Arts Spotlight: 2016 Theater Year in Review

Best Productions
1. Camelot, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres
2. The Normal Heart, New Epic Theater
3. Disgraced, Guthrie Theater
4. June, Savage Umbrella
5. South Pacific, Guthrie Theater
6. Buried Child, Red Bird Theatre
7. Trouble in Mind, Guthrie Theater
8. Le Switch, Jungle Theater
9. Sons of the Prophet, Park Square Theatre
10. (3-way Tie)
Antigone, Theatre Coup d’Etat
Charm, Mixed Blood Theatre
The Oldest Boy, Jungle Theatre

Extraordinary Achievement in Theater
The Dutchman and Jitney, Penumbra Theatre

Best Show From Out of Town
Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

Theater Artist of the Year
Sasha Andreev, Actor: Sons of the Prophet, Park Square Theatre; Buyer and Cellar, Hennepin Theatre Trust; Ragtime, Theater Latté Da

Best Director (tie)
Lou Bellamy, The Dutchman and Jitney, Penumbra Theatre
Michael Brindisi, Camelot, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres

Best Dramatic Actress
Margo Moorer, Trouble in Mind, Guthrie Theater

Best Comedic Actress
Caroline Kaiser, The How and the Why, Theatre Unbound/Hennepin Theatre Trust

Best Musical Actress
Annie Enneking, Lullaby, Theater Latté Da

Best Dramatic Actor
Bhavesh Patel, Disgraced, Guthrie Theater

Best Comedic Actor
Joseph Papke, Volpone, Classical Actors Ensemble

Best Musical Actor (tie)
Matt Tatone, Leap of Faith, Minneapolis Musical Theatre/Hennepin Theatre Trust
Keith Rice, Camelot, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres

Best Supporting Dramatic Actress
Kaylyn Forkey, The Glass Menagerie, Theatre Coup d’Etat

Best Supporting Comedic Actress
Suzanne Warmanen, Sense and Sensibility, Guthrie Theater

Best Supporting Musical Actress
Christine Toy Johnson, South Pacific, Guthrie Theater

Best Supporting Dramatic Actor
Adam Qualls, The Normal Heart and Coriolanus, New Epic Theater

Best Supporting Comedic Actor
Michael Lee, The Merchant of Venice, Classical Actors Ensemble

Best Supporting Musical Actor
Brandon A. Jackson, Leap of Faith, Minneapolis Musical Theatre

Best Solo Performance
Julie Dafydd, I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers, Candid Theatre at LUSH

Superior Achievement in Crossgender Performance
Christiana Clark, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Jungle Theater

Superior Achievement in Operatic Performance
Brian Mulligan, The Shining, Minnesota Opera

Most Electrifying Stage Chemistry (tie)
Nathan Barlow and Kate Guentzel, The Dutchman, Penumbra Theatre
Torsten Johnson and Michael Wieser, Coriolanus, New Epic Theater

Best Choreography
Michael Matthew Ferrell, The Drowsy Chaperone, Artistry

Best Music Direction
Tim Weil, South Pacific, Guthrie Theater

Best Lighting
Mary Shabatura, Ragtime, Theater Latté Da

Best Set Design
Vicki Smith, Jitney, Penumbra Theatre

Best Costume Design
Kathy Kohl, The Good Person of Setzuan, Frank Theatre

Best Sound Design
Sarah Dewhirst and Steve Modena, Antigone, Theatre Coup d’Etat

Superior Achievement in Stage Movement Direction (tie) 
James Kunz, Coriolanus, New Epic Theater
Kelli Foster Warder, Ragtime, Theater Latté Da

Superior Achievement in Performance Art
Sing Me, Naked: A Tribute to Disobedient Femmes, Open Eye Figure Theatre

Extraordinary New Developments in Musical Theater
The Shining, Minnesota Opera
The Passage, or What Comes of Searching in the Dark, 7th House Theater

Other Superlative Performances
Austene Van, The Owl Answers, Penumbra Theatre
Barbara Berlovitz, Brian Goranson, and Terry Hempleman, Buried Child, Red Bird Theatre
Regina Marie Williams, Nina Simone: Four Women, Park Square Theatre
Michelle Barber, Gypsy, Theater Latté Da/Hennepin Theatre Trust
Christina Baldwin and Masanari Kawahara, The Oldest Boy, Jungle Theater
Neal Beckman, Julius Caesar, Classical Actors Ensemble
Emily Grodzick, The Good Person of Setzuan, Frank Theatre
Jolly Abraham and John Catron, Sense and Sensibility, Guthrie Theater
James Craven and Abdul Salaam El Razaac, Jitney, Penumbra Theatre
Erin Mackey and Edward Staudenmayer, South Pacific, Guthrie Theater
Steve Hendrickson, Finding Fish, Illusion Theater, South Pacific and Harvey, Guthrie Theater
Joel de la Fuente, Hold These Truths, Guthrie Theater
Bradley Greenwald, Jill Iverson, and Philip C. Matthews, The Baker’s Wife, Artistry
Ansa Akyea and Darius Dotch, Bars and Measures, Jungle Theater
Helen Anker and David Anthony Brinkley, Camelot, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres