There’s no rest for the wicked—or, thankfully, for those of us in Sarasota who love theater. The 2006-2007 theater season was the most jam-packed yet, with close to 60 productions on our main stages, and just weeks after it finished, several theater groups began staging summer productions. Before we settle into our seats for the year ahead, let’s take a moment to look back on a season that had lots of highlights—and a few lowlights as well.

The renamed Asolo Repertory Theatre welcomed the first full season under its new artistic director, Michael Edwards, and response was, for the most part, terrific. The Manatee Players continued its tradition of scoring wins in regional theater competitions; The Backlot embraced even more local theater groups, giving many small and innovative troupes a home; and the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe moved “uptown” to the newly restored Historic Asolo Theater. The Players of Sarasota, on the other hand, lost an artistic director under controversial circumstances; it will be interesting to see what new directions that theater might take in the season ahead.

One of the most exciting things about this season was the growth of small and innovative productions, and while they’re not included for consideration in this awards story, I applaud the energy and real talent that lit up some of those shows. Our awards story also doesn’t include cabaret or revue shows, nor does it include touring productions at the Van Wezel. But it does encompass 50 shows at theaters from Manatee to Venice in the time period ranging from June 2006 to May 2007. Here are the winners from that impressive group.

Best Costume Design
The nominees are:
Katherine Roth for the Asolo Repertory Theatre’s Pride and Prejudice. The ladies were lovely and the men alternately dashing and dour in appropriate Regency-era fashions.
Nicholas Hartman for Venice Little Theatre’s Stage II production of Into the Woods. A host of fairytale characters, including a big bad wolf, a witch, ordinary folk and royalty, came to life in part because of Hartman’s abilities to visualize Sondheim’s world.
Bill Fenner for Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe’s Dreamgirls. Outfitting a large cast in a show that traveled through several eras, Fenner made the transitions from small-time beginnings to big-time glitz with flair.
Kaylene McCaw for the Players of Sarasota production of Nine. Who knew there were so many ways to wear basic black? McCaw’s diverse choices told something significant about every character and his or her place in the story of director Guido.
Cassandra Mockosher for Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe’s Once On This Island. Mockosher designed eye-pleasing peasant costumes for this Caribbean tale that suited the wide range of individual physiques and personalities but also made a larger statement when seen as an ensemble.
And the award goes to: Cassandra Mockosher for WBTT’s visually stimulating Once On This Island.

Best Set Design
The nominees are:
Aleksandra Maslik for the Asolo Rep’s Pride and Prejudice. Maslik’s work was beautifully functional and integral to telling this complicated story with a minimum of fuss.
Marjorie Bradley Kellogg for the Asolo Rep’s Men of Tortuga. Kellogg’s stern, cold, rather futuristic set truly brought us into the halls of malevolent power.
Michael Newton-Brown for the Players of Sarasota production of The Robber Bridegroom. Newton-Brown’s mix of barrels, boards, platforms and stacks of hay not only looked appropriately rustic, but worked to create a journey as the cast moved into the more magical setting of the Mississippi woods.
Jeff Dean for the Asolo Rep’s Darwin in Malibu. Oh, to live in a beach house like the one Dean designed here, with its comfortable deck, wooden beams, and blue-skied, palm-treed background. You hardly needed the sound effects of the waves or the gulls to feel you were at the shore.
Donna and Mark Buckalter for the Players of Sarasota production of Nine. Italianate columns and different levels of steps and platforms worked to take the large cast through a variety of settings and time periods while always keeping us firmly in Fellini land.
And the award goes to: Marjorie Bradley Kellogg for the Asolo Rep’s Men of Tortuga.

Best Lighting
The nominees are:
James D. Sale for the Asolo Rep’s Pride and Prejudice. It’s no disrespect to the overall production to say that sometimes the lovely lighting was the best part of the show…it certainly kept your eyes glued to the stage.
Neal Kerr for the Manatee Players’ Sweeney Todd. Gloomy, grotesque Victorian London was perfectly served up by Kerr’s subdued, moody choices.
Michael Pasquini for Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe’s Once On This Island. The lighting was crucial to show the shifting weather, environmental and emotional, and Pasquini’s designs did just that.
And the award goes to: James D. Sale for the Asolo Rep’s Pride and Prejudice.