Baltimore Readers' Choice Awards 2007

As usual, Baltimore, you stepped up to the plate!  Over 200 ballots were cast, and you let your diverse tastes really show.  Every single show in every single category got votes, plus there were several write in votes.  I think we can all agree that that speaks to the overall quality across the board of the shows locally in 2007.  One thing that I couldn't believe, after all the counting, was how many ties there were – and I don't mean close, I mean EXACTLY the same number of votes!

Without further delay, here are the results!  Congratulations to EVERYONE, win or not.

Some statistics…

• 51.7% of voters were Male
• 48.3% of voters were Female.
• Voters ranged in age between 8 and 66 years old; the average age was 37.5 years old.
• Voters attended Community Theatre (95%) and Professional Theatre (90%) the most.  They saw plays more than musicals – 91.5%.
• Voters attended the theatre between 6 – 10 and 11 – 20 times (TIE) in 2007, 30.2% each.
• 71.7% of voters have worked in some sort of fashion with a local theatre in 2007.
• Most voters (31.1%) read BWW weekly, and 96.7% read reviews.  (Thank you!)

The 2007 Baltimore Readers' Choice of Best Theatre in 2007:

Best Professional Tour:

• TIE:
• Avenue Q
• Wicked
• Honorable Mention:
• Doubt

Best Resident Musical:

• TIE:
• Dreamgirls – Toby's Dinner Theatre of Baltimore
• Titanic: The Musical – Toby's Dinner Theatre of Columbia

Best Resident Classical Play:

• Macbeth – Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Best Resident Contemporary Play:

• Sight Unseen – Everyman Theatre

Best Resident Modern Classic Play:

• Betrayal – Everyman Theatre
• Honorable Mention:
• Arsenic and Old Lace – CENTERSTAGE

Best College Production:

• AIDA – ArtsCentric/Theatre Morgan
• Honorable Mention:
• WRITE IN: 3Penny Opera – UMBC

Best Community Musical:

• Assassins - Spotlighters

Best Community Comedy:

• Fat Pig – Spotlighters

Best Community Drama:

• Angels in America: Perestroika – Spotlighters

Favorite Community Theatre Company:

• TIE:
• Spotlighters
• Winters Lane Productions
• Honorable Mention:
• Mobtown Players

Favorite Regional Theatre Company:

• Three-Way TIE:
• CENTERSTAGE
• Toby's Dinner Theatre of Baltimore
• Toby's Dinner Theatre of Columbia 

Most Write-ins:

• Baltimore Performance Workshop
• Song for a New World – Cockpit-in-Court

Winners of the prize packages will be notified via email on Tuesday, January 08, 2008, late afternoon/early evening.

PHOTOS: The First National Tour of Avenue Q: Robert McLure and Kelli Sawyer with Princeton and Kate Monster, photo by Carol Rosegg; The First National Tour of Wicked: Victoria Matlock, photo by Joan Marcus; Dreamgirls and Titanic: The Musical, photos by Kirstine Chistiansen; Macbeth, photo by Kitty R Photography; Sight Unseen and Betrayal, photos by Stan Barouh; Arsenic and Old Lace, photo by Richard Anderson; AIDA, courtesy of ArtsCentric; Assassins, Fat Pig and Angels in America: Perestroika, photos by Amy Jones.