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Best Ensemble Cast

Floyd Collins

Much of the success for this year's smash Floyd Collins lies with its solid-gold ensemble, which produced one memorable performance after another. Besides Tally Sessions' work in the leading role, the show featured Blythe Gruda as the ethereal, off-kilter sister Nellie, Brian Charles Rooney as their movie-struck brother, Jerry Gulledge as their haunted father, and Lourelene Snedeker as their warm-hearted, long-suffering stepmother. The cast also featured terrific work from Michael Turner as a guilt-ridden reporter, Brian M. Golub as a wannabe folk singer with a bell-clear voice, and Ken Clement as a blustering, officious engineer. To that add Wayne Steadman, Mark Filosa, Terry King, Oscar Cheda, and Barry Tarallo and what you got is a dream of a cast.

Best Ensemble Cast

Floyd Collins

Much of the success for this year's smash Floyd Collins lies with its solid-gold ensemble, which produced one memorable performance after another. Besides Tally Sessions' work in the leading role, the show featured Blythe Gruda as the ethereal, off-kilter sister Nellie, Brian Charles Rooney as their movie-struck brother, Jerry Gulledge as their haunted father, and Lourelene Snedeker as their warm-hearted, long-suffering stepmother. The cast also featured terrific work from Michael Turner as a guilt-ridden reporter, Brian M. Golub as a wannabe folk singer with a bell-clear voice, and Ken Clement as a blustering, officious engineer. To that add Wayne Steadman, Mark Filosa, Terry King, Oscar Cheda, and Barry Tarallo and what you got is a dream of a cast.

Best Actor

Dennis Creaghan

Park Your Car in Harvard Yard

Creaghan's understated portrait of an isolated, retired teacher at the end of his long life was a masterful, moving performance, the centerpiece of a lovely production that was the highlight of the Caldwell season. A New York City veteran of stage and television, Creaghan recently appeared in Neil Simon's latest Broadway production, 45 Seconds to Broadway, and in a long list of theaters across the country. Though Creaghan is no stranger to Florida stages -- he performed at the Coconut Grove Playhouse and at the old Planetarium in the late 1970s and early '80s -- Park Your Car is Creaghan's first area appearance since that time. Let's hope we'll be seeing a lot more of him in future South Florida productions.

Best Actor

Dennis Creaghan

Park Your Car in Harvard Yard

Creaghan's understated portrait of an isolated, retired teacher at the end of his long life was a masterful, moving performance, the centerpiece of a lovely production that was the highlight of the Caldwell season. A New York City veteran of stage and television, Creaghan recently appeared in Neil Simon's latest Broadway production, 45 Seconds to Broadway, and in a long list of theaters across the country. Though Creaghan is no stranger to Florida stages -- he performed at the Coconut Grove Playhouse and at the old Planetarium in the late 1970s and early '80s -- Park Your Car is Creaghan's first area appearance since that time. Let's hope we'll be seeing a lot more of him in future South Florida productions.

Best Children's Theater

Actors' Playhouse Musical Theatre for Young Audiences

South Florida is blessed with an abundance of theater for kids, but none tops the Actors' Playhouse, which takes children's theater very seriously. For starters, the playhouse, one of the area's major professional companies, has created an entirely separate children's division, led by peripatetic artistic director Earl Maulding, that produces a full season of plays for children as well as provides classes and workshops. Maulding and Executive Director Barbara Stein really aim for excellence, hiring experienced professional actors and designers to staff their children's shows. Then there's the company's National Children's Theatre Festival, which holds a national competition for new children's plays and stages a spectacular weekend event for the winner's world premiere. Finally, there's the context of all of this: Children who come watch the plays often discover they want to attend the main-stage adult fare the playhouse offers. Some kids from the training program end up on stage themselves in the big playhouse musicals like this season's The Sound Of Music. All in all, the Actors' Playhouse not only offers the best in children's entertainment but it also provides South Florida with an important cultural service by nurturing the audiences of tomorrow.

Best Children's Theater

South Florida is blessed with an abundance of theater for kids, but none tops the Actors' Playhouse, which takes children's theater very seriously. For starters, the playhouse, one of the area's major professional companies, has created an entirely separate children's division, led by peripatetic artistic director Earl Maulding, that produces a full season of plays for children as well as provides classes and workshops. Maulding and Executive Director Barbara Stein really aim for excellence, hiring experienced professional actors and designers to staff their children's shows. Then there's the company's National Children's Theatre Festival, which holds a national competition for new children's plays and stages a spectacular weekend event for the winner's world premiere. Finally, there's the context of all of this: Children who come watch the plays often discover they want to attend the main-stage adult fare the playhouse offers. Some kids from the training program end up on stage themselves in the big playhouse musicals like this season's The Sound Of Music. All in all, the Actors' Playhouse not only offers the best in children's entertainment but it also provides South Florida with an important cultural service by nurturing the audiences of tomorrow.

Best Supporting Actor

David Kwiat

Simply put, this guy is a one-man repertory company. The chameleon-like Kwiat, who appears regularly in many local theaters, is a director's dream: He can take the tiniest role and turn it into a perfectly realized character. Some of his recent work was memorable -- the brooding Irish drinker in The Weir and the embittered Yiddish actor in Smithereens, both at New Theatre, as well as his hilarious cameos in Comic Potential at Actors' Playhouse. But it was GableStage's Dirty Blonde that really turned into a Kwiat riot, turning in one carefully etched characterization after another.

Best Supporting Actor

David Kwiat

Simply put, this guy is a one-man repertory company. The chameleon-like Kwiat, who appears regularly in many local theaters, is a director's dream: He can take the tiniest role and turn it into a perfectly realized character. Some of his recent work was memorable -- the brooding Irish drinker in The Weir and the embittered Yiddish actor in Smithereens, both at New Theatre, as well as his hilarious cameos in Comic Potential at Actors' Playhouse. But it was GableStage's Dirty Blonde that really turned into a Kwiat riot, turning in one carefully etched characterization after another.

Best Director

Rafael De Acha

De Acha has long been producing solidly professional work, but lately his talents have really blossomed. In one production after another this season -- Hamlet, Anna in the Tropics, Madame Melville, The Credeaux Canvas -- his staging has been consistently subtle, sensual, literate, evocative, and (most important) clear. De Acha has shown an exceptional ability to bring a play's text and subtext to theatrical life. It's no wonder so many writers enjoy working with him. The courtly Cuban-born, New York City-trained director is also a master of musicality, using elements of rhythm, tone, and harmonics in his productions. Hardly surprising, as he's also an experienced opera director.

Best Director

Rafael De Acha

De Acha has long been producing solidly professional work, but lately his talents have really blossomed. In one production after another this season -- Hamlet, Anna in the Tropics, Madame Melville, The Credeaux Canvas -- his staging has been consistently subtle, sensual, literate, evocative, and (most important) clear. De Acha has shown an exceptional ability to bring a play's text and subtext to theatrical life. It's no wonder so many writers enjoy working with him. The courtly Cuban-born, New York City-trained director is also a master of musicality, using elements of rhythm, tone, and harmonics in his productions. Hardly surprising, as he's also an experienced opera director.

Best Of Broward-Palm Beach®

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