The Cleveland Critics
Circle each year honors local theaters, performances, performers and
technicians of plays staged by Cleveland area professional theaters during the
January 1-December 31 year.
Awards Committee: Bob Abelman, Roy Berko, Kerry Clawson, Mark
Horning, Christine Howey, David Ritchey and Andrea Simakis. Participation in these awards does not
preclude individual critics from preparing their own recognitions.
Those recognized for Superior Achievement are listed
alphabetically, not by order of achievement.
Best Musical
Production: My Fair Lady,
Great Lakes Theater
Superior Achievement:
Billy Elliot, Beck Center
Blues in the Night, Karamu
Footloose, Porthouse
Ruthless!, Beck Center
The Fantasticks, Great Lakes Theater
The Little Mermaid, Beck Center
Best
Non-Musical Production: An
Octoroon,
Dobama Theatre
Superior
Achievement:
All
the Way, Cleveland Play House
Annapurna,
none-too-fragile
Landford
Wilson’s Take Five, Cesear’s Forum
Lines
in the Dust, Cleveland Public Theatre
Love’s
Labours Lost, Great Lakes Theater
Mr.
Wolff, Cleveland Play House
Sans
Merci, none-too-fragile
The
Beauty Queen of Leenane, none-too-fragile
The
Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, Ensemble Theatre
Best
Actor – Musical: Ellis C. Dawson III, In the Heights, Beck Center
Superior Achievement:
Alan O’Reilly, Billy
Elliot, Beck Center
Ari Butler, Little Shop of Horrors, Cleveland Play
House
Colton Ryan, My Fair Lady, Great Lakes Theater
Devon Turchan, Cabaret, Blank Canvas
Marcus Martin, Aida, Rubber City Shakespeare
Matthew Wright,
Ruthless!, Beck Center
Reggie Kelly, Blues in the
Night, Karamu
Tom Ford, My Fair Lady, Great Lakes Theater
Best
Actor – Non-Musical: Jeff Grover, Annapurna,
none-too-fragile
Superior
Achievement:
Benjamin
Gregorio, Pure Shock Value,
none-too-fragile
Geoff Knox, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, Ensemble Theatre
Michael Mauldin, Margin of Error, Ensemble Theatre
Sean Hudock, Sex with Strangers, Cleveland Play House
Steve Vinovich,
All the Way, Cleveland Play House
Best Actress –
Musical: Katherine DeBoer, Billy Elliot, Beck Center
Superior Achievement:
Colleen Longshaw, Sister Act, Porthouse Theatre
Jillian Kates, My Fair Lady, Great Lakes Theater
Lauren Molina, Little Shop of Horrors, Cleveland Play House
Miah Bickley, Aida, Rubber City Shakespeare
Natalie Green, The Toxic Avenger, Cain Park
Susan Hughes, Blues in the Night, Karamu
Tricia Bestic Cabaret, Blank Canvas
Best
Actress – Non-Musical: Dorothy Silver, The Revisionist, Dobama
Superior
Achievement:
Anjanette Hall, An Octoroon, Dobama Theatre
Cassandra West, Sans Merci, none-too-fragile
Derdriu Ring, Annapurna, none-too-fragile
Derdriu Ring, Beauty Queen of Leenane, none-too-fragile
Heather
Anderson Boll, The Mystery of Love and
Sex, Cleveland Play
House
Holly Holsinger, Frankenstein’s Wake, Cleveland Public
Theatre
Kimberly Sias, Lines in the Dust, Cleveland Public Theatre
Lara Mielcarek, Marie Antoinette, Dobama Theatre
Rising
Star Award
Male: J. R. Heckman, The Little Mermaid, Beck Center
Female: Calista Zajac, Ruthless!, Beck Center
Best Director –
Musical: Victoria Bussert, My Fair Lady,
Great Lakes Theater
Superior Achievement:
Terri
Kent, Footloose, Porthouse Theatre
Pierre-Jacques
Brault, Finian’s Rainbow, Mercury
Theater Company
Amanda
Dehnert, Little Shop of Horrors,
Cleveland Play House
Scott
Spence, Billy Elliot, Beck Center
Best
Director – Non-Musical: Nathan
Motta, An Octoroon, Dobama
Superior
Achievement:
Beth Woods, Lines in the Dust, Cleveland Public Theater
Celeste Cosentino, The Night That Thoreau Spent in Jail,
Ensemble
Charles Fee, And Then There Were None, Great Lakes Theater
Dan Kilbane and Caitlin Lewins, 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, Cleveland
Public Theatre
Nathan Motta, Marie Antoinette, Dobama
Sean Derry and Brian Kenneth Armour,
Sans Merci, none-too-fragile
Sean Derry, Annapurna, none-too-fragile
Tyne Rafaeli, Love’s Labours Lost, Great Lakes Theater
Best Choreographer:
Martín Céspedes,
Billy Elliott, Beck Center
Superior Achievement:
Greg
Daniels, My Fair Lady, Great Lakes
Theater
Greg
Daniels, In The Heights, Beck Center
Holly
Handman, Mr. Burns, Cleveland Public
Theatre
Martin
Céspedes, The Little
Mermaid, Beck Center
Mary
Ann Black, Footloose, Porthouse Theatre
Best
Musical Direction: Larry Goodpaster, The Little Mermaid, Beck Center
Superior
Achievement:
Ian Huettel, Wild Party, Blank Canvas
Joel Mercier, My Fair Lady, Great Lake Theater
Amanda Dehnert, Little Shop of Horrors, Cleveland Play House
Jonathan Swoboda, Footloose, Porthouse Theatre
Larry Goodpaster, Billy Elliot, Beck Center
Nathan Motta, Love’s Labours Lost, Great Lakes Theater
Caitlin Lewins, 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, Cleveland Public Theatre
Best Scenic Design:
Russell Metheny, And Then There Were None, Great Lakes
Theater
Superior
Achievement:
Douglas Puskas, Lines in the Dust, Cleveland Public Theatre
Michael Schweikardt, Luna Gale, Cleveland Play House
Perry Catalano and Fred Sellers, Talley’s Folly, Actors Summit
Philip Whitcomb, Little Shop of Horrors, Cleveland Play
House
Philip Whitcomb, The Good Peaches, Cleveland Play
House/Cleveland
Orchestra
Richard H. Morris, Jr., Blues in the Night, Karamu
Russell Metheny, Twelfth Night, Great Lakes Theater
Trad A Burns, Into the Woods, Lakeland Civic Theatre
Wes Calkin, Mr. Burns, Cleveland Play House
Best Lighting
Design: Kevin Ozan, The Whipping Man,
none-too-fragile
Superior
Achievement:
Gina Scherr, Mr. Wolf, Cleveland Play House
Jeff Herman, The Little Mermaid, Beck Center
Mary Jo Dondlinger and Cynthia Stillings, A Christmas Carol, Great Lakes Theater
Richard H. Horris, Jr., Rasheeda Speaking, Karamu
Rick Martin, And Then There Were None, Great Lakes Theater
Sean Derry, Annapurna, none-too-fragile
Wes Calkin, Mr. Burns, Cleveland Public Theatre
Best
Projection Design: Adam Zeek, The Little
Mermaid, Beck Center
Superior Achievement:
Adam Zeek, Billy Elliot, Beck Center
Dan Scully, The Mountaintop, Cleveland Play House
Dan Scully, All The Way, Cleveland Play House
Patrick Ciamacco, Silence! The Musical, Blank Canvas
Steven Vasse-Hansell, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail,
Ensemble
Val Kozlenko, 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, Cleveland Public Theatre
Best
Costume Design: Inda Blatch-Geib, Blues in the Night, Karamu
Superior
Achievement:
Andrea Hood, Love’s Labours Lost, Great Lakes Theater
Charlotte M. Yetman, My Fair Lady, Great Lakes Theater
Jen Caprio, Steel Magnolias, Cleveland Play House
Kim Krumm Sorenson, Twelfth Night, Great Lakes Theater
Marty LaConte, The Tempest, Ohio Shakespeare Festival
Suzy Q. Campbell, Lady’s Windermere’s Fan, Mamai Theatre Company
Tesia Dugan Benson, Marie Antoinette, Dobama Theatre
Best Sound Design: James C. Swonger, The Good Peaches, Cleveland Play
House/Cleveland Orchestra
Superior
Achievement:
David Gotwald, My Fair Lady, Great Lakes Theater
Joe Court, And Then There Were None, Great Lakes Theater
Josh Horvath Little Shop of Horrors, Cleveland Play House
Nathan Rosemerin, Ring of Fire, Porthouse Theatre
Richard Ingraham, Marie Antoinette, Dobama Theatre
Best
Touring Production: Fun Home, Playhouse Square
Superior
Achievement:
Beautiful,
Playhouse Square
Finding
Neverland, Playhouse Square
Phantom
of the Opera, Playhouse Square
Wrestling
Jerusalem, Cleveland
Public Theatre
Special
Mention:
David
Frazier, the brilliant and beloved stage performer who appeard in more than 150
Cleveland productions—including the iconic Jacques
Brel—who died at age 76
Actors
Summit, which closed in Akron in August, 2016, after 17 years of producing
locally and hiring Northeast Ohio actors
Playwrights
Local for producing the year’s “Most Socially Significant Local Play,” Objectively Reasonable, and creating a
venue for local playwrights to develop their works
convergence-continuum
for its fifth year of hosting the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts (NEOFMA)
Playwright Festival
Raymond
Bobgan for 10 years of creative leadership at Cleveland Public Theatre
Victoria
Bussert on her 30th anniversary with Great Lakes Theater
Near
West Theatre for its commitment to empowering children, teens and adults
through transformational arts
New
World Performance Laboratory for The
Devil’s Milk Trilogy, an exploration of Akron’s rubber industry history.
Baldwin
Wallace University for their innovative productions of West Side Story and Perestroika