The past year in Valley theater had some
amazing ups and disappointing downs
By MAX McQUEEN
Get Out
Jan. 5, 2003
With apologies to Charles Dickens, 2002 was the best and worst of times for Valley theater. Identifying the best is easy: May 20, the day ground was broken on the new Mesa Arts Center, the culmination of 35 years of dreaming and planning.
Unfortunately, identifying the worst is equally as easy: April 30, the day Guys and Dolls became the first theater production in the new Dodge Theatre.
What was hoped to be a classy new addition to Arizonas performing arts venues turned out not to be. Maurice Hines, star of "Guys and Dolls, called it the worst theater hed ever worked in in some 40 years.
The dead-in-the-water economy had theater managers (and accountants) wringing their hands, hoping they wouldnt be drowning in red ink by years end. The good news is that the steep drop in corporate giving has been offset somewhat by individual donations.
Indeed, major annual fund-raisers at Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Herberger Theater Center and Phoenix Theatre equalled or topped last years figures.
This generosity was much to the surprise and relief of theater administrators.
Production-wise, 2002 will long be remembered for Angels in America, Part II: Perestroika at Actors Theatre. In a bold move, AT head honcho Matthew Wiener decided that since Angels in America, Part I was so well-received in October 2001 that he might as well go for broke and stage the second part of Tony Kushners soul-searching cross-examination of the Reagan era. His gamble paid off with another standardsetting production by local actors and technicians.
Special mention must be made of Patti Hannon, the unqualified star of Late Nite Catechism. She has extended the run of that record-breaking divine comedy at Scottsdale Center by another year.
So, without further ado, here are the 18 th annual Maxie Awards, chosen from 267 musicals and plays staged in the Valley between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2002.
BEST MUSICAL
My Fair Lady, Arizona Theatre Company Director David Ira Goldstein takes a Broadway war horse, brushes it up and makes it feel like dancing all night with leading lady Kate Fisher.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Evita, Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre; I Love You, Youre Perfect, Now Change, Copperstate Dinner Theater; Into the Woods, Phoenix Theatre; 1776, Fountain Hills Community Theater; Working, Is What It Is Theatre.
BEST DIRECTION, MUSICAL
David Ira Goldstein, My Fair Lady, ATC
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Michael Barnard, Into the Woods, PT; Peter Hill, I Love You, Youre Perfect, Now Change, Copperstate Dinner Theater.
THEATRICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
Mesa Arts Center Ground is finally broken on Mesa Arts Center. Its really going to be built.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Late Nite Catechism continues to make history as Arizonas longest-running professional theater production (now at 30 months); Actors Theatre stages back-to-back productions of parts I and II of Angels in America.
BEST MUSICAL DIRECTION
Loren Chamberlain, I Love You, Youre Perfect, Now Change, Copperstate Dinner Theater Its relatively easy getting a great sound from a pit full of musicians, but pitching and pacing a song packed show with no more than an electronic keyboard takes real talent. Chamberlain pulls it off, adding musical muscle to a tiny but clever show.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Ron Colvard, Sophisticated Ladies, Phoenix Theatre; Marcus Denton, The Sound of Music, Gilbert Fine Arts Association; Debra Jo Gunby-Davey, Godspell, Tempe Little Theatre; Haldane Henry and Bertrand Russell Jr., The Gospel at Colonus, Black Theatre Troupe; Michael Koerner, My Fair Lady, ATC; JR McAlexander, Evita, Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre; Jim Roehr, Smoke on the Mountain and The Three Penny Opera, Theater Works.
BEST PERFORMANCE, ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Tie: Chris Eriksen and Roy Hunt, I Love You, Youre Perfect, Now Change, Copperstate Dinner Theater
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Norman Large, My Fair Lady, ATC; Scott McKinsey, The Pajama Game, Scottsdale Community Players; Denny McNamara, The Three Musketeers, Fountain Hills Community Theater.
BEST PERFORMANCE, ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Kate Fisher, My Fair Lady, ATC
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Kathleen Bowman, Little Women, Grand Canyon University Theatre Department; Martha Brooks and Athena Reiss, I Love You, Youre Perfect, Now Change, Copperstate Dinner Theater; Kathrynne Haack, Evita, Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre.
BEST PERFORMANCE, ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Jon Gentry, Angels in America, Part II, AT From all accounts, New York attorney Roy Cohn was a human pitbull. No director in his right mind would cast sweet, tender Jon Gentry in such a heartless role. But Matthew Wiener was said director, giving Gentry another chance to chew the scenery like a rabid Rottweiler.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Stanford Clark-Price, Julius Caesar, SSC; Jere Luisi, Cyrano, ASU Department of Theatre and Childsplay; Charles Sohn, Equus, NNT; Kyle Sorrell, The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus, Student Production Board, ASU; Edwin Van Woert, Visiting Mr. Green, Arizona Jewish Theatre Company; David Weiss, Shadowlands, Theater Works.
BEST PERFORMANCE, ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
No honoree
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Cathy Dresbach, Angels in America, Part II, AT; Alyson Maloney, The Miracle Worker, Scottsdale Community Players; Andi Watson, The Shape of Things, Nearly Naked Theatre.
BEST DIRECTION, DRAMA
Matthew Wiener, Angels in America, Part II, Actors Theatre
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Damon Dering, Equus, Nearly Naked Theatre; Jared Sakren, Julius Caesar, Southwest Shakespeare Company.
BEST DIRECTION, COMEDY
David Chorley, Rumors, Mesa Community College
BEST DRAMA
Angels in America, Part II: Perestroika,
Actors Theatre With constant changes in characters and sets, this would be a hard play to mount if it were family-friendly. Add the fact that Tony Kushners epic takes on Republicans, Mormons and gays, and youve got a play that shouldnt play well in Arizona. But it did.
BEST COMEDY
Rumors, Mesa Community College English, reading and math departments Talk about a stroke of directorial genius. David Chorley assembled the best young actors in the Valley to play upscale, fortysomething New Yorkers and lifted Neil Simons so-so comedy to the height of hilarious high jinx.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Long Distance Phone Call,
Upstairs Theatre; Rumors, Mesa Encore Theatre.
BEST PERFORMANCE, ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Maren Maclean, The Merry Wives of Windsor, SSC
HONORABLE MENTION
Kathi Osborne, Moon Over Buffalo, Tempe Little Theatre.
BEST PERFORMANCE, ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Ben Giroux, Rumors, Mesa Community College By mixing a Groucho Marx-like attitude with a neck-twisting twitch, Giroux concocted the funniest performance of the year.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Kenny Brodie, The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Ensemble Theatre; Gene Ganssle, The Merry Wives of Windsor, SSC; Jonothon Howard and Marcus Voss, Long Distance Phone Call, Upstairs Theatre; Richard Trujillo, Spic-O-Rama, Actors Theatre.
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, ACTOR
Don Kruszka, The Merry Wives of Windsor, SSC
HONORABLE MENTIONS
David Barker, Awake and Sing!, Arizona Jewish Theatre Company; Bisk Consoli, Places to Touch Him, Teatro Bravo!; Sandy Elias, Our Town, SSC; Andrew Snow, Footloose, Mesa Community College Act One Productions; Eldon Snyder, Patience, East Valley Theater Company; Christopher Williams, A Midsummer Nights Dream, Actors Renaissance Theatre.
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, ACTRESS
Barbara McGrath, Butterflies Are Free, Scottsdale Community Players
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Beveryn Lemons-Swaim, Crossing Delancey and Moon Over Buffalo, Tempe Little Theatre; Rebecca Siegel, The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Ensemble Theatre; Emily Stone, Cinderella,
Valley Youth Theatre.
BEST COLLEGE PRODUCTION
Cyrano, ASU Department of Theatre and Childsplay Jere Luisi must have saved his best for last. After years as a Childsplay mainstay, he delivers his personal best as Cyrano de Bergerac, then promptly announces hes retiring from acting.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
The Secret Garden, Chandler-Gilbert Community College; Little Women, Grand Canyon University Theatre Department.
BEST PRODUCTION FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES
The Enchanted Sleeping Beauty, East Valley Childrens Theatre. Since it reconstituted itself from the former Chandler Childrens Theater, EVCT has been the Valleys also-ran youth theater. Not anymore. Thanks to a swell group of children on stage and off, director Karen Rolston pulls off the perfect family show for preteens and older.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Cinderella, Gilbert Fine Arts Association; Honk! and The Wiz (March production), Valley Youth Theatre.
BEST YOUTH PERFORMANCE
Kayla Long, 'The Enchanted Sleeping Beauty, East Valley Childrens Theatre
HONORABLE MENTION Chelsea Groen, Annie, Greasepaint Scottsdale Youtheatre.
BEST ORIGINAL PRODUCTION
The Quiltmakers Gift, by Alan Prewitt, Craig Bohmler and Steven Kohn for Phoenix Theatres Cookie Company
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Dee Dee Wood, The All Night Strut, Desert Foothills Theatre
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Michael Barnard, Sophisticated Ladies, Phoenix Theatre; Laurie Case, The Pajama Game, Scottsdale Community Players; Brian Enzman, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre; Maura Murphy, Godspell, Tempe Little Theatre.
BEST NEW WORK
The Three Musketeers, by Peter Hill and Loren Chamberlain for Fountain Hills Community Theater Alexandre Dumas swashbuckler has swashed every which way, but Hill and Chamberlain make this tale look all fresh and new.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Sense and Sensibility, by Ashley Barnard (adaptation), Actors Renaissance Theatre; Places to Touch Him, by Guillermo Reyes, Teatro Bravo!; The Quiltmakers Gift, Alan Prewitt (adaptation), Phoenix Theatres Cookie Company.
BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP DESIGN
Tom Connick, Patsy Johnson and Susana Pauly, 1776, Fountain Hills Community Theater
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN
Richard Devin, Don Juan, ASU Herberger College of Fine Arts Department of Theatre
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Paul Black, Angels in America, Part II, AT; Nykol de Dreu, Equus, NNT; Michael Eddy, The Gospel at Colonus, BTT, and Julius Caesar, SSC; Kathryn Holley, The Miracle Worker, SCP.
BEST SCENE DESIGN
Kent Dorsey, Work Song &Three Views of Frank Lloyd Wright, ATC
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Jeffrey Thomson, Don Juan, ASU Herberger College of Fine Arts Department of Theatre.
BEST SOUND DESIGN
Jamie Mereness, Charlie Victor Romeo, Scottsdale Center for the Arts Re-creating the last minutes of real-life airliner crashes had to be a pretty hairy assignment, but Mereness kept spellbound playgoers on the edge of their seatscum-fl otation devices.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
David Temby, Angels in America, Part II, AT.
BEST NATIONAL TOUR
No honoree
WORST NATIONAL TOUR
Bea Arthur . . . And Then Theres Bea, Theater League TVs Golden Girl was not so golden as she tried to turn a short cabaret bit into a big Broadway show.
DISHONORABLE MENTIONS
Santaland Diaries, Scottsdale Center for the Arts; The Tempest,
Kerr Cultural Center.
WORST LOCAL PRODUCTION
Heat, ASU Herberger College of Fine Arts Department of Theatre This vanity project should never have seen the light of day; it probably wouldnt have if playwright Beverly Smith-Dawson wasnt a resident lecturer for ASUs theater department.
HOMETOWN GIRL MAKES GOOD AWARD
Holly Cruikshank in Contact, Gammage Auditorium After a decade of making a name for herself on Broadway, this homegrown East Valley dancer fi nally got to headline a national tour in her hometown.
And how! As the voluptuous and mysterious dancer in Contact, Cruikshank didnt just leave her male castmates all hot and bothered. Every red-blooded male in Gammage Auditorium was squirming in his seat over Cruikshanks performance as The Girl in the Yellow Dress.
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
David Kay Mickelsen, My Fair Lady, ATC
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Karol Cooper, The Wiz, Valley Youth Theatre; Richard Devin, Don Juan, ASU Herberger College of Fine Arts Department of Theatre; Connie Furr-Soloman, Cyrano, ASU Department of Theater and Childsplay; Carol Simmons, The Gospel at Colonus, Black Theatre Troupe.
UP-AND-COMING ACTORS TO KEEP AN EYE ON
Kyle Sorrell This recent ASU grad has shown the kind of remarkable versatility on which long and respected acting careers are built. In 2002 alone, Sorrell moved with aplomb from Arizona Jewish Theatre Companys Awake and Sing! to ASU Student Production Boards The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus to Southwest Shakespeare Companys Julius Caesar. Sorrell has what it takes to forge a national career on stage.
Emily Stone Comedy is tougher than dying. But this teenager has no problem getting laughs. Whether as a scenestealing stepsister in Cinderella or as Mother Swan in Honk! (both for Valley Youth Theatre), Stone knows how to hit a punch line on the head. Look out, Kathy Fitzgerald! (the Valley funny lady whos made good in The Producers )
LETDOWN OF THE YEAR
Dodge Theatre We were so looking forward to the opening of Dodge Theatre in downtown Phoenix, but alas, we too fell victim to the hype, fully expecting the 5,000-seat theater built by Jerry Colangelo and friends to be a classy venue. Wrong. One patron put it best: Everything about it feels hose-able, so they can wash it down.
