Best Actress

Talk about contradictions: The most dazzling performance of the season was Alicia Roper in what had to be the mousiest role of the year. In her Florida debut, Roper triumphed as Bonnie Schwartz, a horribly repressed, desperate-to-please neurotic whose self-effacing front masked a seething stew of emotions. Roper managed not only to make everything crystal clear but her performance was also very, very funny. A Broadway veteran and Yale Drama School graduate, Roper has a detailed, emotionally grounded acting style and a cool, blond look reminiscent of another Yale alumna, Meryl Streep. Roper is now back in New York City and on to other projects, but perhaps we'll see her back here again in future Florida Stage productions.