Ho, ho, ho, and welcome to the second annual Carvy Awards! Presented below are my picks for the best in Oly-grown theater in 2011, selected from more than 30 reviews.
This was an outstanding year for supporting actors and technicians. Lead actors and directors hog the glory, but a show can rise or fall on less prominent talent. My candidates for best show were all ensemble efforts. In the end, each was terrific, but I picked the one I couldn't stop raving about. I've grouped performers in alphabetical order.
These were difficult, often subjective choices. If I've overlooked deserving achievements, remember: I can only be right 99-percent of the time. My winning choices have been printed in bold.
Actor
Terence Artz, A Few Good Men
Scott C. Brown, The Last Schwartz
Gerald Browning, The Love List
Cassie Cahill, Welfarewell
Ann Flannigan, The Last Schwartz
Kate Hayes, The Secret Garden
Jackson Jones, Brighton Beach Memoirs
Kelli Mohrbacher, Mauritius
Deya Ozburn, Oleanna
Michael Self, Scrooge: the Musical
Director
Troy Arnold Fisher, Scrooge: the Musical
John Munn, Oleanna
James Patrick, A Few Good Men
Brian Tyrrell, Brighton Beach Memoirs
Scot Whitney, Unexpected Tenderness
Supporting Cast
Kate Arvin, A Midsummer Night's Dream
Sam Cori, Honk! the Musical
Christian Doyle, Stardust Serenade
Amaya Eckel, Bunnicula
Ryan Holmberg, The Love List
Tim Shute, A Few Good Men
Hannah Tripp, Dog Sees God
Patrick Wigren, Scrooge: the Musical
Casi Wilkerson, boom
David Wright, Unexpected Tenderness
Show
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Dog Sees God
A Few Good Men
The Love List
Scrooge: the Musical
Tech
boom
Bunnicula
The Last Schwartz
Scrooge: the Musical
Summer in the Sixties