As its 24th theatrical Performer of the Year, the Post-Gazette names David Whalen, who in the course of 2007 played an American president, an Irish psychopath, an English aristocrat and a Roman orator -- all for Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre.

Whalen's selection recognizes excellence, of course, but also, as with many previous Performers of the Year, both quantity and range. He could have won just for his stalwart and deliciously bemused George W. Bush in "Stuff Happens" and his murderous but sentimental Padraic in "The Lieutenant of Inishmore," but his romantic hauteur as Darcy in "Pride & Prejudice" and fiery oratory as Mark Antony in "Julius Caesar" made the decision inevitable.

A native of New Kensington, Whalen graduated from Valley High School and Point Park College. There, his acting mentor, Raymond Laine, advised him to stick with live theater, rather than movies or TV, where careers are as fleeting as youth. He went on to graduate training in North Carolina and then a national acting career, working extensively at South Coast Rep in California and Playmakers Rep in North Carolina, as well as regional theaters in Texas and Tennessee.

Stage acting first brought him back to Pittsburgh in 2006, when he did "Opus" at City Theatre and "The Shaughraun" at PICT, a warm-up for his quartet of roles in 2007. He remains based just outside New York City, where he lives with his fashion-designer wife and two children. As to the variety of roles he's played, he says, "I came from that working-class mentality -- grab your lunch-box and go to work. I don't shy away from it."

If the Post-Gazette award were for the best single performance of the year, it might well have gone to Abby Ahmad, a University of Pittsburgh grad who played all the roles in Heather Raffo's "Nine Parts of Desire," also for PICT. This dramatic collage of Iraqi women includes an artist, a doctor, a poet, a seer, an exile, a Bedouin, a teenager and a sophisticate, all caught up in the maelstrom of recent history. Ahmad is the actress of the year.

In a year distinguished by fine direction, the director of the year can only be Jed Allen Harris, who led (along with co-director Matt Gray) Carnegie Mellon University's stunning "Oresteia" trilogy, which topped the PG's list of the top 10 theater events of 2007 (published Thursday).

Also deserving of special mention is Art DeConciliis, long busy as actor and director throughout Pittsburgh but especially at Little Lake Theater, where 2007 was his 30th year, raising to 101 his list of Little Lake productions either starred in or directed. Call DeConciliis the Suburban Theater Person of the Year.

There was much more individual excellence to celebrate in the more than 120 locally produced plays or musicals reviewed by the PG in 2007. Some years, we have listed as many as a dozen or more performances or design achievements in each category, but this year we've exercised more restraint. To put that in perspective, it means that the seven additional lead performances by an actor, for example, are chosen from well over 100 contenders.

The many nominations of 2007 bests submitted by readers will appear Thursday in the In the Wings column and online.

Lead Actor: In addition to Whalen, the best of 2007 included Larry John Meyers, "Ah, Wilderness!" (Playhouse Rep); Ross Bickell, "The Gin Game" (Public); Martin Giles, whose half-dozen shows included "Key to the Field" (Bricolage); Allen Gilmore, "Stuff Happens" and "Julius Caesar" (PICT); Joshua Reese, "James McBride" (Pittsburgh Playwrights); Tim Hartman, "Footloose (PMT); and Patrick Jordan, "Bug" (barebones).

Lead Actress: In addition to Ahmad, there were Tracey A. Leigh, "Intimate Apparel" (City); Robin Walsh, "Therese Raquin" (Quantum); Robin Abramson, "F.B.I. Girl" (Playhouse Rep); Tami Dixon, "Missionary Position" (City); and Lissa Brennan, "Bug."

Director, Play: Close behind Harris comes Dan Jemmett, who devised as well as directed "The Collected Works of Billy the Kid" (Quantum). He is followed by Robert Miller, "Ah, Wilderness!"; Di Trevis, "Le Grand Meaulnes," and Rodger Henderson, "Therese Raquin" (both Quantum); Tracy Brigden, "Muckle Man" (City); Rich Keitel, "To Kill a Mockingbird" (Prime Stage); and Andrew Paul, "Stuff Happens" (PICT).

Director, Musical (most also choreographed): Graciela Daniele, "The Glorious Ones" (Public); Barry Ivan, "The Full Monty," and Charles Repole, "White Christmas" (both Pittsburgh CLO); Scott Wise, "The Frogs" and "Streets of America," and Jack Allison, "Reefer Madness" (all Point Park Conservatory); Ted Pappas, "Cabaret" (Public); and Colleen Petrucci, Footloose."

Supporting Actress: It doesn't get any better than Lenora Nemetz in "Cabaret." Also: Sally Struthers, "Full Monty"; Penny Lindblom, "Ah, Wilderness!"; Rita Gregory, "America Play" (Open Stage); Terry Wickline, "Patsy Cline" (CLO).

Supporting Actor: No one was better than Michael Goodfriend in "Intimate Apparel" (City). Others of note were Ric McMillan's Donald Rumsfeld in "Stuff Happens"; Mark Thompson, "Grand Meaulnes" (Quantum); Phil Winters, "Ah, Wilderness!"; Michael Greer, "Footloose"; and Nathan Jedrzejewski, "America Play."

Ensemble: The ensemble show of the year was "Billy the Kid", devised in large part by the acting ensemble of Rick Kemp, John Fitzgerald Jay, Andrew Hachey, Kristin Slaysman and Mikelle Johnson. Other tightly knit groups included "The Glorious Ones," "Sarafina!" (Kuntu); and "For Colored Girls" (Point Park).

Ensemble (2): The best ensemble in the traditional sense was the CLO chorus in "White Christmas."

Design: Deserving a special award for overall design (sets, costumes, lights and sound) is the large team that created the "Oresteia".

Sets: The year's wittiest was James Noone's for "The Comedy of Errors" (Public), distinguished by so many funny signs and billboards it needed its own writing credit. Two of the year's best were Quantum Theatre's site-specific specials in the Braddock Carnegie Library swimming pool ("Therese Raquin") and at the Hartwood Acres stables and adjacent fields ("Grand Meaulnes"), both turned into sets by Tony Ferrieri. Ferrieri also designed well at his steady home, City Theatre, especially for "Mezzulah, 1946" and "Muckle Man." Ever more evident at several theaters is Gianni Downs. And Steffi Mayer-Staley provided a magical snow globe set for "Chicken Snake" (Playhouse Rep).

Costumes: Pei-Chi Su's varied excellence ranged from turn-of-the-20th-century in "Intimate Apparel" to turn-of-the-19th in "Pride & Prejudice."

Lights: Christopher Popowich artfully shaped "Julius Caesar" and Cindy Limauro did the same for "Pride & Prejudice." Andrew David Ostrowski provided mystery for "Muckle Man." And for "America Play," Jeremy Rolla provided a handsome set emblematic of American history and lit it to suggest both grandeur and carnival.

Sound: Liz Atkinson continues doing her unobtrusive, essential work.

Music: Douglas Levine did wonders in shaping Michael Rupert's score for the premiere of "Streets of America," and flamenco music and dancer Carolina Loyals-Garcia distinguished "The Red Shoes" (Quantum).

Special Effects: Special kudos to Steve Tolin for the abundant gore in "Lieutenant of Inishmore" and to barebones for the less sophisticated but creepy horrors of "Bug."

Alphabet Oddity: City Theatre managed an almost-perfect season of M's: "Muckle Man," "Mezzulah, 1946," "Missionary Position," "Mother Teresa Is Dead" and "Murderers." The first three comprised City's New American Trio, which gave emphasis to its dedication to new and nearly new plays.

New Plays: The new plays by local playwrights that have the best future prospects are "Key to the Field" by David Turkel. "Chicken Snake" by Amy Hartman and "James McBride" by Mark Clayton Southers. And the new musical by Stephen Flaherty (Dormont) and partner Lynn Ahrens, "The Glorious Ones," is already playing beautifully at Lincoln Center.