This is my third season of celebrating excellence in the Valley of the Sun's theatre community. Once again, this is by no means an exhaustive list; it is instead a tip of the hat to the best of the best of all 87 shows that I witnessed this season, with deep regrets to those excellent shows I may have missed because of scheduling and other conflicts. I have included a few Ties because sometimes it’s just too hard to compare apples and oranges and not fair to snub one for the other. Congratulations to everyone in the community, included on my little list or not!

Best Drama (Contract) TIE
Kiss of the Spider Woman - Actors Theatre
Pride and Prejudice - Arizona Theatre Company

Best Drama (Non-contract)
The Beauty Queen of Leenane - Algonquin Theatre Company

Best Comedy (Contract)
A Midsummer Night's Dream - Southwest Shakespeare Company

Best Comedy (Non-contract)
Valhalla - Nearly Naked Theatre

Best Musical (Contract)
Man of La Mancha - Arizona Broadway Theatre

Best Musical (Non-contract)
The Who's Tommy - Nearly Naked Theatre

Best Musical Revue (Contract)
Hank Williams: Lost Highway - Arizona Theatre Company

Best Musical Revue (Non-contract)
Broadway Jukebox - Copperstate Dinner Theatre

Best Ensemble (Contract)
Hamlet - Southwest Shakespeare Company

Best Ensemble (Non-contract)
Death of a Salesman - Algonquin Theatre Company

Best Actor-Drama (Contract)
Nicholas Glaeser - Benefactors - Actors Theatre

Best Actor-Drama (Non-Contract)
Kyle Sorrell - Trainspotting - Stray Cat Theatre

Best Actress-Drama (Contract)
Julia Dion - Pride and Prejudice - Arizona Theatre Company

Best Actress-Drama (Non-contract) TIE
Robyn Allen - The Beauty Queen of Leenane - Algonquin Theatre Company
Lillie Richardson - Death and the Maiden - Algonquin Theatre Company

Best Supporting Actor-Drama (Contract)
Mike Traylor - Knock Me a Kiss - Black Theatre Troupe

Best Supporting Actor-Drama (Non-Contract)
Cale Epps - Trainspotting - Stray Cat Theatre

Best Supporting Actress-Drama (Contract) TIE
Maria Amarocho - Picnic - Phoenix Theatre
Cathy Dresbach - The Women - Phoenix Theatre

Best Supporting Actress-Drama (Non-contract)
Kerry McCue - Trainspotting - Stray Cat Theatre

Best Actor-Comedy (Contract)
Gene Ganssle - 36 - Arizona Jewish Theatre Company

Best Actor-Comedy (Non-contract) TIE
Tim Shawver - Valhalla - Nearly Naked Theatre
Jere Van Patten - The Nerd - Hale Centre Theatre

Best Actress-Comedy (Contract) TIE
Jenn Banda - A Midsummer Night's Dream - Southwest Shakespeare Company
Maren Maclean - A Midsummer Night's Dream - Southwest Shakespeare Company

Best Actress-Comedy (Non-contract)
Jacqueline Gaston - Kimberly Akimbo - Stray Cat Theatre

Best Supporting Actor-Comedy (Contract)
Benjamin Stewart - 36 - Arizona Jewish Theatre Company

Best Supporting Actor-Comedy (Non-contract)
Edgar Andrew Torrens - Nicky Goes Goth - Stray Cat Theatre

Best Supporting Actress-Comedy (Contract)
Andi Watson - A Midsummer Night's Dream - Southwest Shakespeare Company

Best Supporting Actress-Comedy (Non-contract)
Kerry McCue - Kimberly Akimbo - Stray Cat Theatre

Best Actor-Musical (Contract)
John Bisom - Will Rogers Follies - Phoenix Theatre

Best Actor-Musical (Non-contract) TIE
Sean Rhys Gileat - The Who's Tommy - Nearly Naked Theatre
George Pollard - Sweeney Todd - Fountain Hills Community Theatre

Best Actress-Musical (Contract)
Stephanie Likes - Will Rogers Follies - Phoenix Theatre

Best Actress-Musical (Non-contract) TIE
Amber Gildersleeve - West Side Story - Desert Stages Theatre
Athena Reiss - The Who's Tommy - Nearly Naked Theatre

Best Diva-Musical
James Asimenios - Hedwig and the Angry Inch - Artist's Theatre Project

Best Supporting Actor-Musical (Contract) TIE
Adam Clough - Oklahoma! - Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre
Robert Kolby Harper - The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas - Phoenix Theatre

Best Supporting Actor-Musical (Non-contract)
Adam Vargas - The Who's Tommy - Nearly Naked Theatre

Best Supporting Actress-Musical (Contract)
Stephanie Lee - Aida - Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre

Best Supporting Actress-Musical (Non-contract) TIE
Amanda Kuchinski - Ruthless! - Scottsdale Desert Stages Theatre
Desiree Vaughn - Ruthless! - Scottsdale Desert Stages Theatre

Best Director-Drama (Contract)
Jon Jory - Pride and Prejudice - Arizona Theatre Company

Best Director-Drama (Non-contract)
D. Scott Whithers - The Crucible - Scottsdale Community Players

Best Director-Comedy (Contract)
Jared Sakren - A Midsummer Night's Dream - Southwest Shakespeare Company

Best Director-Comedy (Non-contract)
Katherine Stewart - The Taming of the Shrew - Desert Rose Theatre

Best Director-Musical (Contract)
Robert Kolby Harper - The 1940s Radio Hour - Phoenix Theatre

Best Director-Musical (Non-contract) TIE
Damon Dering - The Who's Tommy - Nearly Naked Theatre
Peter J. Hill - Sweeney Todd - Fountain Hills Community Theatre

Best Choreography (Contract)
Robert Kolby Harper - Beauty and the Beast - Phoenix Theatre and Valley Youth Theatre

Best Choreography (Non-contract) TIE
Cambrian James - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - Hale Centre Theatre
Brent Thomas Mills and Mayann Gregg - Oklahoma! - Hale Centre Theatre

Best Set Design (Contract)
Jeff Thomson - Hamlet - Southwest Shakespeare Company

Best Set Design (Non-contract)
T.J. Weltzein - Valhalla - Nearly Naked Theatre

Best Lighting Design (Contract)
Dennis Parichy - Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure - Arizona Theatre Company

Best Lighting Design (Non-contract)
Bob Nelson and Derek Nelson - The Who's Tommy - Nearly Naked Theatre

Best Costume Design (Contract)
David Kay Mickelsen - Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure - Arizona Theatre Company

Best Costume Design (Non-contract)
T.J. Weltzein - Valhalla - Nearly Naked Theatre

Evita - Gammage Auditorium
Movin' Out - Gammage Auditorium

The worst defeat is not trying hard and failing spectacularly, but mediocrity resulting in a minor, quickly forgotten production. These awards are for shows or companies that were grand efforts that dared to dream big, but didn’t quite make it. This is a genuine celebration of those who had the audacity to reach for the stars and sadly came up just a bit short for various reasons. In alphabetical order, they are:

Arizona Broadway Theatre
Anybody know how they've been doing lately since their strong Man of La Mancha?

The Beard of Avon - Actor's Renaissance Theatre
A wonderful little show that doesn't fit into any category I could think of but this.

Crowns - Arizona Theatre Company
The chapeau may not be the most compelling subject for theatre. Even musical theatre.

Floyd Collins - iTheatre Collaborative
A musical about a guy trapped in a mine and the circus above him. What will this company produce next?

Little Shop of Horrors and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - M&I Broadway at ASU's Gammage Auditorium
Sometimes bigger isn't better.

Natives - Arizona Jewish Theatre Company
You can see big textual problems just as well from in front of the footlights as you can from the audience.

Oscar and Felix: A Reimagining of The Odd Couple - Arizona Jewish Theatre Company
Neil Simon. Bob Sorensen and Jon Gentry. Athena Reiss, Ken Love, Steve Scally, and Ben Tyler. How did this show find its way onto this list?

I have a small dartboard on my bookshelf upon which I tack the tickets for the five worst shows of the season that I’ve reviewed. It is empty at the start, but fills as the season progresses. Sometimes a show proves worse than one that is up there, and that other is replaced. By the end of the season I have a complete collection. Here is the group (from worst to almost tolerable) for 2005/2006:

1) Macbeth - The Shakespeare Theatre
2) Tongue of a Bird - arizona women's theatre company
3) The Goat: or Who is Sylvia - Actors Theatre
4) GUV TV - Theatre 4301
5) The Women - Phoenix Theatre

Even tours have their woes. It isn’t fair to note local mistakes without mentioning national ones. Here is the inexcrable offering of 2005/2006:

Annie: Thirtieth Anniversary Tour - Gammage Auditorium