Critics Choice

The News Tribune, July 22, 2011

My selections for Critic’s Choice of the best in community theater in South Puget Sound are selected from performances I have reviewed in this column over the past season. My point in doing this is to acknowledge those who are commendable without making it into a winner-takes-all competition, so in many categories I have chosen more than one person or show.

Best Actor in a Musical (male): Glenn Guhr as Sweeny in “Sweeny Todd” at Lakewood Playhouse.

Best Actor in a Musical (female): Co-stars Sharry O’Hare and Emilie Rommel-Shimkus for their work in “Always… Patsy Cline” at Tacoma Little Theatre. Beautiful singing from Rommel-Shimkus and great comic acting from O’Hare.

Best Direction of a Musical: Jon Douglas Rake for “The Drowsy Chaperone” at Tacoma Musical Playhouse.

Best Musical: “The Drowsy Chaperone” at Tacoma Musical Playhouse, with special nod to director Jon Douglas Rake for stepping out of his comfort zone to do a non-singing, non-dancing role.

Best Dramatic Actor (male): Christian Carvajal as the professor in “Oleanna,” a Theater Artists Olympia production at Olympia Little Theatre. Sharing this honor is Steve Tarry as Richard M. Nixon in “Frost/Nixon” at Tacoma Little Theatre.

Best Dramatic Actor (female): Maria Glanz as Emily Dickinson in “The Belle of Amherst” at Centerstage and Samantha Camp as Artie in “Eleemosynary” at Tacoma Little Theatre.

Best Direction of a Drama: Marcus Walker for “My Name is Asher Lev” at Lakewood Playhouse, with special recognition for Pug Bujeaud for “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol” at Olympia Little Theatre.

Best Drama: “Eleemosynary” at Tacoma Little Theatre.

Best Comic Actor (male): Scott C. Brown as Herb in “The Last Schwartz” at Harlequin Productions. It would be a stretch to call “Schwartz” a comedy but Brown’s comic bits were hilarious. Sharing this honor is Christian Doyle as Alferd Packer in Theater Artists Olympia’s “Cannibal the Musical.”

Best Comic Actor (female): In the no-small-roles category, Christine Goode as LiAnne the horse in Theater Artists Olympia’s “Cannibal the Musical.”

Best Comedy: Theater Artists Olympia’s “Cannibal the Musical.”

Best Supporting Actor: Ryan Holmberg as Bogle in “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol” at Olympia Little Theatre.

Best Youth Actor in a Drama: Danielle Elizabeth Powell as Echo in “Eleemosynary” at Tacoma Little Theatre.

Best Youth Actor in a Musical: Sierra Campbell-Unsoeld as Carmen in “Fame” at Capital Playhouse.

Best Choreography for a Musical: Jon Douglas Rake for “White Christmas” at Tacoma Musical Playhouse.

Best Set Design: Jill Carter for “Boom" at Harlequin Productions and Will Abrahamse for “Cats” at Tacoma Musical Playhouse.

Most innovative set designs: Scott Campbell and Brie Yost for “Frost/Nixon” at Tacoma Little Theatre and Jill Carter for “Boom” at Harlequin.

Best Lighting: Richard Schaefer for “The Woman in Black” at Centerstage.

Best Costumes: Kathleen Anderson for “Summer in the Sixties” at Harlequin.

Best Ensemble: “The Last Schwartz” at Harlequin Productions: Ann Flannigan, Scott C. Brown, Deya Ozburn, Alison Monda, Casey Brown and David Brown.

Most outstanding singer (female) in a musical or music review: Alison Monda for her performances in “I’m Into Something Good” at Centerstage and “Summer in the Sixties” at Harlequin.

Most outstanding singer (male) in a musical or music review: Stretching this category beyond the world of musical theater, Gregory Conn for his outstanding performances onstage at Capital City Pride in Olympia.