It's once again time for high art to meet sports porn in . . .

What do you want from me, it's football season!

People sometimes ask me, "Why do you always have to post dirty pictures of hot guys (that's Vince Ramos above, btw) with the Hubbie Awards?  I'm like totally embarrassed to tell my mother about my award!" To which I can only answer, "If you have to ask about the dirty pictures of the hot guys on the Hub Review, then you haven't been paying attention."  And honey, there's nothing on this blog that your mother doesn't already know.

Now it has been a while since the last edition of the Hubbies, and my attention has been somewhat divided of late between the music, art and dance scenes, so I'm afraid there have been achievements in the theatre this fall that will go un-recorded here.  But that's no reason not to celebrate what has been achieved and can be recorded, is it?  True, the season has been up and down so far, but we've been lucky to have experienced two world-class visiting productions, Candide at the Huntington, and The Speaker's Progress at ArtsEmerson - although I'm afraid we've also been subjected to a pretty high level of pseudo-intellectual dross (from the usual suspects - attended by the usual cheers from ditto).  But let's not think about that now!  Let's remember instead that the New Rep seems to have survived Kate Warner's disappointing tenure, and that the fringe is bubbling along with more energy than ever - they're getting more organized, and every now and then, the print critics actually deign to write about them!

Which are good enough reasons, I think, to tell ourselves that the glass is half full, not half empty. And what better way to do that than to look back at the best acting, singing, direction and design from the past few months?

So without further ado - and in no particular order -

Geoff Packard and members of the ensemble in Candide.

Best Ensembles

Candide - Geoff Packard, Lauren Molina, Larry Yando, Cheryl Stern, Erik Lochtefeld, Jesse Perez, Timothy John Smith, McCaela Donovan, Tom Aulino, Spencer Curnutt, Alexander Elisa, Rebecca Finnegan, Evan Harrington, Abby Mueller, Jeff Parker, Emma Rosenthal, Joey Stone, Tempe Thomas, Travis Turner, Tom Hamlett and Shonna McEachern, directed by Mary Zimmerman, Huntington Theatre.

Clybourne Park - Timothy Crowe, Tommy Dickie, Mia Ellis, Mauro Hantman, Anne Scurria, Rachael Warren, Joe Wilson, Jr., directed by Brian Mertes, Trinity Rep.

The Speaker's Progress - Sulayman Al-Bassam, Amal Omran, Carole Abboud, Fayez Kazak, Nassar al Nassar, Faisal Al Ameeri, Nicolas Daniel, Nowar Yousef, directed by Sulayman Al-Bassam, ArtsEmerson.

Trout Stanley - Becky Webber, Kathryn Lynch, Sean George, directed by Louise Richards, Exquisite Corps.

Fayez Kazak in Speaker's Progress

Best Performances in a Drama

Alycia Sacco - Arcadia, Bad Habit Productions.

Gabriel Kuttner - Love Song, Orfeo Group.

Mal Malme - The T Plays, Mill 6 Collaborative.

Beth Wittig, Christina Pumariega - The Persian Quarter, Merrimack Rep.

Joey Pelletier, Scott Sweatt - Macbett, Imaginary Beasts.

Nate Gundy, Aimee Rose Ranger - Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth, Whistler in the Dark.

Fred Sullivan, Angela Brazil - His Girl Friday, Trinity Rep.

Liz Hayes - Collected Stories, New Rep.

Amelia Broome, Robert Walsh - Next Fall, SpeakEasy Stage.

Gordon Clapp - This Verse Business, Merrimack Rep.


Best Performances in a Musical

Lisa O'Hare, Hayden Tee, Sarah deLima - My Fair Lady, North Shore Music Theatre.

Aimee Doherty, Leigh Barrett - And the World Goes 'Round, New Repertory Theatre.

Kate Fisher - The King and I, North Shore Music Theatre.

Philip Boykin, Bryonha Marie Parham, Natasha Yvette Williams - Porgy and Bess, A.R.T.

Till next time!

Best Design

Dan Ostling (set), Mara Blumenfeld (costumes), Timothy J. Gerckens (lighting) - Candide, Huntington Theatre.

Sam Collins (production) - The Speaker's Progress, ArtsEmerson.

Campbell Baird (set) - The Persian Quarter, Merrimack Rep.

PJ Strachman (lighting) - Cahoot's Macbeth, Whistler in the Dark.

Cristina Todesco (set) - Love Song, Orfeo Group.


Best Direction

Mary Zimmerman - Candide, Huntington Theatre.

Sulayman Al-Bassam - The Speaker's Progress, ArtsEmerson.