DASH Award Categories

Awards are given in two divisions: Musicals and Plays. Separate nominees/awards will be issued for each category in each division.

Technical
Best Set Design/Construction
Best Set Dressing
Best Lighting Design
Best Sound Design
Best Costume Design
Best Hair & Make-up Design
Best Props Management
Best Stage Management

Performance
Best Choreography (Musical division only)
Best Music Direction (Musical division only)
Best Ensemble
Best Director
Best Production

Individual Performance
Best Featured Ensemble
Best Youth Actor (17 years old or younger)
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Lead Actor
Best Lead Actress

For the category of "Best Production," the combined score of all technical categories will count as 43% of the total score while the combined score of all performance categories will count as 57%. This weighted scoring is intended to balance the inequity in the number of categories in each area (technical vs performance) as well as to give slightly more weight to performance elements.
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Individual Performance scores do not count towards a production's overall score. Individual actors are scored at the consultants' discretion based on what they feel are outstanding performances worthy of individual recognition. Consultants are not required to recognize any individual performances within a production if they feel none merit award consideration. In the instance where one visiting consultant chooses to score an individual performance while the second does not, the second consultant will be asked to provide a score for said individual. If a second score is not provided, a median score of 39 (Musical) or 33 (Play) will be attributed as the second score. If any roles are double-cast, information regarding the dates on which each actor will perform should be provided to the DASH Coordinator. Every effort will be made for all actors to be seen by one of the DASH Consultants.

How are the scores tallied and checked?
  • Ballots are submitted to the DASH Coordinator by each of the two attending consultants within two weeks of seeing the production.
  • Ballots are carefully reviewed to ensure consistency within the program and that production notes support the scores submitted. 
  • In the event that the DASH Coordinator or a family member is directly involved in a participating production, completed ballots for said production will instead be sent to an agreed-upon third party until the completion of the DASH season in order to ensure program integrity.
  • At the end of the DASH season, once all ballots have been finalized, the DASH Coordinator creates a score tabulation spreadsheet which includes scores from each participating production (not including the ballots submitted to a third party, as above.)  This spreadsheet is forwarded to the third party, after which the DASH Coordinator will request the ballots collected by the third party and will then add them to the final tabulation spreadsheet. 
  • This final version of the spreadsheet is sent to an auditor (or auditors) to perform a comprehensive review.  The auditors then request all nominated shows and randomly selected ballots directly from members of the DASH Consultant Team for independent verification of accuracy and to ensure that scores were not altered or incorrectly imported during the tabulation process.
  • Once all scores have been tabulated and verified, the DASH Coordinator determines the top ten in each category based on the top ten scores.  This list is shared with the entire consultant team with the purpose of providing feedback on actor classification, eligibility, general observations on shows they have seen, and any subjective criteria not accounted for by the standard score sheet. 
  • The top six from each category are then tallied for the purposes of the nominations and DASH winners are based on the top scores in each category.