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<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Looking back at local
area theater</SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><?xml:namespace
prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">News-Herald,
Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times
Courier<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Member,
International Association of Theatre Critics <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">This
retrospective appeared in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">News-Herald
</I>12/18/09</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">The holiday season
and the end of the calendar year seem to bring out the melancholy in
people.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>With it comes the desire to
review what has recently transpired with sentimentality and fond selective
remembrance. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Magazines do
year-in-review features.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Television
specials trace magical moments from the past season’s primetime
programming.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Theater critics do
best-of articles that recall outstanding productions and performances. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Here’s mine, but with a disclaimer and
some small print.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Over the course of
the past year, I have not seen every play that has been performed at every local
area theater. It is simply not possible to do and still remain happily married.
<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>So, “best-of” is
relative.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">National touring
companies have been excluded from consideration.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They get enough attention.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Best Performance by a
Young Actress or Actor<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">The definitive Juliet
was found in Chardon earlier this year.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>In the Geauga Lyric Theater Guild production of <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Romeo and Juliet</I>, Kelly Smith was as
adorable as she was intelligent, intent and intense.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The 17-year-old from Willoughby South
High School clearly understood the play and its poetry, mastered its language
and rhythms, and exuded all the innocence, new-found desire and apocalyptic
heartache that have made Juliet the universal poster child for teenage angst
since the 1590s.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Best Performance by
an Actress in a Drama<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Educating Rita</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> is a carefully constructed, cleverly
worded two-character tale, where a young British hairdresser desperately seeks
to alter her existence by improving her mind.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Nancy Shimonek Brooks was a marvelous
Rita in the Rabbit Run Theater’s summer stock production.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>She made her character’s insatiable
curiosity about poetry and literature tangible, and captured everything that is
endearing and invigorating about a suppressed woman reaching for and obtaining
her true potential.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Best Performance by
an Actress in a Musical<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Jodi Dominick and
Jessica Cope share this recognition.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>They played “the girls” in the </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">romantic
musical comedy <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">I Love You Because</I>, a
fun, frothy and effervescent indulgence.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>They transformed fairly one-dimensional caricatures into richer
characters and sold the series of </SPAN><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN">song
and dance self-disclosures about boy-girl relationships as if it were beachfront
property.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">delighted
the audience in the cozy 14<SUP>th</SUP> Street Theatre in downtown Cleveland,
and did so consistently in an extended run. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Best Performances by
an Actress in a Comedy <o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Rabbit Run Theater in
Madison also produced the best performance by an actress in a comedy.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The play was Neil Simon’s <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Broadway Bound'</I> and the actress was<SPAN
style="COLOR: black"> </SPAN>Sandy Kosovich Peck.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Peck’s dignified, endearing
portrayal of a 1950’s woman facing the ultimate upheaval—independent children, a
faithless husband and a fading father—was a masterpiece of acting.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>She was meticulous, always interesting
without calling attention to herself, and never gave in to the temptation of
sentimentality.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Best Actress (as
played by an actor)<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">In <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Hedwig and the Angry Inch</I>, Dan Folino
portrayed </SPAN><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN">a
psychologically and physically scarred transsexual lead singer in a glamour rock
band. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>B</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">eing
Hedwig required audacity, vulnerability and the acting chops to expose one’s
soul on stage so the character’s pathos could convincingly seep through to the
audience at the </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">intimate Hi Fi
Concert Club in Lakewood.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">This
was not your mother’s musical, unless your mother has an Adam’s apple, and
Folino was so much more than just a man in a dress. He was a man who looked good
in a dress.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Best Part in a
Drama<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">On August 20, 2008,
director Jacqi Loewy donated an organ to fellow director, long-time dialysis
patient and total stranger Brian Zoldessy.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Within six months after the transplant, Zoldessy went on to direct the
world premiere of <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Cleveland Heights</I>
at the Performance Arts Center on the CCC Eastern campus and Loewy directed Neil
Simon’s <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The Good Doctor</I> for Ensemble
Theatre.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Loewy’s left kidney was
the best part of the one production and her heart was the best part of the
other. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Best Director of a
Drama<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN">The
drama </SPAN><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN">Yellowman</SPAN></I><SPAN
lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN">
reveals the </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">racial prejudice that
exists within the African-American Gullah culture in the Sea Islands of South
Carolina.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN">It
consists of </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">richly descriptive
monologues that are written as if they were jazz riffs.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Each has its own underlying rhythm—a
musicality—that entices its performers to almost sing their lines.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Director Fred Sternfeld—no stranger to
musical theater—was sensitive to these rhythms and cadences, and found the
creative potential of their synchrony in this marvelous </SPAN><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN">Karamu
House production</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Best Director of a
Comedy or Musical<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P><FONT size=3><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Me and My Gir</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">” is set in England, where a family of
snooty aristocrats discovers that the legitimate heir to the title of Earl of
Hareford is a smooth-talking cockney hustler.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>To bring this old chestnut of a musical
to life and counterbalance some of its more (and many) monotonous moments,
Mercury Theater director-choreographer Pierre-Jacques Brault had his cast and
crew buy into a mindset of controlled lunacy, as if the atmosphere was saturated
with nitrous oxide. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The production,
which resembled a Marx Brothers film, earned very high Marx.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Best
Choreography<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">In
<I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The Comedy of Errors</I>, twin brothers
are separated by shipwreck and end up in the cities of Ephesus and
Syracuse.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Great Lakes Theater
Festival’s rendition of this play transformed the city of Ephesus into a
sensuous, contemporary Rio de Janeiro in the midst of a Carnaval celebration,
complete with steamy Brazilian nightclub music.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The ensemble was infused with dancers
who entered and exited the Hanna Theater stage in salsa-saturated and
samba-inspired perpetual motion, courtesy of brilliant choreographer
</SPAN><STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">Martín
Céspedes.</SPAN></STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN><STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">Céspedes’
contribution had</SPAN></STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">
this production brimming with vitality from the opening moments to the play’s
conclusion.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Best Performance by
an Actor in a Drama<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Kevin Crouch was so
good as the brooding, suicidal aspiring playwright in the Great Lakes Theater
Festival’s production of Chekhov’s 1895 play <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The Seagull</I>, that numerous 911 calls
were made during intermissions.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>They were made on behalf of fellow audience members, who were so moved by
Crouch’s performance that they required intervention. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Best Performance by
an Actor in a Musical<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">In the James
Barrie-based musical about a boy who won’t grow up, John Paul Soto tapped the
qualities of Peter Pan that made him adored by children and accessible to the
adults who had difficulty envisioning a small but strapping male playing a part
defined by legendary females on Broadway.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Soto was all unbridled energy and passion in this Beck Center for the
Arts production of <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Peter Pan</I>, and a
genuine joy to watch fly, fight and crow. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Best Performance by
an Actor in a Comedy <o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">For
Better</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">,
a satirical comedy staged by Actors’ Summit in Hudson, revolves around a group
of young professionals and their significant others—their iPhones, laptops,
Bluetooths and Blackberries.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Keith
Stevens played Michael, whose long-distance relationship with his wife is
simultaneously enhanced and torn apart by technology.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He gave a hilarious performance,
highlighted by a drunken cross-continental cell phone conversation with his best
friend, played brilliantly by Tony Zanoni.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Best Set
Design<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Raskolnikov, t<SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic">he main character in <I>Crime and
Punishment</I>, </SPAN>is a terribly conflicted young man struggling with his
faith, his poverty and his radical belief that the heinous crimes committed by
well-intended people are justifiable and above the law.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For the Cleveland Play House production,
scenic designer Lee Savage built towering, peeling metallic walls for
Raskolnikov's austere, one-room apartment and a deep, narrow hallway that leads
to it.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The set actually generated a
sense of vertigo for theater-goers, reflective of Raskolnikov's oppressive life
and disoriented state of mind.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Way
cool.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>