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Supporting Actor (Comedy)
Jonathan Davidson, The Agony and the Agony, Magenta Giraffe Theatre
•Lance Alan, Waiting for Godot, The Abreact
•Alan Ball, The Misanthrope, Hilberry Theatre
•Arthur J. Beer, The God of Isaac, Jewish Ensemble Theatre
•Joe Hingelberg, F$$$ The Holidays, Sweetlove Productions and the Ringwald
Ball was a supremely silly wannabe sycophant; fussy physical flourishes were icing on the cake. Effective in moments of levity, Beer connected solidly in the unassuming character of a Holocaust-survivor tailor. In real life, Hingelberg’s character would be mandated intensive therapy; in the world of the play, his deranged arrested development was sublime. Alan’s world-weary pack animal was physically harmless, yet intellectually formidable. But the utmost composure of Davidson’s resentful imaginary character takes it: the bored impatience, the elephantine malaise, that made his every superior inward groan a delight.
Supporting Actress (Comedy)
Courtney Jo Burkett, boom, Breathe Art Theatre Project
•Sarah Ann Leahy, Circle Mirror Transformation, Performance Network Theatre
•Molly McMahon, The Agony and the Agony, Magenta Giraffe Theatre
•Michelle Meredith, Kimberly Akimbo, Stormfield Theatre
•Jaclyn Strez, The Current, Magenta Giraffe Theatre
Equally brash and devoted, Meredith demonstrated how loaded the phrase well-intentioned can be. Leahy’s sullen teen invited affection in her derision, blossoming into adoration as she dove into exponential growth. As cavity sweet as she was hilariously daft, Strez contrasted her friends’ pessimism with welcome earnestness. Mother-to-be of the year McMahon doubled down on an already vile human being with her frank unwillingness to read a room. Here, the honor goes to Burkett for going balls-out crazy and running with it to exceptional effect.
Lead Actor (Comedy)
Dave Davies, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Tipping Point Theatre
•Thomas D. Mahard, And the Creek Don't Rise, Williamston Theatre
•Rusty Mewha, The 39 Steps, Meadow Brook Theatre
•Joel Mitchell, Christmas on Mars, Who Wants Cake? Theatre
•Michael Brian Ogden, The God of Isaac, Jewish Ensemble Theatre
Mewha simultaneously upheld and betrayed the stiff upper lip of the straight-man protagonist. Histrionics found a champion in Mitchell’s drama queen, fainting and fawning with exhausting intensity. Balancing brutally honest self-reflection with unvarnished reenactments, Ogden committed to his convictions at every stage of their evolution. Mahard remained the very picture of gentility as he plummeted to the depths of comic pettiness. Still, Davies gets the nod, in all his exacting, bad-suited, violently unhip, nearly-succeeding-despite-himself glory.
Lead Actress (Comedy)
Laurel Hufano, The Model Apartment, Jewish Ensemble Theatre
•Henrietta Hermelin-Weinberg, The God of Isaac, Jewish Ensemble Theatre
•Yolanda Jack, Forgiving John Lennon, Detroit Repertory Theatre
•Lisa Jesswein, The House of Blue Leaves, Who Wants Cake? Theatre
•Inga R. Wilson, Hylomorph, Planet Ant Theatre
Proper to a fault, Wilson made her demented fear of committing unstoppable murder funnier than it had any right to be. Hermelin-Weinberg was not only the awkward end-all, but the hilarious be-all, of Jewish motherhood. The glee permeating Jack’s innocent yet intelligent stabs at American culture and academia was memorable. Jesswein’s gentle, kooky soul shone through layers of heavily medicated, subservient, and uncomfortably funny veneer. Hufano’s usurping, callous, damaged Debby was nothing short of brilliant, earning the win for a disturbingly tragic performance in a black hole–dark comedy.
Best Comedy
Crimes of the Heart, Tipping Point Theatre (director Kate Peckham)
•And the Creek Don't Rise, Williamston Theatre (director Joseph Albright)
•The Model Apartment, Jewish Ensemble Theatre (director Lavinia Moyer Hart)
•The 39 Steps, Meadow Brook Theatre (director Travis Walter)
•The War Since Eve, Performance Network Theatre (director David Wolber)
Played for devastation, The Model Apartment may have been a comedy in name only, but the discoveries unearthed were well worth the darkness. An inoffensive triangle of engaging relationships gave And the Creek Don’t Rise plenty of heart among the laughter. Galloping pacing was the ultimate complement to the tumultuous stances and scenarios of The War Since Eve. The quartet of The 39 Steps generated the cacophony of a circus and nailed enough jokes for a cast many times its size. Topping them all was Crimes of the Heart, which peppered a touching family drama with unexpected moments of unseemly hilarity.