AWARDS
Akron Beacon Journal
Favorite Actors
By Kerry Clawson
2005

Times Tribute Award
Outstanding Acting
For Tevye in
Fiddler on the Roof
Cain Park Summer Theatre
2003

Times Tribute Award
Outstanding Acting
For Don Quixote in
Man of La Mancha
Halle Theatre
2002

Times Tribute Award
Outstanding Acting
For Tartuffe in
Tartuffe
Actor's Summit Theatre
2002

Times Tribute Award
Outstanding Acting
For George in
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Actor's Summit
2002

Northern Ohio Live
Nomination &
Honorable Mention
For
Outstanding Acheivement In
Directing
Hamlet
Cleveland Theatre Company
1991

Cleveland Critics' Circle Award
Best Professional Production
The Three Sisters
Phoenix Theatre Ensemble
1980

Cleveland Critics' Circle
Nomination
Best Director
The Three Sisters
Phoenix Theatre Ensemble

Cleveland Critics' Circle
Nomination
Best Director
Streamers
Center Repertory Theatre

Cleveland Critics' Circle
Nomination
Best Director
Vanities
Center Repertory Theatre

May 16, 2005

Acting! Genius! Onstage! In Northeast Ohio
By Kerry Clawson

In the Northeast Ohio acting community, certain actors offer consistently fine performances that are often thrilling to behold. Here are some of my favorites to check out at both community and professional theaters throughout the region:

•  Andrew May: He is associate artistic director at Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland, but his stellar acting work has ranged from a memorable Nathan Pine in the 2002 comedy The Infinite Regress of Human Vanity at Cleveland Play House to a hilariously dense Bottom in a Beatles rendition of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Great Lakes in 2003.

•  Wayne Turney: This renaissance man, former host of the Hickory Hideout children's TV show, is an actor/director/playwright/teacher who performs regularly at Actors' Summit, a small professional theater in Hudson. His most impressive work there has included President Harry Truman in the one-man show Give 'Em Hell, Harry and both adapting Dickens and playing merry toy maker Caleb in his stage version of Cricket on the Hearth .

•  Reuben and Dorothy Silver: These veteran Cleveland actors offer a husband-wife show called Laughter in Three Languages, which they conceived from the stories of Jewish immigrants. Reuben, schooled in Detroit's Yiddish theater, also has played the stubbornly comical Morris in Arthur Brandt's 2 ½ Jews at Actors' Summit.

•  Tom Fulton: Another Cleveland great who was masterful as George in Actors' Summit's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and gave new meaning to Tevye's angst in Cain Park's Fiddler on the Roof.

•  Paula Duesing: A Cleveland actress who has played the captivatingly caustic Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and the harsh Golde in Fiddler on the Roof, both opposite Fulton.

•  Dudley Swetland: After eight years starring in A Christmas Carol at Great Lakes, he is Northeast Ohio's consummate Scrooge.

•  Marci Paolucci: She has turned heads as the coldly calculating Eleanor in The Lion in Winter at Coach House Theatre and given soulful performances in Queen Bee Productions' The Vagina Monologues .

•  Jo McGarvey: Her deeply moving portrayal of the dying Vivian in Wit at Weathervane was both exhilarating and unforgettable.

•  Terry Burgler: The Kent State University professor who has devoted his life to directing and acting in Shakespearean productions brings outstanding performances to Ohio Shakespeare Festival at Stan Hywet, which he founded.

•  Tim Champion: The Weathervane favorite also has performed regularly with Ohio Shakespeare Festival at Stan Hywet.

•  Mary Ann Black: The former Broadway actress/dancer has wowed crowds at the summer Porthouse Theatre as the adorably funny Ado Annie in Oklahoma! and the man-hungry Meg in Brigadoon.

•  Laura Perrotta: The Cleveland actress has played memorably saucy or sultry servants in Moliere's Tartuffe and Shaw's Arms and the Man at Great Lakes Theater Festival.

•  Tom Stephan: He's the actor next door whom everyone loves, with highlights ranging from his wide range of emotions as Scrooge in Largely Literary Company's A Christmas Carol to hamming it up as Bellomy in The Fantasticks at Weathervane.

•  Henry Bishop: Another Weathervane actor, most memorable in recent years for his roles as Herbie in Gypsy and Fagin in Oliver!

•  Ralph Cooley: A fine actor and strong singer whose leading roles at Weathervane have included Fiddler on the Roof and King of the Kosher Grocers.

•  Sean Derry: A hot young performer with serious acting chops who has been a standout in Weathervane's edgy Angels in America and The Laramie Project.

•  Sally Groth: Audiences love her at Actors' Summit, where she has most recently excelled as Susanna Shakespeare Hall in The Herbal Bed.

•  Johanna Alves-Parkes: This young woman's talent makes you think she could tackle any role, any time. She has brought great intelligence and warmth to roles as diverse as Viola in Players Guild of Canton's Twelfth Night and Phoebe in Coach House Theatre's Romantic Comedy .

•  Nick Koesters: He's a hot-ticket actor, from the likable troublemaker Algernon inPorthouse Theatre's The Importance of Being Earnest to his recent romantic lead in Actors' Summit's The Herbal Bed.

•  Finally, in the young-talent department, keep an eye out for the delicately gorgeous Marissa Montigney , a talented actress/singer/dancer who has been a standout at Weathervane, and Baldwin-Wallace musical theater major Kayte Wilfong, who has been featured at Carousel Dinner Theatre with her gorgeous soprano.