Michigan Shakespeare's THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST and More Top 2014 Wilde Awards; Winners Announced!

Michigan's 2013-14 professional theater season was a tempestuous one, an even more unsettled year than usual for the state's theaters. So perhaps it was appropriate that this year's Wilde Awards were the 13th annual edition.

The Wilde Awards honor the best productions, performances and technical work produced or presented by professional theaters across the state. Nominations are based on reviews written by EncoreMichigan.com's team of professional critics. The event took place Sept. 22 at The Berman Center for the Performing Arts in West Bloomfield. The sponsor was Pride Source Media Group of Livonia.

Theater companies as diverse as the Michigan Shakespeare Festival (Jackson), Williamston Theatre (Williamston), Farmers Alley (Kalamazoo), Performance Network (Ann Arbor) and Planet Ant (Hamtramck) were represented by multiple winners. And, appropriately for the crazy year, several categories ended in a tie with co-winners.

Those winners ranged from novices picking up an award for their first pro production to those who've trod the boards a few years.

In all, 28 productions produced or presented by 17 theaters across the state earned an award this year, along with 34 artists. The Michigan Shakespeare Festival dominated the night with the most wins with four (tied with Farmers Alley), three of which were for the top-winning comedy of the season, "The Importance of Being Earnest." And only one artist in the competitive categories walked out with more than one award: John Manfredi.

The evening was hosted by Encore Michigan co-founder and editorial director Donald V. Calamia, assisted by some of the nine Encore critics who had reviewed 225 productions at 49 professional theaters. According to Calamia, they had "converged on a super-secret place" to whittle out the list of nominees in 27 categories and vote the winners.

The evening was co-hosted by the wonderful Naz Edwards, also one of the able performers in the evening's musical entertainments, which also included songs from two of the nominated Best Musicals. Music director R. MacKenzie Lewis provided a never-a-wrong-note accompaniment.

The "second act" also moved along, thanks to surprise guest-host Jaime "Wallflower" Moyer, a Detroit native who now lives in Los Angeles.

And as usual, when you get creative people together, the winning reactions ranged from hilarious to emotional.

Julia Marsh took both the Best Performance, Actress - Original One-Act or Solo Performance and the Founders Award for a work about her experience as a transgender person, "Please Give Me Your Money So I Can Buy a Vagina." She thanked friends and family "who've supported me through the whole endeavor."

For Planet Ant's "Fast Times at Nazareth High," said, "It's true - a small boy can grow up on a farm, come to Detroit, and have performances at a black box theater where nearly 300 people can see him."

Seth Amadei, accepting for Best Performance, Actor - Comedy for "November" at Planet Ant, was reminded by a friend in the audience to thank his wife, who'd directed him while eight months pregnant. His category co-winner David Blixt ("The Importance of Being Earnest," Michigan Shakespeare Festival), recalled that his wife, recruiting him to replace someone in the cast, had simply instructed him, "Shave your face and be funny."

Alex Gay (Light Design, "Big Bang", Williamston Theatre) was grateful to the theater not firing him, even when he fell off a ladder during his first production.

Sandra Birch, accepting "Best Teamwork" for herself and Manfredi, rejoiced as she grabbed the plaque. "I'm old, that's why I'm like 'Give it,'" and praised the "kick-ass acting community" of Michigan.

The evening also included light-hearted, definitely non-award awards ("No plaques, no trophies and no free-drink coupons," said Calamia). These featured categories such as "Best Improvised Lighting During Lightning" (honoring memories of a rainy outdoor production which, after a power loss, was illuminated by cell phones and car headlights) and "Some Boots Were Made for Stripping." (The Ringwald Theatre's "Snowgirls." You get the picture.)

A more reflective moment came with Michigan Opera Theatre founder Dr. David DiChiera's tribute to the late critic Michael H. Margolin, whom he praised as both a friend and writer. "He knew everything about a production," said DiChiera. "In reviews, he would tell me what I should do." About one singer whom Margolin found particularly memorable, Margolin had inserted this concise advice: "Bring him back, David."

The night also featured an announcement of promise regarding Encore Michigan's future, details of which will be announced to the public soon. And it ended with a hopeful note that this theater season will be as great as the last, if not so turbulent.

EncoreMichigan.com is web-based publication established in 2008 that is focused on Michigan's professional theater industry. Designed as a one-stop shop for consumers, industry professionals and others with an interest in the performing arts, EncoreMichigan.com is updated daily and packed with informative interviews, insightful reviews, comprehensive show listings, thoughtful commentary, audition notices, podcasts and much, much more. Original content is created by a dedicated team of veteran freelance journalists and theater professionals. For more information about EncoreMichigan.com, log onto www.encoremichigan.com.

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Winners: The 2014 Wilde Awards:

Best Comedy

The Importance of Being Earnest, Michigan Shakespeare Festival; Janice L. Blixt, director

Best Drama

Old Wicked Songs, Farmers Alley Theatre; D. Terry Williams, director

Best Musical

Lysistrata Jones, Meadow Brook Theatre; Travis W. Walter, director

Best Opera

Turandot, Michigan Opera Theatre; Garnett Bruce, director

Best Original One-Act or Solo Performance

Fast Times at Nazareth High, Planet Ant Theatre; Mike McGettigan, director

Best of The Bard

Cymbeline, Michigan Shakespeare Festival; Robert Kauzlaric, director

Romeo and Juliet, Hope Summer Repertory Theatre; Curt L. Tofteland, director

Best Theater for Young Audiences

The Summer Circle, Summer Circle Theatre; Rob Roznowski, director

Best Tour

War Horse, Broadway in Detroit

Best Performance - Opera

Rudy Park, Turandot; Michigan Opera Theatre

Best Performance - The Bard

Darnell Pierre Benjamin, Romeo and Juliet; Hope Summer Repertory Theatre

Best Performance, Actor - Comedy

Seth Amadei, November; Planet Ant Theatre

David Blixt, The Importance of Being Earnest; Michigan Shakespeare Festival

Best Performance, Actor - Drama

John Manfredi, An Iliad; Performance Network Theatre

Travis Reiff, Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches; The Ringwald Theatre

Best Performance, Actor - Musical

Steve DeBruyne, Company; The Encore Musical Theatre

Best Performance, Actor - Original One-Act or Solo Performance

Jamen Spitzer, Bringing Up Baby New Year; Planet Ant Theatre

Best Performance, Actress - Comedy

Maggie Meyer, Venus in Fur; Performance Network Theatre

Best Performance, Actress - Drama

Linda Rabin Hammell, Collected Stories; Matrix Theatre Company

ShaRon Williams, Collected Stories; Farmers Alley Theatre

Best Performance, Actress - Musical

Michelle Duffy, Next to Normal; Farmers Alley Theatre

Mahalia Greenway, Oliver!; The Encore Musical Theatre

Best Performance, Actress - Original One-Act or Solo Performance

Julia Marsh, Please Give Me Your Money So I Can Buy a Vagina; The Ringwald Theatre

Best Teamwork

Sandra Birch and John Manfredi, The Lion in Winter; Williamston Theatre

Dave Davies, Wayne David Parker and Cheryl Turski, Murder at the Howard Johnson's; Tipping Point Theatre

Best Choreography

Genevieve Lally-Knuth, The Tempest; What A Do Theatre

Best Design - Costumes

Suzanne Young, The Importance of Being Earnest; Michigan Shakespeare Festival

Best Design - Lights

Alex Gay, The Big Bang; Williamston Theatre

Best Design - Props

Carson Killmar, Visiting Mr. Green; Matrix Theatre Company

Best Design - Sets

Bartley Bauer, 10:53; Williamston Theatre

Best Design - Sound or Video

Derek Menchinger, Old Wicked Songs; Farmers Alley Theatre

Best Music Direction

Warren Puffer Jones, The Sound of Music; Arbor Opera Theater

Best New Script

Joseph Zettelmaier, The Scullery Maid; The Jewish Ensemble Theatre Company

SPECIAL AWARDS:

Critic's Choice Award

Dennis Wickline, Dennis Wickline Productions & Broadway Onstage Live Theatre

Critics' Choice Award

Samantha White, Shakespeare in Detroit

Founders Award for Excellence

Julia Marsh, Please Give Me Your Money So I Can Buy a Vagina

Jim Posante Community Pride Award

Kim Clark and David Fink, The Acorn Theater

The Council Cargle Award for Dedication to the Michigan Theater Community

Bruce E. Millan, Barbara Busby and Dee Andrus, Detroit Repertory Theatre

Pictured: David Turrentine and David Blixt in Michigan Shakespeare Festival's "The Importance of Being Earnest." Photo: MSF.

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