The Cloris Leachman Excellence in Theatre Arts Awards, a celebration that brings together Des Moines’ theater professionals, reflects its namesake. Leachman was a dynamic, versatile performer whose work spanned nearly eight decades and every acting medium. From dramatic roles (including Ruth Popper in The Last Picture Show, which earned her an Academy Award) to her cult characters (such as Frau Blücher in Young Frankenstein), Leachman embraced challenges throughout her performance career, leaving an indelible legacy.
Stories about her early life in Des Moines abound. Leachman’s love of her hometown continued throughout her life, and she often returned to rekindle family and community connections.
The performing companies vying for top Cloris Awards honors each year embrace that constant striving for excellence. A defining return-to-origins happened when Leachman was the Honoree at the 2016 Cloris Awards. The Des Moines Community Playhouse, which Leachman joined in the ’40s (when it was known as the Kendall Theatre; Leachman appeared in productions of Ah, Wilderness and Love Rides the Rails), is a regular at the awards.
While long-standing companies have internally encouraged celebrating their own, the Cloris Awards are a meeting point. Both creatives and the public are invited to the ceremony, and to experience firsthand the collegiality of this network of producers and the talent.
The past decade has seen a dynamic expansion of children’s theater programming in Greater Des Moines, which is reflected, and perhaps influenced by, the Cloris Awards creating categories for youth ensembles and productions in 2016. While the Des Moines Playhouse has presented literature-based plays and musicals for decades through its Kate Goldman Family Series, more recent additions to this rich, youthful trend include CAP (Class Act Productions) Theatre, Des Moines Young Artists’ Theatre (DMYAT) and Tallgrass Theatre’s Seedlings.
CAP Theatre introduces and engages 7- to 17-year-olds in stage work and production crew work. Each show has the expected young talent performing, but also young crew members designing, executing and otherwise running the production backstage. They also challenge their youthful entourage by presenting an annual CAP Classic in which they produce a Shakespearean play. (See the full list of 2025 nominees for Outstanding Production for Youth & Family production.)
This year’s array of stage productions also includes several thought-provoking and bold works that challenged audiences. The Playhouse’s Men on Boats delivers an historical reimagining of John Wesley Powell’s treacherous journey down the Colorado River in 1869 with a wildly diverse crew of men. The dialogue is pulled directly from journals. The roles, all played by women in this brilliant script by Jaclyn Backhaus, is jarring in all the right ways.
Tallgrass Theatre’s annual Dream Project presented the provocatively powerful Equus, a psychological thriller that still vibrates with a deep intensity more than 50 years after its premiere.
DMYAT has established itself by including socially relevant works in their eclectic seasons. This year they produced The Laramie Project, recalling the tragic slaying of Matthew Shepard. In the hands of their youthful cast, this show delivered a special layering of poignance and power around issues of LGBTQ+ hate and solidarity.
The newcomer, About Time Theatre Company, launched with the ingenious one-woman production, Squeamish. Kim Haymes delivered a tour de force performance to a run of sold-out shows.
The Cloris Awards are held on the final Sunday in August; this year, that’s Aug. 24. Along with giving local artists their well-deserved flowers, the lists of nominees and winners provide a comprehensive glimpse into the thought-provoking and mind-opening power of Des Moines’ theatrical output.
As Denise Forney, key coordinator for the Cloris Awards Committee shared, “There is so much to honor — from bold new works to breathtaking performances, powerful stories, and the countless artists, technicians, stage managers and volunteers who make magic on our stages year-round.” Anyone is welcome to attend.
Upcoming event:
John Busbee produces The Culture Buzz, a weekly arts & culture radio show on www.kfmg.org, covering Iowa’s arts scene with an inclusive sweep of the cultural brush. He is the recipient of the Iowa Governor’s Award for Partnership and Collaboration in the Arts.
