Sponsors:

CEA 2007 Theater Awards
Theater Nominations

LOCAL ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE (PLAY)

Corinne Mohlenhoff as an exuberant but intelligent Rosalind in As You Like It
(Cincinnati Shakespeare Company)

Kendall Karg as a pragmatic, practical Lysistrata, with an innovative, results-oriented
approach to get the men to stop fighting in Lysistrata (College-Conservatory of Music)

April Leonhard as teenaged Evie, a victim of parental abuse, in The Aaronsville Woman
(Northern Kentucky University)

Amy Warner as Stevie, who displays disbelief and grief when her husband’'s
affections turn to a barnyard animal, in The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? (New Stage Collective)

LOCAL ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE (PLAY)

Bruce Cromer as Prospero, a wizard and father trying to balance intelligence, empathy
and pure affection with visceral yearnings for vengeance in The Tempest
(Cincinnati Shakespeare Company)

Christopher Guthrie the anxiety-ridden, doubt-plagued Danish prince trying to discern
the truth in Hamlet (Know Theatre of Cincinnati)

Brian Isaac Phillips as Martin, a man lost in middle age who goes off the tracks in a way
that ruins his marriage, in The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? (New Stage Collective)

Scot Woolley as Cosme McMoon, a hard-working accompanist trapped by and protective
of a strangely deluded singer, in Souvenir (Ensemble Theatre)

LOCAL ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE (PLAY)

Lauren Ashley Carter as plain-spoken but proper Kitty Verdun in Charley’'s Aunt
(College-Conservatory of Music)

Hayley Clark as the breathless and naïve but charming Miranda in The Tempest
(Cincinnati Shakespeare Company)



Kelly Mengelkoch as Celia, Rosalind’'s devoted friend and cousin, in As You Like It
(Cincinnati Shakespeare Company)

Amy Warner as six hilariously different psychiatrists in Reckless (Cincinnati Playhouse)

LOCAL ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE (PLAY)

Michael Burnham as Major Finn, a trombone-tooting Vietnam vet, in Gompers
(Know Theatre of Cincinnati)

Kevin Crowley as the good-natured cellist Carl, who simply wants to play in a string
quartet and not argue, in Opus (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati)

Giles Davies as a half-man, half-lizard Caliban in The Tempest
(Cincinnati Shakespeare Company)

Matt Johnson as the imperious (and cross-dressed) Lady Bracknell in
The Importance of Being Earnest (Cincinnati Shakespeare Company)

LOCAL ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE (MUSICAL)

Pamela Kay Day as anxious Lucille Frank, a wife who begins to doubt her
husband’'s innocence, in Parade (Footlighters)

Stephanie Gibson as Babe Williams, a beautiful factor worker who heads up the
complaint committee (and falls in love with the boss) in The Pajama Game
(College-Conservatory of Music)

Liz Holt as Kesa, a murderous lover and others in See What I Wanna See
(Know Theatre of Cincinnati)

Jennifer Scott as steadfast Mother, trying to understand life in a new era, in Ragtime
(Jersey Productions)

LOCAL ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE (MUSICAL)

Darin Art as Leo Frank, a nervous but scrupulous Jewish businessman wrongly
charged with murder, in Parade (Footlighters)

Charlie Clark as Jerry, a blue-collar guy with a crazy idea to make money,
in The Full Monty (New Stage Collective)

Danny Davies as the lonely grocer Herr Schultz, hoping for love, in Cabaret
(College-Conservatory of Music)

Wayne Wright as female impersonator Albin (and his glamorous drag queen
alter ego, Zaza) in La Cage aux Folles (Cincinnati Music Theatre)

LOCAL ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE (MUSICAL)

Molly Binder as no-nonsense Aunt Monica and others in See What I Wanna See
(Know Theatre of Cincinnati).

k. Jenny Jones as boarding-house owner Fraulein Schneider, whose love affair
is obstructed by anti-Semitism in pre-War Berlin, in Cabaret (College-Conservatory of Music)

Chauntel Renee McKenzie as Sarah, a fearful African-American woman who dreams
of a normal life for her child and her child’'s father, in Ragtime (Jersey Productions)

Deana Tully as Mrs. Phagan, an angry woman whose daughter’'s murder is the central
event in Parade (Footlighters)

LOCAL ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE (MUSICAL)

Tom Highley as Alan Swann, a larger-than-life but over-the-hill alcoholic actor, in
My Favorite Year (Showbiz Players)

Steven Milloy as Horse, a self-conscious, aging factory worker who still has a few moves,
in The Full Monty (New Stage Collective)

Mickey DeWayne Smith Jr. as James Thunder” Early, an R&B star modeled on James Brown,
in Dreamgirls (Jersey Productions)

Frederic Tacon as Britt Craig, a brash newspaper reporter, in Parade (Footlighters)

ACTING PERFORMANCE BY VISITING ACTOR

Brendan Averett as the childlike, not so gentle Lennie in Of Mice & Men
(Cincinnati Playhouse)

Noah Galvin as Billy, a lonely boy with an active imagination who longs for his father,
in Ace (Cincinnati Playhouse)

Warren Kelley as Dorian, a violist whose addiction to perfection has disrupted the
string quartet he founded, in Opus (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati)

Gavin Lawrence as Simon Cato, a proud and sassy slave who finds freedom on
the back of a race horse before the Civil War, in Pure Confidence (Cincinnati Playhouse)

ACTING PERFORMANCE BY A VISITING ACTRESS

Eva Kaminsky as Andrea, a woman who has drowned her children and descended
into catatonia, in 1:23 (Cincinnati Playhouse)

Ericka Kreutz as Rachel, a funny woman trying to escape from a hit man hired by her
husband and learning about herself during her surreal and hilarious journey, in Reckless
(Cincinnati Playhouse)

Neva Rae Powers as Florence Foster Jenkins, who fancied herself to be a great singer
but whose real appeal was in her oddball, off-key recitals, in Souvenir (Ensemble Theatre)

Kelly Taffe as Caroline, the devoted wife of a slave who became a successful jockey in
antebellum America, in Pure Confidence (Cincinnati Playhouse)

ENSEMBLE ACTING PERFORMANCE

The Cherry Orchard (Cincinnati Shakespeare Company) took a script by Anton Chekhov
and used a cast of 14 actors to bring a classic to life with humor and poignancy.

The Goat (New Stage Collective) featured a tightly knit, tautly emotional cast of four actors,
including two top-notch local professionals, who pushed each others’' emotional buttons
and left audiences drained.

The Kid in the Dark (Richard Hess et al./Cincinnati Fringe Festival) used five musical
theater majors from the College-Conservatory of Music for moving songs about relationships,
loss and survival in today’'s world.

Opus (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati), with a cast of five accomplished professionals,
showed how a harmonious string quartet can come unstrung when characters obsess
about perfectionism and individuality.

OUTSTANDING COMMUNITY THEATER PRODUCTION

Defying Gravity, directed by Jeff Groh (The Drama Workshop), told the stories of
several people affected by the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.

Parade, directed by Dee Anne Bryll and Ed Cohen (Footlighters), portrayed the accusation,
trial and eventual lynching of a Jewish man wrongly blamed for a young girl’'s murder in
early 20th-century Atlanta.

The Queen of Bingo, directed by Norma Niinemets (Mariemont Players), was an
amusing comedy about two sisters and the characters they meet at a bingo night.

Talk Radio, directed by Shannon Casey and Chris Dunn (Wyoming Players),
followed an acid-tongued, late-night talk show host whose call-in program
might be picked up for national syndication.

ACHIEVEMENT IN SCENIC DESIGN (CRITICAL ACHIEVEMENT)

Charley’'s Aunt (College-Conservatory of Music) with scenic design by
Tanner Cosgrove provided three charming Victorian sets for this classic comedy
of mistaken identity in and around a British university.

Opus (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati) used Brian c. Mehring’'s flexible but singular
scenic design to suggest concert halls and rehearsal rooms, not to mention the
homes of various musicians.

Of Mice & Men (Cincinnati Playhouse) had a scenic design by Paul Shortt that blazed
with heat and sunlight and felt choked with desert dust.

The Tempest (Cincinnati Shakespeare Company) with scenic design by Will Turbyne
was a magical island with running water and a revolving platform that provided
merriment and confusion.

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN (CRITICAL ACHIEVEMENT)

Charley's Aunt (College-Conservatory of Music) perfectly conveyed its Victorian
period with authentically designed costumes by designer by Bonnie J. Snowden.

The Cherry Orchard (Cincinnati Shakespeare Company) took audiences to late
19th-century Russia thanks to well-designed period costumes by Heidi Jo Scheimer.

Souvenir (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati) had offbeat costumes for each oddball
song warbled by tone-deaf Florence Foster Jenkins, thanks to Reba Senske’'s
inventive and amusing costume designs.

The Tempest (Cincinnati Shakespeare Company) for which costume designer
Heidi Jo Scheimer blended a dozen eras from Pirates of the Caribbean to prom night,
including a light-up stole for Prospero and a suit of invisibility for Ariel.

ACHIEVEMENT IN LIGHTING, SOUND OR SPECIAL EFFECTS (CRITICAL ACHIEVEMENT)

Hamlet (Know Theatre of Cincinnati) for which video design by Big Bang Productions
and sound design by Doug Borntrager became quite literally another character:
Dozens of video screens projected ghosts and Hamlet's inner thoughts.

Opus (Ensemble Theatre, lighting and video design by Brian c. Mehring, sound design
by Fitz Patton, with music pre-recorded by the Vertigo String Quartet) used projections
and shadows that enabled actors to appear as trained and talented string players.

Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure (Cincinnati Playhouse, lighting design by
Robert Wierzel, set design by Neil Patel, sound design by Matt Callahan) provided
audiences with a believable recreation of the thunderous cataract of Reichenbach Falls,
where Holmes battled his nemesis, Dr. Moriarty.

The Tempest (Cincinnati Shakespeare Company) offered a bewitching lighting
design by Sean Savoie and an often amusing sound design by Chris Guthrie that
enhanced the production's magical effects

CHOREOGRAPHY (CRITICAL ACHIEVEMENT)

Charley's Aunt (College-Conservatory of Music) was made all the more humorous
by actor Mikhail Roberts' acrobatic tomfoolery as he sought to avoid detection while
posing as Charley's aunt.

Christmas Yet to Come (Know Theatre of Cincinnati) featured Exhale Dance Company
and athletic, contemporary choreography by Missy Lay Zimmer to enliven a modern
version of the story of Ebenezer Scrooge.

The Pajama Game (College-Conservatory of Music) featured original choreography by
CCM professor Diane Lala and a re-staging of Bob Fosse's original 1954 dance routine
for the classic number Steam Heat.”

Ragtime (Jersey Productions) had choreography by Liz Vosmeier on the small stage at
The Carnegie in Covington, where a huge cast of 38 managed to keep movement
interesting and appropriate.

ALTERNATIVE SHOW (CRITICAL ACHIEVEMENT)

iLove (Satori Group/New Stage Collective/Cincinnati Fringe Festival) examined
the iPod revolution, our obsession with new media and technology and how we
seek connections in increasingly detached ways.

The Kid in the Dark (Richard Hess et al./Cincinnati Fringe Festival) was a new song
cycle that tackled the tough emotional territory of living with personal loss but with
an occasional dash of humor

MAD (Jen Dalton/Cincinnati Fringe Festival) was a searing and emotional
autobiographical account of one family's attempts to cope with their son’'s
and brother's schizophren

Songs from an Unmade Bed, performed by Alan Patrick Kenny
(presented at Know Theatre of Cincinnati) was a collection of songs
(lyrics by Mark Campbell and tunes by 18 different composers) about a
charming gay man experiencing lust, loneliness and love in New York City.

LOCAL PREMIERE (CRITICAL ACHIEVEMENT)

The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? by Edward Albee (New Stage Collective) was a boldly
staged production of a difficult story of a family torn apart by a man’'s desire for an
inexplicable intimacy he could not find in his marriage.

Opus by Michael Hollinger (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati) examined the inner
dynamics of a fractious string quartet preparing for a performance of a lifetime
while melting down personally and as an ensemble.

See What I Wanna See by John Michael LaChiusa (Know Theatre of Cincinnati)
earned only its second production (after a 2005 staging at New York’'s Public Theater)
here in Cincinnati in a production that captured the show’'s mystery, youthful energy
and enigmatic message about perception and truth.

Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins by Stephen Temperley
(Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati) was a poignant comedy about a real woman who
aspired to be a professional singer, although she had no talent for it. That didn’''t stop
her from giving recitals attended by hundreds of people.

OUTSTANDING PLAY (CRITICAL ACHIEVEMENT)

The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?, directed by Alan Patrick Kenny (New Stage Collective),
was a superbly acted rendition of Edward Albee’'s searing play about a man who finds
his life spinning out of control because of a sudden extramarital obsession —
not with another woman but with a barnyard animal.

Hamlet, directed by Jason Bruffy (Know Theatre of Cincinnati), reinvented Shakespeare’s
classic with modern technology, breathing a new and different perspective into a play
about doubt and anxiety.

Opus, directed by Drew Fracher (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati), was about the ability
of musicians to perform as an ensemble. It featured actors who convincingly conveyed
musical proficiency and passion that resulted in division rather than harmony.

The Tempest, directed by Drew Fracher (Cincinnati Shakespeare Company),
had a muscular, straightforward simplicity, both focused and exuberant, full of inventive
and choreographic staging that demonstrated a flat-footed belief in practical magic
and a sense of wonder.

OUTSTANDING MUSICAL (CRITICAL ACHIEVEMENT)

Ace, directed by Stafford Arima (Cincinnati Playhouse) was a heartwarming coming-of-age
story about a boy in the 1950s searching for a sense of family and identity, guided to
greater insights by an imaginary fighter pilot.

The Pajama Game, directed by Aubrey Berg (College-Conservatory of Music), an old-fashioned,
light-hearted musical romp from 1954 about life and love in a factory where the manager falls in
love with a union committee head.

Parade, directed by Dee Anne Bryll and Ed Cohen (Footlighters), a powerful musical drama
about anti-Semitism, racism and mistrust drawn from the true story of the death of a girl in a
pencil factory in 1913 Atlanta and the Jewish factory manager who is unjustly charged with her murder.

See What I Wanna See, directed by Jason Bruffy (Know Theatre of Cincinnati),
examined faith, love, trust and perception via three stories — the 1951 rape of a
lounge singer and the murder of her husband; a secret plot by two lovers to kill one
another in medieval Japan; and a miracle that’'s really a practical joke.