And the Hubbie goes to . . .

Yes, it's time for one of my periodic backward glances at the best of what's been on the Hub's boards, in which I bestow the "Hubbie," my personal award for artistic excellence, which is, of course, utterly free of the compromises and collusions which beset the processes of other awards (as well as the foolish imperative to limit the award to only one recipient). Therefore the "Hubbie" is totally accurate. Trust me. The only downside of the Hubbie, in fact, is that there isn't an actual Hubbie yet to hand out. But perhaps someday there will be - I'm thinking maybe of a sculpture of Michael Phelps in lucite, holding up something inspiring. But in the meantime . . .

Just to backtrack for a moment - earlier in the season I noted the following superb performances on the local scene:

Maureen Keiller (above), Angie Jepson, The Little Dog Laughed, SpeakEasy Stage;

John Judd, Shining City, Huntington Theatre Company;

Nancy E. Carroll, Paula Plum, and Bobbie Steinbach in The Clean House, the New Rep;

Will McGarrahan and Diego Arciniegas, Some Men, SpeakEasy Stage;

Jeff Gill, Love-Lies-Bleeding, Way Theatre; and

Georgia Lyman, Jeremiah Kissel, The Scene, Lyric Stage.

I'd like to add to that roster the following from later productions in the spring:


Tyler Reilly greets Elizabeth Aspenlieder in Angels in America.

Maurice Parent, Tyler Reilly and Bree Elrod, Angels in America, Boston Theatreworks;

Chelsea Cipolla, This Is Our Youth, Gurnet Theatre Project;

Jonathan Crombie, The Drowsy Chaperone, Broadway Across America;

Cigdem Onat, Amir Arison, The Cry of the Reed, Huntington Theatre Company;

Bhavesh Patel, The Four of Us, Merrimack Repertory Theatre;

Uzo Aduba, Dessa Rose, New Repertory Theatre;

Jennifer Harmon, A Delicate Balance, Merrimack Repertory Theatre;

Paula Plum (again, at left), Karl Baker Olson, The History Boys, SpeakEasy Stage;

Brooks Ashmanskas and Kate Baldwin, with a special citation for the entire cast, She Loves Me, Huntington Theatre Company;

Bianca Marroquin, Eric Ulloa, Bye Bye Birdie, North Shore Music Theatre; and

Georgia Lyman (again), Look Back in Anger, Orfeo Group.

But why limit the awards merely to actors? There was quite a bit of good directing going on this spring - and I think at least four directors deserve special mention:

Nicholas Martin, She Loves Me, Huntington Theatre Company;

Charles Towers, A Delicate Balance, Merrimack Repertory Theatre;

Diego Arciniegas, Travesties, The Publick Theatre; and

Michael Lichtefeld, Bye Bye Birdie, North Shore Music Theatre.

I'd also like to bestow some virtual statuettes on our talented local designers (actually, some are local, some not):

Janie E. Howland, set design, The History Boys, SpeakEasy Stage;



Eric Levenson, set design, and Christopher Fournier, lighting design, Some Men (above), SpeakEasy Stage;

Cristina Todesco, set design,and Jamie Whoolery, projections, The Clean House, New Repertory Theatre;

David R. Gammons, set design, The Tempest, Actors' Shakespeare Project;

John Malinowski, lighting design, King John, Actors' Shakespeare Project;

Cotton Talbot-Minkin, costume design, and Brent Sullivan, lighting design, Imaginary Things, or Treacle from the Well, Imaginary Beasts;

Bill Clarke, set design, and Martha Hally, costume design, A Delicate Balance, Merrimack Repertory Theatre;

Eugene Lee, set design, The Cry of the Reed, Huntington Theatre Company;

David Gallo, set design, The Drowsy Chaperone, Broadway Across America;

James Noone, set design, and Kenneth Posner and Philp Rosenberg, lighting design, She Loves Me, Huntington Theatre Company; and



Howard C. Jones, Bye Bye Birdie (above), North Shore Music Theatre.

There. I'm sure I've left somebody out, but no doubt they will occur to me in the next edition of Hubbies, which I hope to offer about midway through the fall season. Till then!