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CL's 18th Annual Charlotte Theater Awards
Year of Rep's demise glows with promise
By Perry Tannenbaum
Page 3 of 4
SHOW OF THE YEAR Confounding the denunciations of Christian wackos who couldn't be bothered with the script, Richard Greenberg's Take Me Out was one of the most wholesome and reverential dramas to come along in years. Everything was so beautifully counterpoised in this smart Actor's Theatre production, comedy and tragedy, reverence for the aesthetic splendor of the game and the everyday earthiness of the dugout, and most of all, the democracy of the diamond and the racism and bigotry that still haunt the game. The show offered a microcosm of the republic played out in the wake of a superstar's heretical revelation that he's gay. The self-conscious shower scene, chastely shielded from our corruptible eyes, was actually compared to the biblical expulsion from Eden! A victory for art over ignorance.
COMPANY OF THE YEAR Actor's Theatre of Charlotte has moved to the vanguard of the local scene by tackling the edgy materials that were locked out of Charlotte Rep's buttoned-down boardroom. If Bat Boy, Wonder of the World, and Take Me Out came short of the technical polish of Rep at its best, the warm intimacy of the Actor's Theatre stage and the sheer joyous adventurousness that goes into every production more than cover the slack. Was anybody who knows theater truly looking forward to Rep's God's Man in Texas with the same enthusiasm that we can still hold onto for ATC's Tick, Tick...Boom! and The Tale of the Allergist's Wife? Let them redeem their worthless Rep tickets for freebies at East Stonewall and become believers.
MUSICALS
Best Musical: Bat Boy: The Musical — Actor's Theatre of Charlotte
Best Actress: Lisa Smith — Cabaret (Sally Bowles)
Best Actor: Bob Walker — Bat Boy: The Musical (Bat Boy)
Best Director: Billy Ensley — Bat Boy: The Musical
Best Conductor/Music Director: John Coffey — Cabaret
Best Choreographer: Billy Ensley — Bat Boy: The Musical
Best Supporting Actress: Holly Riley — Anything Goes (Erma)
Best Supporting Actor: Patrick Ratchford — Bat Boy: The Musical (Sheriff/Pan)
Best Cameo Appearance, Female: Jill Bloede — Prince Brat and the Whipping Boy (Captain Nips)
Best Cameo Appearance, Male: Corey Mitchell — Bat Boy: The Musical (Rev. Hightower)
COMEDIES
Best Comedy: Wonder of the World — Actor's Theatre of Charlotte
Best Actress: Cat Zeggert — Wonder of the World (Cass)
Best Actor: Lee Thomas — Wonder of the World (Kip)
Best Director: Chip Decker — Wonder of the World
Best Supporting Actress: Donna Scott — Bright Ideas (Denise, etc.)
Best Supporting Actor: Michael Nester — Wonder of the World (Captain Mike)
DRAMAS
Best Drama: Take Me Out — Actor's Theatre of Charlotte
Best Actress: Christy K. Basa — Our Country's Good (Liz Morden/Lt. Will Dawes)
Best Actor: Brian Robinson — Take Me Out (Kippy Sunderstrom)
Best Director: Lon Bumgarner — Take Me Out
Best Supporting Actress: Nicia Carla — Hansel & Gretel (The Witch)
Best Supporting Actor: Michael R. Simmons — Glengarry Glen Ross (Dave Moss)
THEATERCRAFTS
Best Lighting Designer: Eric Winkenwerder — Oedipus Rex
Best Set Designer: Chip Decker — Take Me Out; Jim Gloster — Over the River and Through the Woods
Best Sound Designer: Dean Kluesner/Michael Eld — The Faculty Room
Best Special Effects: Michael Simmons — Bat Boy: The Musical (Make-Up)
Best Costume Designer: Johann Stegmeir — Oedipus Rex
BEST ORIGINAL SHOW 1963 by Judy Simpson Cook
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR Brett Gentile — Lobby Hero (Bill), Betty's Summer Vacation (Keith), Bright Ideas (Ross, Coach Angus, etc.)
THEATER EVENT OF THE YEAR City Stage Fringe Festival @ Spirit Square — Anne Lambert/NCBPAC
SWEET 16 FOR 2004
1. Take Me Out — Actor's Theatre of Charlotte
2. Wonder of the World — Actor's Theatre of Charlotte
3. Bat Boy: The Musical — Actor's Theatre of Charlotte
4. The Last Five Years — CPCC Summer Theatre
5. Lifegame — BareBones Theatre Group/Matt Olin
6. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie — Children's Theatre of Charlotte
7. Mud — The Farm Theatre
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Calendar
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Fred Armisen: Comedy For Musicians But Everyone Is Welcome @ N.C. Music Factory -
Coach Conroy's All Sports Camp @ Chestnut Square Park
- Thu., June 19, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Mon., July 7, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Tue., July 8, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Wed., July 9, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Thu., July 10, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Mon., July 21, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Tue., July 22, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Wed., July 23, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. and Thu., July 24, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
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Queen Charlotte Fair @ Route 29 Pavilion
- Mondays-Sundays. Continues through July 5
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Coveted Luxury Watches
- Mondays-Fridays, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Continues through Dec. 30
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AllMachines
- Through Dec. 30, 12-9 p.m.
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The Listings 1
Novello evenings, Nutcracker, The Eyes of God
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There´s A TV In My Dvd Player!
CL's picks of the best television on DVD
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The Father of Cyborgs
Dr. Philip Kennedy has linked man to machine. The possibilities are fascinating and frightening.
