TOPPERS honors military community theater productions, performers.
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WIESBADEN, Germany – Fifteen plays, musicals, family shows and the volunteers who made them happen were honored at the 65th annual Tournament of Plays (TOPPERs) Awards Show at the Wiesbaden Fitness Center on Clay Kaserne April 25.
More than 650 people attended the Installation Management Command–Europe ceremony that’s patterned after the Tony Awards to recognize outstanding theater productions and cast across military communities in Europe – marking the event’s largest-ever audience, according to Dane Winters, Army Entertainment Program Manager for IMCOM-Europe.
The evening’s three major awards for best Play, Musical and Family Show went to “Clybourne Park” (The Stuttgart Theater Center), “The Addams Family” (The Stuttgart Theater Center), and “Piper” (KMC Onstage), respectively. The nominees encompassed seven Army Entertainment and two Air Force community theaters in Germany, Italy and Belgium.
The awards show opened with comments from host COL Kirk Alexander, IMCOM-Europe deputy director. He praised TOPPERs as a premiere Army Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation event, as well as one of the largest and longest running festivals. The evening gala also featured eight musical numbers performed by cast members from musicals entered in the awards.
Alexander thanked all of the Soldiers, civilians and family members who provide thousands of volunteer hours putting on live theater events throughout the overseas military communities, and gave special recognition this year to an unsung group of supporters that help make it all possible – parents.
“Thank you to all the parents who spend countless hours helping their kids participate in our theater programs,” he said. “Between driving back and forth to rehearsals; helping memorize lines and music; working on the costumes, lights, props and sets; and so much more, these parents spend as much time as their kids at the theater. You are providing your child an incredible opportunity to learn life skills, confidence, make friends, and find a place to belong.”
He also lauded the volunteerism that helps improve the quality of life in overseas military communities.”
One of the evening’s highlights was the presentation of a ceremonial check for $4.3 million, which “represents the 119,737 volunteer hours given to U.S. Army Garrisons and Air Force Community Theaters in Europe from April 2025 to April 2026 by 18,743 military, civilian and family member volunteers,” said Winters.
“These hours were devoted to putting on live music and theater programs in their communities, which were attended by over 17,017 audience members at 470 live theatrical events,” Winters added. “Computed at the 2025 official rate for volunteerism, this equates to $4,328,492.55 in volunteer hours.”
Along with Winters, the two other TOPPERs awards judges were Andrea Huber and Jonathon Lamer. They watched the nominated shows in person to determine more than 50 technical and performance awards presented at the ceremony.
The awards event featured announcements of some winners via celebrity presentations on video, including from David Hyde Pierce, Carrie Preston, Harvey Feirstein, Tig Notaro, Mark Damon Espinoza, Mark Jacobson, Alexandra Metz, Dominic Burgess, and Stephen Flaherty.
In addition to the annual awards, two long-time Army Entertainment staff members were recognized for their enduring contributions spanning decades in theater – Victoria Hanrahan, the Ansbach Entertainment Director, who started in 1985 and Alan Buxkemper, the Stuttgart Entertainment Branch Director, who started in 1989.
A complete list of nominations, award winners and event photos is available at[2026 US Army IMCOM Europe Entertainment Tournament of Plays.](https://www.armymwr.com/programs-and-services/entertainment/europe-entertai/2026-us-army-imcom-europe-tournament-plays-toppers)
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.army.mil ’
