This week we narrow it down to our who's-who of excellence -- nominations for Creative Loafing's prestigious Charlotte Theater Awards. Next week, with fanfare, hoopla, and priceless printed certificates, we'll announce the winners!!
Congratulations to all who played a role in the Charlotte theater scene throughout 2003.
THEATERPERSON OF THE YEAR
Billy Ensley, Candace Sorensen, Carver Johns, Craig Spradley, Dana Childs, Dennis Delamar, Hilary Swank, Jill Bloede, Joanna Gerdy, Laura Depta, Lon Bumgarner, Matt Cosper, Meghan Lowther, Michael Bush, Michael Simmons, Serena Ruden Johns, Stan Peal.
BEST ACTOR, DRAMA
Bradley Moore - Never the Sinner (Richard Loeb)
Carver Johns - Speed-the-Plow (Bobby Gould)
Eric Blake - Finer Noble Gases (Staples)
Hank West - Quills (Marquis de Sade)
Joseph J. Baez - Never the Sinner (Nathan Leopold Jr.)
Mark Scarboro - Bash (John)
Robert Lee Simmons - Kiss of the Spider Woman (Valentin)
BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
Beth Pierce - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Maggie), Bash (Woman)
Cody Harding - Cyrano (Roxane), Stop Kiss (Sara)
Dana Childs - Bash (Sue)
Joanna Gerdy - Julius Caesar (Marc Antony)
Laura Depta - The Friar & the Nurse (Nurse)
Robin Taylor - Stop Kiss (Callie)
Serena Ruden - Speed-the-Plow (Karen), Graceland (Rootie)
BEST DIRECTOR, DRAMA
Carver Johns - Speed-the-Plow
Dana Childs - Eleemosynary
Glenn T. Griffin - Never the Sinner
James Yost - Bash
Joanna Gerdy - Stop Kiss
Lon Bumgarner - The Friar & the Nurse
Michael Simmons - Finer Noble Gases
BEST ACTOR, MUSICAL
Andre De Shields - Let Me Sing (Bill)
James Kidd - Man of La Mancha (Cervantes/Quixote)
Billy Ensley - Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Hedwig Schmidt), A Chorus Line (Zach)
Patrick Ratchford - The Music Man (Harold Hill), Evita (Che Guevara)
Joseph J. Baez - The Rocky Horror Show (Riff Raff/Leader of the Transylvanians)
Steven Ivey - Scrooge! The Musical (Ebenezer Scrooge)
BEST ACTRESS, MUSICAL
Amanda Blackburn Watkins - Diamond Studs (William Quantrill, Zee James)
Cat Zeggart - Evita (Eva Peron)
Emily Skinner - Pump Boys and Dinettes (Prudie Cupp)
Kendra Goehring - Footloose (Ariel Moore)
Lynne Wintersteller - Pump Boys and Dinettes (Rhetta Cupp)
Susan Roberts Knowlson - The Music Man (Marian Paroo), A Grand Night for Singing
BEST DIRECTOR, MUSICAL
Anthony Cerrato - Description Beggared
Billy Ensley - Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Evita
Candace Sorensen - Man of La Mancha
Michael Bush - Let Me Sing, Pump Boys and Dinettes
Tom Hollis - State Fair, A Chorus Line
Tom Vance - The Music Man, Footloose
BEST CONDUCTOR/MUSIC DIRECTOR
Bill Congdon - Footloose
Camille Dewing-Vallejo - A Mad Mad Madrigal
Craig Spradley - Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Drina Keen - State Fair, The Music Man, A Grand Night for Singing
Joel Silberman - Let Me Sing, Pump Boys and Dinettes
Jon Phillips - Description Beggared
BEST ACTOR, COMEDY
B. Carl McIntyre - Blithe Spirit (Charles Condomine)
Brian Lafontaine - Don't Dress for Dinner (Bernard)
Dennis Delamar - God's Favorite (Joe Benjamin)
Graham Smith - Open Season (Edmund Dupre)
Jeremy Cartee - Prelude to a Kiss (Peter)
Steven Ivey - Harry the Dirty Dog (Harry)
Travis Osley - Twilight of the Golds (David Gold)
BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY
Adrienne Nixon - African Tales of Earth and Sky (Mmoatia)
Johanna Jowett - Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage (Shedevil)
Meghan Lowther - The House of Yes (Jackie-O), Sylvia (Sylvia)
Paige Johnston - Blithe Spirit (Elvira)
Pam Hunt-Spradley - Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage (Big 8)
Rebecca Koon - Open Season (Mallory Dupre)
Sheila Snow Proctor - The Waiting Room (Wanda)
BEST DIRECTOR, COMEDY
Alan Poindexter - African Tales of Earth and Sky
Allison Modafferi - [sic]
Dennis Delamar - Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage, The Santaland Diaries
Glenn T. Griffin - Sylvia
Lon Bumgarner - Don't Dress for Dinner, Blithe Spirit
Steve Umberger - A Midsummer Night's Dream, Open Season
Ted Sod - Jar the Floor
BEST CHOREOGRAPHER
Annette Saunders - A Mad Mad Madrigal
Chris Thompson - The Colored Museum
Delia Neil - African Tales of Earth and Sky
Eddie Mabry - Footloose
Linda Booth - The Music Man, A Chorus Line, Evita