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Best Movie Theater

A meal and a movie -- how much more basic can you get? That's what distinguishes the Premier, which brings these two quintessential American experiences together for maximum convenience and enjoyment. Granted, it'll cost you more -- admission is $13 before 4 p.m., $17 thereafter -- but you'll definitely feel pampered. First, there's no scouring the parking lot for a good space. Just pull up to the entrance and a valet will take it from there. Once inside, you can select your seats, if you haven't already called to do so in advance. Then, when you step off the gleaming escalator that takes you up one level, you can wonder, like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, if you've taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way. This is no ordinary theater lobby -- it's a full-service restaurant and bar. At a concierge-like counter, there's someone to help you work out the logistics: lunch or dinner before or after the movie? Either way, you'll be able to choose from Chef Adam Lamb's extensive menu. On your way into the theater area, you can pick up your complimentary popcorn (including refills) at a concession stand that offers a few out-of-the-ordinary items such as beer, wine, champagne, pizza, and sushi. Then an usher will take you to your plush, oversize seat (or a loveseat, if you like) in one of six small balcony auditoriums that give you a view far superior to what the riffraff below have. After all this pampering, the state-of-the-art sound and projection will seem almost anticlimactic. And if you've suffered through one too many movies with screaming kids in the audience, a Premier bonus is that it caters to ages 21 and older.

Best Theater for Plays

Florida Stage

Artistic Director Louis Tyrrell's company takes the prize for the third year in a row for its admirable, well-produced, well-acted shows and its commitment to developing new writing talent. This season has yet to deliver a huge smash, but the lineup of plays -- The Last Schwartz, Bach at Leipzig, The Cavalcaders, Constant Star, and the upcoming The Last Five Years -- is a good indicator of what Florida Stage is all about: top-quality, literate, thought-provoking entertainment. The Stage also gets a round of applause for its array of supporting programs: New Voices, which presents new scripts from nationally significant writers in workshop readings; Young Voices, which presents the works of high school-aged writers; the Learning Stage, an admirable community outreach program; and Stages, the company's excellent in-house publication, which offers in-depth writer profiles and essays.

Best Theater for Plays

Florida Stage

Artistic Director Louis Tyrrell's company takes the prize for the third year in a row for its admirable, well-produced, well-acted shows and its commitment to developing new writing talent. This season has yet to deliver a huge smash, but the lineup of plays -- The Last Schwartz, Bach at Leipzig, The Cavalcaders, Constant Star, and the upcoming The Last Five Years -- is a good indicator of what Florida Stage is all about: top-quality, literate, thought-provoking entertainment. The Stage also gets a round of applause for its array of supporting programs: New Voices, which presents new scripts from nationally significant writers in workshop readings; Young Voices, which presents the works of high school-aged writers; the Learning Stage, an admirable community outreach program; and Stages, the company's excellent in-house publication, which offers in-depth writer profiles and essays.

Best Production of a Play

The Lion King

No doubt about it, the hands-down winner this year was the touring production of the long-running, groundbreaking Broadway musical hit, featuring director Julie Taymor's stunning visual imagination. Using a blend of lithe, live actors, huge carnival-like puppets, and an array of exotic theatrical traditions, Taymor took the popular Disney animated movie story and did it one better, reinventing it as spectacular, unforgettable theater. The Lion King blended traditional American musical elements with classic literature (the story of the dispossessed lion cub is a reworking of Hamlet) together with a joyful celebration of African culture. The show was also a happy merger of art and commerce, and the Broward Center was packed to the gills throughout the show's sold-out run.

Best Production of a Play

The Lion King

No doubt about it, the hands-down winner this year was the touring production of the long-running, groundbreaking Broadway musical hit, featuring director Julie Taymor's stunning visual imagination. Using a blend of lithe, live actors, huge carnival-like puppets, and an array of exotic theatrical traditions, Taymor took the popular Disney animated movie story and did it one better, reinventing it as spectacular, unforgettable theater. The Lion King blended traditional American musical elements with classic literature (the story of the dispossessed lion cub is a reworking of Hamlet) together with a joyful celebration of African culture. The show was also a happy merger of art and commerce, and the Broward Center was packed to the gills throughout the show's sold-out run.

Best New Play

Anna in the Tropics

Nilo Cruz

Though the season featured several premieres, the best of the crop was Cruz's steamy, sophisticated saga, with its heady blend of raw emotion and poetic language set against an era of wrenching cultural and political change. Cruz, a Miami native who now lives in New York City, has a sizable national reputation that far outstrips his reputation here -- where, oddly, he is largely ignored. Fortunately, the New Theatre has commissioned yet another Cruz play -- and residency -- for next season. As South Florida struggles to reinvent itself as a sophisticated, world-class community, perhaps it's time for us to recognize that world-class artists such as Cruz are already thriving here.

Best New Play

Anna in the Tropics

Nilo Cruz

Though the season featured several premieres, the best of the crop was Cruz's steamy, sophisticated saga, with its heady blend of raw emotion and poetic language set against an era of wrenching cultural and political change. Cruz, a Miami native who now lives in New York City, has a sizable national reputation that far outstrips his reputation here -- where, oddly, he is largely ignored. Fortunately, the New Theatre has commissioned yet another Cruz play -- and residency -- for next season. As South Florida struggles to reinvent itself as a sophisticated, world-class community, perhaps it's time for us to recognize that world-class artists such as Cruz are already thriving here.

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 Of Broward-Palm Beach®

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