Post-Gazette Performers of the Year Douglas Rees joins these 22 previous winners. 2005: Sheila McKenna 2004: Billy Porter 2003: Scott Ferrara 2002: Martin Giles 2001: Lisa Harrow 2000: Heath Lamberts 1999: Etta Cox 1998: Robin Walsh 1997: Tom Atkins 1996: Doug Mertz 1995: Maria Becoates-Bey 1994: David Butler 1993: Don Marshall 1992: Larry John Meyers 1991: Elisabeth Orion 1990: Richard McMillan 1989: Bingo O'Malley 1988: Jim Abele 1987: Lenora Nemetz 1986: Jennifer Harmon 1985: Helena Ruoti 1984: Daniel Southern Related article: The Best of 2006 Suburban Theater

The decision came down to two actors most often known for their comedy but excelling in 2006 in darker roles -- Douglas Rees, a long-time Pittsburgher now working out of New York, and Simon Bradbury, an Anglo-Canadian who was yearlong guest artist at Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre. And after weighing the memories and splitting hairs, the 23rd Post-Gazette Performer of the Year is Douglas Rees.

There were many other contenders to consider, especially Kimberly Richards, Daniel Krell, Rebecca Harris and Tim Hartman. And there were previous performers of the year who did remarkable work in 2006, including Bingo O'Malley, Robin Walsh, Tom Atkins, Larry John Meyers, Helena Ruoti, Doug Mertz, Martin Giles and Lenora Nemetz.

Those past winners read like an honor roll of active Pittsburgh actors. But we decided it wasn't yet time to crown a repeater, not with a deepening pool of professional performers providing so many new contenders each year. Our other limit is that, while contenders need not be Pittsburghers, their shows must have been produced here -- no touring shows are eligible.

Bradbury's claim on the crown includes both quality and quantity. For PICT, he played three major roles: in Martin McDonagh's "The Pillowman," a sadistic cop with a thin vein of human feeling; in Samuel Beckett's "Endgame," a plaintive, pugnacious wise fool (think Puck mixed with Caliban); and in "The Shaughraun," a scruffy vagabond with a dog and a heart of gold. Note that in those roles he worked opposite Pittsburgh's best: Tom Atkins, Larry John Meyers and Martin Giles. Bradbury also played a handful of other roles in the smaller plays that made up PICT's ambitious BeckettFest.

	Douglas Rees in City Theatre's "Opus." Click photo for larger image.

A Pittsburgh native, Rees tried New York in the '80s, then returned to become first a brilliant comic improvisor with Theater Sports, then a regular character actor at City Theatre, with credits also at the Public and summer work at Jennerstown's Mountain Playhouse. In 2001, he moved back to New York, and recently he's been branching out to regional theaters such as the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.

This year, Rees returned to Pittsburgh to play the cancer-stricken cellist in Michael Hollinger's "Opus," the drama about a string quartet that City Theatre co-produced with Philadelphia's Arden Theater, then the shy and cantankerous Sir Peter Teazle in R.B. Sheridan's classic "The School for Scandal," for PICT. In the latter, he played comic bewilderment and gradually revealed the unhappy but hopeful man within. In "Opus" he revealed a new ability to show raw pain. "Rees astonishes with the effortless depth of his performance," said the PG review.

Actress of the year is Robin Walsh for two passionate roles for Quantum Theatre: the volatile, lustful (and acrobatic) Bertha in "After Mrs. Rochester" and the fervently dour Elizabeth in "The Crucible."

Supporting actress of the year is the busy Karen Baum, mostly for her funny, not-quite-innocent young Irish maid, completing the strange triangle in PICT's "Boston Marriage." And supporting actor of the year is the indispensable Martin Giles, who played such leads as Beckett's Krapp but also was stalwart in PICT support as the robustly genial Sir Oliver in "School for Scandal" and robustly villainous Kinchela in "The Shaughraun."

What follows is part two of the PG's survey of the past theatrical year, following the 10 Best Plays announced Thursday, selected from the 170 shows the PG reviewed in 2006. For the individual accolades that follow, only Pittsburgh productions are eligible -- about 150 shows in all.

Lead actresses: Kimberly Richards has given a yearlong master class in solo improv as the sternly funny Sister in the various "Catechism" shows (City Theatre). Kim Staunton was superb as Black Mary in "Gem of the Ocean" (Public Theater), as was Patricia Kilgarriff as Celia, Irene and especially Miss Fozzard in "Talking Heads" (City). And no one but Lenora Nemetz could have played Isadora Duncan in "The Voluptuous Tango" (Quantum Theatre).

Also: Laurie Klatscher in "The Good Body" (City), Alessa Neeck in "42nd Street" (Pittsburgh CLO), Erika Cuenca in "Opus" (City), Erica Highberg in "Fool for Love" (Thank You Felix), Chandler Vinton in "Pyretown" (City); Susan McGregor-Laine in "Long Day's Journey Into Night" (Summer Co.); and a pair of Point Park students, Caroline Nicolian in "Jane Eyre" and Kelsey Robinson in "Ragtime." Helena Ruoti's Jocasta in "Oedipus" (Public) may be too small a role to be a lead but it was harrowing.

Lead actors: High achievements were by Bingo O'Malley as the tormented Auschwitz doctor in "The Grey Zone" (barebones productions), John Meyers' grumpy tyrant in "Endgame" (PICT) and Tom Atkins' not-so-genial cop in "Pillowman."

Also: David Whalen in "Shaughraun"; Tim Andres Pabon in "El Paso Blue" (Quantum); Alan Bomar Jones in "The Piano Lesson" (Pittsburgh Playwrights); Ed Onipede in "Gem"; Tim Hartman, Christian Delacroix and Tony Marino in "The Sound of Music," "Miss Saigon" and "Jesus Christ Superstar" (all Pittsburgh Musical Theater); Ben Cain in "Seven Guitars" (Kuntu Rep); Stuart Pankin in "Rumors" (Saint Vincent); Wali Jamal in "Purlie Victorious" (New Horizon); Michael Fuller in "Moonlight and Magnolias" (Saint Vincent); and Raffi Barsoumian in "Nathan the Wise" (CMU).

Supporting actors: The top group includes Matt Gaydos' poseur in "School for Scandal"; Bob Haley's dithery Rev. Chasuble in "The Importance of Being Earnest" (Public); Dan Krell's solid work as Rev. Hale in "Crucible" (Quantum) and in a handful of other roles; and Phil Winters as the comically stolid McCann in "The Birthday Party" (Playhouse Rep), neatly contrasted with John Shepard's creepily cheery Goldberg.

One way to excel in support is in multiple roles, as Billy Hartung did in "Hearts Are Wild" (City) and Brian Czarniecki in "Sylvia" (Thank You Felix). Another is to fit a specific role with precision, as did the secondary characters in "Oedipus" (Public): Edward James Hyland, Doug Pona, Brian Barefoot and especially Stephen Coleman.

Others: Ron Wisniski in "Beauty and the Beast" (CLO); Randall Newsome in "Honus and Me" (City); Jeffrey Carpenter in "El Paso Blue"; Jon Burnett playing Herod as Donald Trump in "Superstar"; Jarrod DiGiorgi in "American Buffalo" (Playhouse Rep); and Joseph Martinez in "Corps Values" and Sala Udin in "August in February" (both Pittsburgh Playwrights).

Supporting actresses: Rebecca Harris excelled as the abused Sunny in "The Exonerated" (Playhouse Rep) and the nubile Lulu in "Birthday Party." Also: Robin Abramson in "Fiddler on the Roof" (Jewish Theatre); Gemma Crabtree in "Dancing at Lughnasa" (Pitt); Emily Lynn Miller in "Superstar"; Terry Wickline in "Earnest"; and Liz Fenning in "The House of Blue Leaves" (CMU).

Ensembles: It was a special pleasure to watch the five women restaurant workers in "American Menu" (New Horizon). And interdependence was the essence of the sober, mature "Oedipus" chorus.

Children: Chelsea Mervis was everywhere, usually being abused or dying, in "Pillowman," "The Crucible," "Great Expectations" and "The Grey Zone." Zachery Palmer was a spunky Bibi in "Happy Time."

Directors: They have a huge impact without their work being reliably distinguishable to an outside eye. So we won't pick a best, just notice excellence of different kinds: Tadeusz Bradecki for "Endgame," Rodger Henderson for "After Mrs. Rochester," Michael Rupert and friends for "Ragtime" and Stuart Carden for both "Pillowman" and "A Picasso" (City).

Also: Holly Thuma for "Lughnasa"; Glenn Casale for "Beauty and the Beast"; Ted Pappas for "Oedipus"; Tracy Brigden for "The Good Body"; Andrew Paul for "School for Scandal"; Robert C.T. Steele for "Tales of the Lost Formicans" (Pitt); Mladen Kiselov for "Nathan the Wise"; Jack Allison for "King of Hearts" (Point Park); and Adam Kukic for all his work with Thank You Felix.

Director/choreographer: Two inspiring pairings of direction and movement were the very different dance musicals, Tome Cousin's "Contact" (Point Park) and Sha Newman's "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (CLO).

Sets: The growth of our professional theater scene has required a growing cadre of designers and has given them the work to keep getting better. Chief among these are Steffi Mayer-Staley and Tony Ferrieri. She works for Playhouse Rep (creepy dollhouse set for "Birthday Party"), Quantum (entire house for "After Mrs. Rochester") and PICT (conceptual revolution for "Endgame"). And he works for City (ballfield for "Honus and Me"), Quantum (dusty Tex-Mex panorama for "El Paso Blue") and Jewish Theatre (turning a klunky auditorium into a theater every time).

Always at the forefront of theater design is the Public Theater, exemplified this year by James Noone's very formal "Oedipus" and his dreamy, black and white "Importance of Being Earnest," as well as Michael McGarty's glass and marble "Secret Letters of Jackie and Marilyn" and Michael Olich's mythic "Gem of the Ocean."

Also: Gianni Downs' scrumptious "Boston Marriage" and Hallie Stern's highly colored "Nathan the Wise."

Costumes: Pei-Chi Su ran the gamut from period epic ("Ragtime") to drawing room ("Boston Marriage"), from heightened realism ("Endgame," "Birthday Party") to rock ("Hearts Are Wild"). Ange Vesco ("Grey Zone") and Richard Parsakian ("El Paso Blue") showed that the best costumes are simply the inevitable clothing of their characters.

And the Playhouse's Joan Markert was master of the period panache of "School for Scandal."

Lights: Good lighting often calls no attention to itself. A few designs of note were Lap-Chi Chu's atmosphere-setting for "Gem of the Ocean," Scott Nelson's minimal precision for "Grey Zone," Bob Stinech's pyrotechnics for Squonk Opera and Scott Hay's scene painting in "El Paso Blue."

Music: What would Pittsburgh theater do without Douglas Levine, from composing original music for "The Shaughraun" and accompanying "SCarrie" (Bricolage) to music directing "Fiddler on the Roof" (Jewish Theatre) and a 500-page "Ragtime" score -- and playing keyboards the whole while.

Telling conjunctions: You can see Pittsburgh's growth in black theater in the accidental overlap in May of "Hoodwinked" (Pittsburgh Playwrights), "American Menu" (New Horizon), "Seven Guitars" (Kuntu Rep) and "Gem of the Ocean" (Public). Most of the Public's cast came from out of town, but the other three testified to the strength and depth of Pittsburgh's African-American acting pool.

In the fall, Point Park had the capacity to stage three giant shows simultaneously: "Ragtime," "The Rover" and "Jane Eyre."

Sui generis: The dictionary illustration of the term would be Steve Pellegrino, the performance artist, abstract poet, accordionist, composer, entrepreneur and professional drywall installer who, assisted by his wife, Mary Shea, provided direction, concept, script, choreography, music, lyrics, costumes, lights, construction and some of the performing for "22 Drywall Macbeth," aka "Macbeth: The House Tour."

There might be a whole section of that dictionary set up for Squonk Opera, which this year premiered its "Pittsburgh: The Opera" as a template for a show marketable in other cities.

Now on to 2007.