2012 Rogue's Gallery, part 2

Supporting Actor (Musical)

Steve Xander Carson, Avenue Q, The Box Theatre
•Brian E. Buckner, Smokey Joe's Café, The Encore Musical Theatre Co.
•Sebastian Gerstner, The Light in the Piazza, The Encore Musical Theatre Co.
•Lindel Salow, Spring Awakening, The AKT Theatre Project
•Tommy Simon, Menllenium Saves the World, Go Comedy! Improv Theater

A rubber-limbed, hapless clown, Buckner went to every conceivable length to impress with music and movement. Gerstner embodied both sides of an irresistible Italian romantic: philandering cad, repentant spouse. Stern disaffectedness was the undercurrent of Salow’s performance, beset by distinct yet fundamentally interchangeable father characters. Simon breathed life and laughter into a sound-it-out imbecile, incredibly digging into the depths of stupidity without ever touching bottom. Yet his combined accomplishments in vocal mimicry, exceptional puppetry, and insistent timing give Carson the last (depraved) laugh.

Supporting Actress (Musical)

Marlene Inman-Reilly, The Light in the Piazza, The Encore Musical Theatre Co.
•Yana Levovna, Avenue Q, The Box Theatre
•Amy Smidebush, Smokey Joe's Café, The Encore Musical Theatre Co.
•Stephanie Wahl, Nunset Boulevard, Meadow Brook Theatre
•Jamie Weeder, The American Crowbar Case, The New Theatre Project

Wahl welled up sympathy for a flatly innocent character by her lovely vocals alone. Shrewd commitment launched Levovna eyeball deep into a grade-A, howling good Gary Coleman. Weeder’s passionate academic with something to prove lent dimension to what could have been a dry framing device. With a formidable voice and zeal to match, Smidebush harnessed the bewildered viewer in a tornado of infectious energy. But it was one precision zinger by Inman-Reilly that turned an intentionally incomprehensible stereotype into a secret comic weapon.

Lead Actor (Musical)

David Havasi, Xanadu, Meadow Brook Theatre
•Peter Giessl, Spring Awakening, The AKT Theatre Project
•Vince Kelley, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Ringwald Theatre
•Eric Niece, Avenue Q, The Box Theatre
•Patrick O'Reilly, Five Course Love, HappenStance Productions

Giessl’s desperate adolescent was an electric tangle of emotion seeking some unknown outlet. Keen puppetry and dynamic vocal work made Niece a wide-eyed protagonist and perfect foil for the awful real world. O’Reilly conjured up a bounding stable of characters, each more dazzling than the last. A transcendent transgendered rock diva, Kelley’s clipped banter ran leagues-deep with hidden anguish. Havasi gets the nod for hilariously capitalizing on a character as dumb as furniture while still giving the story necessary intrigue.

Lead Actress (Musical)

Carollette Phillips, A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, Hilberry Theatre
•Leslie Hull, The Usual: A Musical Love Story, Williamston Theatre
•Allison Hunt, Xanadu, Meadow Brook Theatre
•Sonja Marquis, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Ringwald Theatre
•Barbara Scanlon, The Light in the Piazza, The Encore Musical Theatre Co.

Scanlon leavened an overprotective mother with hints of wry self-awareness that leaned into subtle transition. Shoved glowering out of the spotlight, Marquis silently echoed her partner’s loud protestations in a revelatory counterpoint. Hunt’s permanently cheery demigoddess eschewed plain ditziness for earnest, gullible warmth that sweetly translated to viewer sympathy. Hull took a static, stock bartender character and made her into an effusive, ecstatic presence. Finally, the reasons for Phillips’s win are two-fold: first effervescent footwork, then a dexterous homage to Harpo Marx that sublimely captured the humor of the original.

Best Musical

Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Ringwald Theatre (director Joe Plambeck)
•Ain't Misbehavin', Performance Network Theatre (director Tim Edward Rhoze)
•Godspell, The Encore Musical Theatre Co. (director Dan Cooney)
•Smokey Joe's Café, The Encore Musical Theatre Co. (director Barb Cullen)
•Xanadu, Meadow Brook Theatre (director Travis W. Walter)

Experimentation and play were at the forefront of Godspell, allowing the production to ride high on the strength of its genuine community. Ain’t Misbehavin’ delighted with nothing more than a smashing Fats Waller catalog, an effervescent cast, and a thriving convivial spirit. Similarly light on story, Smokey Joe’s Café trundled from song to song in a string of impressive solos and wild all-play team efforts. Campy Xanadu wowed with its precision and elevated a lighthearted spoof to a frothy frenzy of entertainment. Yet it’s Hedwig that garners the highest honor, delivering raw rock sounds and ear-splitting heartbreak in catchy, subversive, furious, despondent, captivatingly perfect alignment.