2nd Annual Long Island 'ENCORE' Theater Award Winners 2014

LONG ISLAND ‘ENCORE’ THEATER AWARD WINNERS – 2014 - Selected by Reviewer, Jeb Ladouceur

Best Play or Musical - ‘The Music Man’ - John W. Engeman Theater, Northport

Music Man CastMeredith Wilson would have been pleased by this smooth, yet rollicking treatment of his iconic musical. The lyrical show, highlighting simple living in Midwestern Iowa, is still a breath of fresh air after fifty-plus years.

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Best Director (play or musical) – Jeffrey Sanzel (‘A Christmas Carol’) – Theatre Three, Port Jefferson

Jeffrey Sanzel in ‘A Christmas Carol’The Sage of Long Island Theater brings enormous insight and sensitivity to this Dickens classic. Director Sanzel, a 2014 repeat winner, proves that his expertise extends beyond acting and playwriting; all three functions bear his indelible imprint here.

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Best Actress (play or musical) – Marci Bing (‘Master Class’) – Theatre Three, Port Jefferson

Marci BingIf Maria Callas met Bing on the street, the diva would likely assume she’d happened upon her other self. One would love to be a fly on the wall if these two prima donnas ever got into a heated discussion.

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Best Supporting Actress (play or musical) – Gina Milo (‘Plaza Suite’) – John W. Engeman Theater, Gina MiloNorthport

Milo expertly steals this show from a superb cast, standing out amid the comic goings on. Because of Plaza Suite’s structure, Gina had little face-to-face competition during her scenes, but she could have withstood that.

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Best Actor (play or musical) – Michael Quattrone – (‘The Elephant Man’) – BroadHollow Theater Company, Michael QuattroneLindenhurst

In one of long Island’s most challenging theatrical assignments in decades, Quattrone proved himself a truly gifted artist. He gave life to the complex title role with little makeup—an indication of his exceeding skill.

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Best Supporting Actor (play or musical) – Tony Mansker (‘Mary Poppins’) – Gateway Performing Arts Tony ManskerCenter, Patchogue

Mansker is exactly what this lavish production requires—a narrator who’s not overshadowed by the show’s legendary special effects. If anything, Mansker’s homespun presence reinforced the whimsy.

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Best Scenic Design (play or musical) – Jon Collins (‘Plaza Suite’) – John W. Engeman Theater, Northport

Plaza Suite SetCollins’s smart set is thoroughly in keeping with the hefty price tag The Plaza famously commands for its ritzy digs. One can imagine the players gingerly wiping their feet before stepping into the posh scene. Collins won in 2013, too

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Best Costume Design (play or musical) – Rachel Berchtold (‘Mary Poppins’) – Gateway Performing Mary Poppins CostumesArtsCenter, Patchogue

Berchtold won’t mind sharing her well-earned accolades with the show’s lighting designers, who set her colorful costumes ablaze. The dazzling rainbow of women’s gowns evoked a gasp on opening night.

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Best Child Actor (boy or girl – play or musical) – Andrew Timmins (‘The Boy From Oz’) – Theatre Three, Port Jefferson

Andrew TimminsAfter this auspicious debut, Andrew’s acting, singing, and dancing talents are sure to be in demand among local repertory companies. Directors know the importance of ‘Young Peter Allen’ in this play—they’ll be calling.

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Best Newcomer (male or female – play or musical) – Loren Dunn (‘Deathtrap’) – John W. Engeman Loren Dunn (standing)Theater, Northport

Though new to the Long Island stage, Dunn is a well-traveled actor—and it showed in his local unveiling. The young man never seems to be performing—just living through an ongoing set of compelling circumstances.

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Award-winning writer, Jeb Ladouceur is the author of nine novels, and his theater and book reviews appear in several major L.I. publications. In his newest thriller, HARVEST, an American military doctor is seized by a sinister gang of organ traffickers in The Balkans, and ordered to perform illegal surgeries.