CEA AWARD WINNER
local actress in a leading role
Burgess Byrd as the teenage Charlayne, a one-woman portrait of a young African-American growing up in the 1960s Neat (Know Theatre Tribe).
 Corinne Mohlenhoff as the flighty Julia, bored with marriage and atwitter over the arrival of the a former lover, in Fallen Angels (Ovation Theatre Company)

Anne Valauri as Isabel, a white South African teenager, caught in a the racial conflict of apartheid, in My Children! My Africa! (Know Theatre Tribe).

Kate Wilford as Olive Allison, who leads a group of women trying to move beyond a horrific event of terrorism, in The Women of Lockerbie (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati)
local actor in a leading role
Bruce Cromer as Robert, a manipulative, secretive psychologist, in Blue/Orange (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati)

Jeremy Dubin as Hamlet’s introspective friend, Guildenstern, in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival)

Chris Guthrie as Hamlet’s quizzical companion, Rosencrantz, in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival)

 Nick Rose as the undaunted but oft-put-upon Pericles in Pericles (Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival).
 local actress in a supporting role
Molly Binder as Lois, an oddball loner who is planning to commit suicide by going over Niagara Falls, in Wonder of the World (Know Theatre). Julianna Bloodgood as Maggie in Dancing at Lughnasa (University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music).
Sunshine Cappelletti as the spacey Jane, abetting her friend and vying for the affections of a former lover, in Fallen Angels (Ovation Theatre Company).

Iriemimen Oniha as Vivian Baptiste, a school teacher trying to find her way as a woman and wife, in A Lesson Before Dying (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati).
local actor in a supporting role
Drew Fracher as Paul Bonin, a deputy in a Mississippi jail, responsible for overseeing a young man awaiting execution, in A Lesson Before Dying (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati). Chris Guthrie as Scrooge, the old Bah-Humbug guy, in Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol (Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival).

Derek Duane Hake as Klytemnestra, the faithless mother of the central character in Elektra (UC’s College-Conservatory of Music).

 Zack Whittington as Laertes, Prince Hamlet’s one-time friend and later rival, in Hamlet (Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival).
performances in a musical by a local actress
Pam Day as the caring and conflicted Mother in Ragtime (Cincinnati Music Theatre). Allison Elfline and Kera Halbersleben as Daisy and Violet, a pair of Siamese twins in show business, in Side Show (New Stage Collective).
a. Beth Harris as the sultry Dorothy, a scheming night-club singer, in Nite Club Confidential (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati). Lindsay Pier as the zany Hildy, a spunky young woman hunting for a husband, in On the Town (University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music).
performances in a musical by a local actor

Eric Daniel Santagata as Gabey, a sailor on a lark in New York City, in On the Town (University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music).

Ken Early as Coalhouse Walker, an African American piano player who is radicalized following a racist attack on his family, in Ragtime (Cincinnati Music Theatre).
Tom Cartwright as the rational scientist, Henry Jekyll, and the vicious criminal, Edward Hyde, in Jekyll & Hyde (Showbiz Players).

Roderick Justice as Judas, Jesus’ betrayer, in Jesus Christ Superstar (Northern Kentucky University).
 acting performance by a visiting actor
Neal Benari as Henry Higgins, professor of speech, in My Fair Lady (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park). Andrew Burkhart as Buck, an up-and-coming singer and part-time gigolo, in Nite Club Confidential (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati).
Malik B. El-Amin as Jefferson, a young man wrongly accused of murder and awaiting a horrific execution, in A Lesson Before Dying (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati). Robert Elliott as the jealous, judgmental ship’s Captain in Mr. Roberts (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park).
acting performance by a visiting actress
Anney Giobbe as a Emily, starstruck young woman with some startling secrets, in One (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park). Christa Moore as Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney girl who learns to behave as a refined woman of high society, in My Fair Lady (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park).
Marni Penning as the obstreperous Katherine who’s wooed and wed in The Taming of the Shrew (Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival).

Jacqueline van Biene as Honey, operating a bar with her brother and aggressively confronting a stranger who might (or might not) be her father in Hiding Behind Comets (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park).
 ensemble acting performance
Ghetto (University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music) in which a cast of 29 recreated the joys and sorrows of life — including theatrical performances — in a brutal, Nazi-run Lithuanian ghetto during World War II. Directed by Richard Hess.. Metamorphoses with a cast of 10, portraying gods and mortals in various retellings — humorous, dramatic and moving — of myths from the writings of Roman writer, Ovid. Staged for the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park by Eric Rosen, based on the original production written and directed by Mary Zimmerman.
My Fair Lady, in which the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park used a pared-down cast of 10 (some playing 4-5 roles), with only two pianos to recreate the tale of a Cockney girl transformed into a lady. Directed by Susan V. Booth.

My Children! My Africa! is Athol Fugard’s story of a teacher and two young people, one white and one black, caught in the vice grip of apartheid. Produced by the Know Theatre Tribe; directed by Michael Burnham.
 community theater production
The Voice of the Prairie , a tale of love and broadcasting from the 1920s. Presented by The Village Players; directed by Jef Brown..

Ragtime (Cincinnati Music Theatre), the musical re-telling of E. L. Doctorow’s novel about social groups and race relations in America in the early 20th century. Staged by Cincinnati Music Theatre; co-directed by Ed Cohen and Dee Ann Bryll.
Jekyll & Hyde, a recreation of the classic tale of good and evil, and one man’s quest to understand his conflicting nature. Presented by Showbiz Players; directed by Bunny Arszman. A Piece of My Heart (Greater Hamilton Civic Theatre), portraying the struggles of six women who served during the Vietnam War. Staged by Greater Hamilton Civic Theatre; directed by Chris Beiser.
technical achievement/critical achievement category
Metamorphoses
(Cincinnati Playhouse):
Scenic design by Daniel Ostling; costume design by Mara Blumenfeld; lighting design by T. J. Gerckens;
sound design by Andre Pluess and
Ben Sussman.		 One
(Cincinnati Playhouse): Scenic design by Joseph P. Tilford; costume design by Elizabeth Covey; lighting design by Thomas C. Hase
On the town
(UC’s College-Conservatory
of Music): Scenic design by Thomas C. Umfrid, costume design by Rebecca Senske, choreography by Diane Lala		 The Women of Lockerbie
(Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati): Scenic design
by Brian c. Mehring
local premiere /critical achievement category
Blue/Orange
by Joe Penhall (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati)		 Hiding Behind Comets
by Brian Dykstra (Cincinnati Playhouse)
Ironmistress
by April DeAngelis (Women’s Theatre Initiative)		 One
by Joseph McDonough (Cincinnati Playhouse)
best production /critical achievement category
A Lesson Before Dying
directed by D. Lynn Meyers (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati)		 Metamorphoses
directed by Eric Rosen (Cincinnati Playhouse)
On the Town
directed by Aubrey Berg (UC’s College-Conservatory of Music)		 Rosencratz and Guildenstern Are Dead
directed by Brian Phillips (Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival)