Every summer I select my picks for the best in community theater in the South Puget Sound area. Categories are not set in stone, but depend on what I think is deserving of recognition at the time. My choices are made based on shows I have seen during the past season and are limited to amateur and semi-professional theatrical productions. Following are my "Critic's Choice" awards for the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 seasons as published in The News Tribune in Tacoma.
Critic's Choice 2004-2005
Best musical: A tie between "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," at Tacoma Musical Playhouse,and "Man of La Mancha" at Lakewood Playhouse.
Best actor in a musical (male): Ron Burrage as the endearing but conniving J. Pierrepont Finch in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." Burrage has a smile that lights up the world. He answered the daunting challenge of a character who must remain loveable no matter how underhanded he acts, and he did it beautifully, reminding me of a young Jack Lemon with his mannerisms of a bumbling but sincere innocent. Plus, he’s a damn good singer and he exudes rhythm on the dance numbers.
Best actor in a musical (female): Maria Valenzuela as the aging diva Dorothy Brock in "42nd Street" at Tacoma Musical Playhouse.
Best direction of a musical: Jennie May Donnell’s direction of "La Cage Aux Folles" at Capital Playhouse. Donnell’s complex staging included blocking of 17 actors who combine to play 46 parts, some 30 or more wigs, and five different locations with 17 different scenes – all done in an intimate black box theater using side pieces that spin and a center that revolves to get the most out of a small space. Brilliantly, Donnell solved what could have been a huge technical problem with so many scene and costume changes by making all of the changes an integral part of the play. Set pieces were pushed and revolved on stage not by stagehands in the dark but by fully costumed actors under stage lights. The drag queen chorus line known as "Les Cagelles" and the townspeople of St. Tropez performed most of the set changes while dancing, drinking and making love in the wings.
Best drama: "The Chosen" at Lakewood Playhouse – beautifully staged and well acted by the entire cast.
Best dramatic actor (male): Chris Cantrell for his role as Macbeth at Olympia Little Theatre. (Cantrell was equally marvelous as Falstaff in "The Merry Wives of Windsor" at Lakewood Playhouse.)
Best dramatic actor (female): Pug Bujeaud as Mrs. Ethel Savage in Olympia Little Theatre’s "The Curious Savage." The moment Bujeaud stepped onstage there was a palpable sense of relaxation from the audience, because she inhabited the role so naturally that we in the audience forgot we were watching an actor, but thought we had been welcomed into Mrs. Savage’s home.
Best comedy: A tie between Larry Shue’s "The Nerd" at Tacoma Little Theatre and another Larry Shue comedy, "The Foreigner" at Olympia Little Theatre.
Best comic actor: Jim Winkler as Rick Steadman, the Nerd in "The Nerd." Winkler played the role to comedic perfection; from the way he holds his body to his open-mouth expression of astonishment at anything and everything, to his strange monotone speech patterns.
Best new play: Hands down this has to go to Harlequin Production’s "The Elsinore Diaries" written by Seattle playwrights Daniel Flint, Frank Lawler and Jason Marr and directed by Scott Whitney. This amazingly complex parody of "Hamlet" compares with the wittiest of plays by the likes of Tom Stoppard. Also deserving of special note was Bryan Harnetiaux’s "National Pastime" at Tacoma Little Theatre, which was based on the life of baseball great and civil rights pioneer Jackie Robinson.
Best newcomer: Erika Fiebig. As a first-time director of "Skylight" at The Midnight Sun and as a dramatic actor in Olympia Little Theatre’s "Two Rooms" Fiebig proved that she is going to be a presence to reckon with in the near future. She was also a thoroughly enchanting horror as one of the witches in "Macbeth" at Olympia Little Theatre. Deserving of honorable mention in this category is Reuben Walker as the teenage Danny Saunders in "The Chosen" at Lakewood Playhouse.
Special category, Best gender bender: Jeff Kingsbury as Albin in "La Cage Aux Folles" at Capital Theatre.
Critic's Choice 2005-2006
Best actor in a musical (male): Geoffery Paul Simmons in "Ain’t Misbehavin’" at Tacoma Little Theatre. Simmons’ fluid dance moves and dramatic gestures illuminated his nameless character. His performances on "The Viper Drag" and "The Reefer Song" could stand with the best musical performances of all time.
Best actor in a musical (female): Stacie Pinkney Calkins as Sarah in "Ragtime" at Tacoma Musical Playhouse. In my review, I said Calkins "inhabits the stage the way Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith inhabited nightclubs in their heydays."
Best direction of a musical: Jon Douglas Rake for "Ragtime" at Tacoma Musical Playhouse. Rake’s vision of how to scale down such a huge extravaganza without sacrificing dramatic impact or entertainment values was wondrous. Rake also did the choreography and came up with the idea for the inventive set using projected images. A close second in this category are the team of Jeff Kingsbury and Troy Arnold Fisher for "Little Shop of Horrors" at Capital Playhouse.
Best musical: "Ragtime" at Tacoma Musical Playhouse. All the elements came together in this one: a complex and powerful story told with powerful drama and music, great costumes and innovative staging. (Note: I was tempted to award a three-way tie in this category, with the other two winners being Tacoma Little Theatre’s "Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Harlequin Productions’ "Let the Good Times Roll," but these two, while filled with marvelous song and dance, lacked the dramatic complexity of "Ragtime."
Best dramatic actor (male): Lance McQueen as Walter Lee Younger in "A Raisin in the Sun" at Lakewood Playhouse. McQueen’s stage presence and intensity is undeniable.
Best dramatic actor (female): Christina Collins as Catherine in "Proof" at Olympia Little Theatre. This role was a tour de force for Collins, who proves she can go from alluring to dowdy in the blink of an eye. She expresses a full range of emotion without straining believability.
Best Direction of a drama: Don Welch for "Proof" at Olympia Little Theatre.
Best drama: This one is a tie between "Raisin in the Sun" at Lakewood Playhouse, directed by Frederick Charles Canada, and "Proof" at Olympia Little Theatre, directed by Don Welch. Both are honest and unflinching looks at life as it is lived, intelligently staged and well acted and directed.
Best comic actor (male): Rich Garrett as the evil Caldwell B. Cladwell in "Urinetown" at Capital Playhouse.
Best comic actor (female): Heather R. Christopher as Cass in "Wonder of the World" at Olympia Little Theatre.
Best comedy: "Wonder of the World" at Olympia Little Theatre.
Best new play: Bryan Willis’s "Northwest Passage." It’s hardly fair to even have this category since Willis is the only playwright whose work I have reviewed, but he disserves recognition.
Best newcomer: Eva Abrams for her acting debut as Lena Younger (Mama) in "A Raisin in the Sun" at Lakewood Playhouse.
Best supporting actor: Jon S. Robbins as Peanut in "Southern Baptist Sissies" at South Puget Sound Community College.
Best child actor: Grant Troyer as Pinocchio in "No Strings Attached" at Encore! Theatre in Gig Harbor. Only 13 at the time, Troyer displayed acting abilities worthy of a seasoned adult, plus he has a clear and beautiful voice.
Special category, riskiest play: Harlequin Productions’ "Frozen," a chilling and mesmerizing look at a compassionate reaction to a horrible crime.
Best theater: Harlequin Productions wins this one hands down for overall excellence in a variety of productions from rocking musical reviews with original scores to hard-hitting contemporary dramas to a unique interpretation of "Romeo and Juliette."
© 2006 by Alec Clayton