Sarasota Theater: Critic's Choice

As a longtime theater critic, I love it when artistic directors and actors push themselves beyond the comfortable and predictably successful. A lot of local companies did that this past season, from the Asolo Rep staging a new, pre-Broadway musical (with frequent rewrites to challenge cast and crew) to “little” community theaters tackling epic or technically demanding shows. Even the venerable Golden Apple Dinner Theatre reached out to a younger, different audience with the slightly subversive Avenue Q. Sometimes it was the individual performers who dazzled with their high-wire acts, delighting us by taking us places with their talents we never would have expected. In an often exciting 2010-11 theater season where I saw just over 50 locally produced plays, ranging from classic to contemporary, provocative to uplifting, here are the shows and performers that stood out for me. (Included are shows from the summer of 2010 to mid-May 2011.)

Most Dynamic Duo

Well, naturally that would be Bonnie and Clyde, as compellingly played by Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan in the Asolo Rep’s production of the new musical of the same name (with songs by Frank Wildhorn and Don Black). Most who saw it would probably agree that the show needed some changes if it’s going to make it on Broadway, but they also had to admit to being riveted by this talented pair’s first-rate singing, convincing acting and obvious chemistry as those Depression-era desperadoes.

Most Terrific Trio

Let’s give a hand to Robby May, Steve Jaquith and Libby Fleming, who as Max Bialystock, Leo Bloom and Ulla of the many last names made the Players’ rendering of The Producers such a pleasure to watch. May especially made the role of Max (so identified with Zero Mostel and Nathan Lane) his own, but everyone involved deserves kudos, including director Michael Newton-Brown and choreographer Dwayne Barrett. No Broadway bomb here.

Best Puppet Show

The Golden Apple Dinner Theatre has made its reputation on producing Broadway classics, but they took a walk on the wild side with the offbeat, naughty Avenue Q, and it certainly paid off. Not only did the actors convincingly and comically portray their flawed but sympathetic human characters, but they took to playing with big puppets on their hands like Sesame Street pros. And BTW, nice work on designing and making those puppets, Steve Dawson and David Walker.

Best Thrill Ride

Make that thrill ride with a lot of laughs, as provided by Florida Studio Theatre’s The 39 Steps, often described as “Monty Python meets Alfred Hitchcock.” The talented four-member cast (most tackling multiple roles), under the direction of Eric Hissom, took us whizzing from a pre-World-War II London music hall to the highlands of Scotland in a tale of espionage, romance, murder and cows that never let up an almost dizzying pace. We liked it so much we saw it twice.

Most Touching Tale of True Love

That turns out to be the Banyan Theater Company’s The Drawer Boy, and there’s absolutely no sex involved at all. Rather the relationship here is between two longtime men friends, beautifully played by Kenneth Tigar and Don Walker, who for better and for worse remain tied together on a small Canadian farm. The story of how their bond came to be—one of loss, patience and devotion—was enough to make you weep, but there were smiles to be found here, too.

Biggest Energy Explosion

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe performers always seem to be nuclear-powered, but they may have set a record high with their production of Five Guys Named Moe, a salute to the songs of Louis Jordan. The concept of the Clark Peters show was thin, but no matter; when Porter L. Anderson III, Earley Dean, Donald Frison, Mikeyy Mendez, Leon S. Pitts II and D. William Hughes were singing and dancing up a storm to tunes like Push Ka Pi Shi Pie and Saturday Night Fish Fry, the evening was electric.

Best Epic All-American Musical

Talk about stretching yourself! Venice Theatre pulled out all the stops for its production of Ragtime the Musical, a sweeping, large-scale show that’s notoriously demanding dramatically, vocally and technically. That they managed to triumph with this panoramic view of American history and make every minute count is a tribute to the entire cast and crew and especially to director/choreographer Brad Wages and conductor Jason Brenner.

Best Revival of a Golden Oldie