories, to be recognized by colleagues and friends in the theatre industry, is both an honour and a thrill."

Filumena played to enthusiastic sold-out houses during the 2003 Banff Summer Arts Festival, building upon the critically and publicly acclaimed premiere production presented by the Calgary Opera last February. The future continues to look bright for this homegrown opera, as a number of Canadian opera companies have expressed interest in staging this production.

Filumena tells the true story of Florence (Filumena) Losandro, an Italian immigrant living in Alberta during Prohibition. She was accused, along with Emilio Picariello, of the 1922 murder of a provincial police constable and was one of the last women hanged in Canada.

Other 2003 Betty Mitchell Award winners included Banff Centre faculty and alumni, among them were Jenifer Darbellay, Christopher Hunt, Trevor Leigh, Ken Macdonald, Grant Reddick, Meg Roe, Glenda Stirling, and Bob White.

For downloadable images of Filumena on the Web visit http://www.banffcentre.ca/communications/image_pg/#Filumena.