Tired of my ongoing "Best of 2009" list yet? Well, we're almost to the end - I did want to throw a few more bouquets, however, to the performers, directors and designers whose work has stuck with me over the past year. To wit:
Best Actresses
Anne Gottlieb (above, with Robert Pemberton) - The Goat, Gloucester Stage
Karen MacDonald - The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Gloucester Stage
Nancy E. Carroll and Paula Plum - The Savannah Disputation, SpeakEasy Stage (It's hard to think of them separately in this particular piece, although Carroll also sparkled in Humble Boy, and Plum shone in The New Century.)
Crystal Fox - Fences, Huntington Theatre
Mariann Bassham - Little Black Dress, Boston Playwrights' Theatre
Shana Dirik - Sweeney Todd, Metro Stage
Kate Donnelly - Bash, Theatre on Fire
Rachael Hunt - Speech and Debate, Lyric Stage
Alicia Kahn - On the Verge, Nora Theatre
Cheryl McMahon - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Lyric Stage, and Cabaret, New Rep
Sasha Castroverde - An Ideal Husband, Bad Habit Productions
Adrianne Krstansky - 2.5 Minute Ride, New Rep
Tracy Oliviero - The Random Caruso, CentaStage
Amanda Good Hennessey, The Superheroine Monologues, Phoenix Theater Artists/Company One
Best Actors
Timothy John Smith (above) - Jerry Springer: The Opera, SpeakEasy Stage
Will Lebow - Romance, American Repertory Theatre
Ed Dixon - Pirates!, Huntington Theatre
David Engle - La Cage aux Folles, Reagle Players
Ben DiScipio - Sweeney Todd, Metro Stage
Stephen Libby - A Child's Christmas in Wales, Boston Children's Theatre
Adam Freeman - A Child's Christmas in Wales, Boston Children's Theatre
John Kuntz - The Caretaker, Nora Theatre
Barlow Adamson - On the Verge, Nora Theatre
Robert Walsh - Sins of the Mother, Gloucester Stage
Gabriel Kuttner - Speed-the-Plow, New Rep
Will Lyman - Exits and Entrances, New Rep
Gordon Joseph Weiss - A Moon for the Misbegotten and The Seafarer, Merrimack Rep
David Adkins - The Seafarer, Merrimack Rep
Nigel Gore - Humble Boy, Publick Theatre
Alex Pollock - Daughter of Venus, Boston Playwrights' Theatre
Michael Forden Walker - The Duchess of Malfi, Actors' Shakespeare Project
Best Ensembles
Marianna Bassham, Jeremiah Kissel, Alex Pollock, Karl Baker Olson - Little Black Dress, Boston Playwrights' Theatre, directed by Ari Edelson
Erez Rose, Mark Vashro, Christine Busler, Brian Quint and Lorna Nogueira - Dark Play, or Stories for Boys, Apollinaire Theatre, directed by Danielle Fauteux Jacques
Nancy E. Carroll, Aimee Doherty, Philana Mia, Joe Lanza, Dennis Trainor, Jr., Cedric Lilly, and Rebecca Skye Hamberg - The Pain and the Itch, Company One, directed by M. Bevin O'Gara
Stephanie Clayman, Nigel Gore, Nancy E. Carroll, Tom O'Keefe, Claire Warden, Dafydd Rees - Humble Boy, Publick Theatre, directed by Diego Arciniegas
Paul Farwell, Owen Doyle, Marianna Bassham, Scott Sweatt, Scott Severance, Stacy Fisher, Christopher James Webb, Neil A. Casey, Dennis Trainor - Picasso at the Lapin Agile, New Rep, directed by Daniel Gidron
Alma Cuervo, Dick Latessa, Alfredo Narciso, Christina Pumariega, Pedro Pascal, Gregory Wooddell, and Lucy DeVito - The Miracle at Naples, Huntington Theatre, directed by Peter DuBois
Best Directors
(Why doesn't this list match the "Best Ensemble" list? Because these directors, in addition to drawing superb work from their actors, also mined unexpected depths from their respective plays.)
Ari Edelson - Little Black Dress, Boston Playwrights' Theatre
Edward Morgan - A Moon for the Misbegotten, Merrimack Rep
Charles Towers - The Seafarer, Merrimack Rep
Paul Daigneault - The Savannah Disputation, SpeakEasy Stage
Nicholas Martin - The Corn is Green, Huntington Theatre
Israel Horovitz - Sins of the Mother, Gloucester Stage
Davis Robinson - The Remarkable Rooming House of Madame LeMonde, Tennesee Williams Festival at the Charlestown Working Theater
Best Designers
There was one design that towered over the rest of the year: the incredible spinning-earth set Francis O'Connor devised for the otherwise-disappointing Two Men of Florence (above) at the Huntington. This was one of the most inspired and thought-through sets I've ever seen in my life. But there were plenty of other memorable designs this year. A few of the best:
Eric Levenson - sets, The Goat and The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Gloucester Stage
Cristina Todesco - sets, The Pain and the Itch, Company One, The New Century, SpeakEasy Stage, and Dead Man's Cell Phone, Lyric Stage
Alexander Dodge - set, The Miracle at Naples, Huntington Theatre
Richard Wadsworth Chambers - set, A View of the Harbor, Merrimack Rep
Rafael Jean - costumes, Kiss Me, Kate, Lyric Stage, The Remarkable Rooming House of Madame LeMonde, Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival
Greg Maraio - costumes, The Superheroine Monologues, Phoenix Theatre Artists/Company One
Frances Nelson McSherry - costumes, The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Gloucester Stage
Gail Astrid Buckley - costumes, The New Century, SpeakEasy Stage
Whew! Well, I think that's it for my "best of" lists, at least for the theatre - I'm still mulling one for music. Till then, have a Happy New Year!
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