Is it too early for another round of Hubbies?

Not really; I think the last round I did was back in July! That's months ago. True, there are a few shows left to open this season, but I won't forget them, don't worry; there will no doubt be another round of Hubbies before the IRNE nominations are due. And I've even managed to dig up a new photo of Michael Phelps - still our choice to model for the actual prize, should one ever materialize (at left)!

So without further ado, and with congratulations of course to the honorees:

Best Productions

The Savannah Disputation, SpeakEasy Stage

The Remarkable Rooming House of Madame LeMonde - Provincetown Tennesee Williams Festival at Charlestown Working Theater

Sins of the Mother - Gloucester Stage

The Seafarer - Merrimack Repertory Theatre

Little Black Dress - Boston Playwrights' Theatre


Robert Walsh in Sins of the Mother.

Best New Plays

Sins of the Mother (above) - Israel Horowitz, Gloucester Stage

Truth Values - Gioia De Cari, Central Square Theater

Best Performances

Karen MacDonald - Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Gloucester Stage

Anne Gottlieb - The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, Gloucester Stage

Maureen Brennan, Troy Costa - Mame, Reagle Players

David Engel - La Cage aux Folles, Reagle Players

John Rubinstein - The Torch-Bearers, Williamstown Theatre Festival

Betty Gilpin - What is the Cause of Thunder?, Williamstown Theatre Festival

Gioia De Cari - Truth Values, Central Square Theater

Nancy E. Carroll, Paula Plum, Carolyn Charpie - The Savannah Disputation, SpeakEasy Stage

Larry Coen, Jordan Harrison - The Remarkable Rooming House of Madame LeMonde, Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theatre Festival

Crystal Fox, Eugene Lee - Fences, Huntington Theatre



Marianna Bassham, Jeremiah Kissel (above), Alex Pollock, Karl Baker Olson (entire cast) - Little Black Dress, Boston Playwrights' Theatre

John Kuntz - The Caretaker, Nora Theatre

Adrianne Krstansky - 2.5 Minute Ride, New Rep

Jessica D. Turner, Neil McGarry - Dead Man's Cell Phone, Lyric Stage

Kate Donnelly - Bash, Theatre on Fire

Gabriel Kuttner - Speed-the-Plow, New Rep

David Adkins, Gordon Joseph Weiss - The Seafarer, Merrimack Rep

Ben DiScipio, Shana Dirik - Sweeney Todd, Metro Stage Company

Dillian Arrick, Jonathan Popp, Ilyse Robbins - The Sparrow, Stoneham Theatre

Christian Rummel, Glenn Gordon - Waiting for Godot, Classic Theatre of Harlem/ICA

Tory Bullock, Obehi Janice - The Overwhelming, Company One

Robert Walsh, Christopher Whalen - Sins of the Mother, Gloucester Stage

Mary Callanan, Timothy John Smith - Kiss Me, Kate, Lyric Stage

Best Direction

Israel Horowitz - Sins of the Mother, Gloucester Stage

David Zoffoli - Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Gloucester Stage

Paul Daigneault - The Savannah Disputation, SpeakEasy Stage

Ari Edelson - Little Black Dress, Boston Playwrights' Theatre

Davis Robinson - The Remarkable Rooming House of Madame LeMonde, Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival

Charles Towers - The Seafarer, Merrimack Rep


Kiss Me, Kate at the Lyric Stage.

Best Design

Rafael Jean, costumes - Kiss Me, Kate, Lyric Stage, The Remarkable Rooming House of Madame LeMonde, Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival

Janie E. Howland, set - Kiss Me, Kate, Lyric Stage

Cristina Todesco, set - Dead Man's Cell Phone, Lyric Stage

Marjorie Bradley Kellogg, set - Fences, Huntington Theatre

Frances Nelson McSherry, costumes - Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Gloucester Stage

Eric Levenson, set - The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Gloucester Stage

More spring Hubbies

Yes, it's time for another "gratuitous" Michael Phelps photo (but are they ever gratuitous?) - because I've got a new round of Hubbies to distribute, this time to the best productions of the spring 2009 season. (For those who haven't heard, the "Hubbies" are virtual awards in the shape of my favorite Olympic swimmer holding up something inspiring.)

But enough about me and Michael. Looking back, this season seems a strange one - for the first time, almost all the really interesting work came from the smaller companies, although the large and mid-size theatres did manage to squeak in to the runners-up. I should ponder that trend further, but that post can wait till another day. So without further ado, the 2009 Spring Hubbies for the best local theatrical productions go to:



A Moon for the Misbegotten, by Eugene O'Neill, directed by Edward Morgan - Merrimack Repertory Theatre. The kind of production our in-town theatres just don't seem able to do anymore: a classic, challenging text; an insightful director; and a deeply affecting cast (above). That's all, but it was more than enough.

Dark Play, or Stories for Boys, by Carlos Murillo, directed by Danielle Fauteux Jacques - Apollinaire Theatre. This amoral look at the sexual mores of the Internet was performed and paced to near perfection. Mark Vashro and Erez Rose played the alternately deceived and self-deceiving protagonists, at right.

Humble Boy, by Charlotte Jones, directed by Diego Arciniegas - Publick Theater. Jones may be too clearly an imitator of Stoppard - but what's wrong with that, particularly when she's doing better by the old boy than he seems to be able to do himself these days? Director Diego Arciniegas deftly guided a gifted cast through a pastiche of Hamlet, Alan Ayckbourn, and bee-keeping that never quite headed where you thought it was going to.

The Superheroine Monologues, by John Kuntz and Rick Park, directed by Greg Maraio - Phoenix Theatre Artists. Mix two parts loving satire to one part spandex, and you have this witty, original romp from two of the funniest guys on the theatre scene. There were, it's true, a few bumps in these superheroines' respective flights, but at their best they soared above the competition - the script was easily stronger than any of the new work developed and premiered by our larger theatres this year. And the costumes were to die for. I mean it. That's fellow blogger Art Hennessey and his main squeeze, the talented Amanda Hennessey, playing out their personal relationship onstage, at right.

But just so no one feels left out, I do have a few runner-up statuettes, to distribute to the other worthy productions of the season, which included:

Picnic, by William Inge - Stoneham Theatre; The Corn is Green, by Emlyn Williams - Huntington Theatre; A View of the Harbor, by Richard Dresser - Merrimack Repertory Theatre; Picasso at the Lapin Agile, by Steve Martin - New Repertory Theatre; Speech and Debate, by Stephen Karam - Lyric Stage.

Well, that's all for now; but coming soon: more Hubbies for actors, designers and directors.