Around the World in 80 Days
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park

Michael Haney
Direction

Lauren Elise McCord, Jay Russell, Daniel Freedom Stewart, Evan Zes & John Keating
Acting Ensemble

Evan Zes
Outstanding Performance

David Kay Mickelsen
Costumes

Wadrobe Team led by Julie Hudson
Outstanding Achievement in Wardrobe

Great American Trailer Park Musical
Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati

Jessica Hendy
Musical Performance

Deb G. Girdler, Sara Mackie & Gina Valentine
Featured Musical Performance

Brian C. Mehring
Scenic Design

Shannon Rae Lutz
Properties

Reba Senske
Costumes

Bug
New Stage Collective

Sherman Fracher
Outstanding Lead Performance

Christopher Guthrie
Outstanding Lead Performance

Andrew Bacigalupo
Lighting Design

Cats
Northern Kentucky University Theatre & Dance

Jamey Strawn
Outstanding Vocal Direction

Rashomon
UC College-Conservatory of Music

Chuck Hatcher
Outstanding Sound Design

Justin Barisonek
Collegiate Set Design

Breaking the Code
Northern Kentucky University Theatre & Dance

Cary Davenport
Collegiate Performance

Simon Powell
Collegiate Performance

Passion
UC College-Conservatory of Music

Julie Conuel
Collegiate Performance

Take Me Out
New Stage Collective

Alex Brooks
Supporting Performance

Crime and Punishment
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park

Nick Cordileone
Outstanding Performance

John Campion
Supporting Performance

The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park

Annalee Jefferies
Outstanding Performance

Caroline, or Change
New Stage Collective

Taylore Mahogany Scott
Outstanding Performance

Brian Hoffman
Outstanding Musical Direction

Frankenstein, The Modern Prometheus
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company

Giles Davies
Outstanding Performance

Anon(ymous)
UC College-Conservatory of Music

Richard Hess
Outstanding Direction

Kathryn Furst and Tom Huston
Outstanding Lighting and Projection

Tielor McBride
Set Design

Othello
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park

Ed Stern
Outstanding Direction

Carine Montbertrand
Supporting Performance

Ensemble Performance

Dracula
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park

Outstanding Production Execution

Frozen
Xavier University Players


Michael Shooner
Supporting Performance

In 2002, Dan Dermody, Mariemont Players scenic designer, looked at some old doors on the third floor of a vacant city building in Madisonville.

He fell in love with the idea of creating a cooperative, affordable state-of-the-art venue for art and theatre and music out of an 11,000 square foot building, 10 minutes from everywhere, that no one was using.

All the parts of Dermody kicked in: the trained designer, who can visualize things that others can’t; the home rehab and contractor guy, who thought about what it would take to make the building new again; the community service guy who’d volunteered so many years to non-profit theatres; and the romantic guy, who’d grown up in Oakley and had great optimism about the future of his old neighborhood and the ones around it.

All these years and $600,000 in fundraising later, the Madisonville Arts Center, the MAC, opened in May. Dermody pulled together a volunteer army to make it happen, but it was his dream, his vision – and he cut the trapdoors himself.

In January 2008, University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music theater professor Rocco Dal Vera (and the busiest guy in Cincgy showbiz) had these shows in some state of preparation:

The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead, The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Dallas Theatre Center
A Lady of Property, Syracuse Stages
Lieutenant of Inishmore, Phoenix Theatre, Indianapolis
Little Women, CCM
Passion, CCM
Mary’s Wedding, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati
No Exit, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company
Red Light Winter, The Know Theatre
The Quest for the Forbidden Chest, CCM
The Glass Menagerie, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company
Endgame, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company
Doubt, The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Actor’s Theatre of Louisville
Kindertransport, Arizona Jewish Theatre
The Good Person of Setzuan, CCM
A Sleeping Country, The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park
King Lear, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company
The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati
Rashomon, CCM
A Long Day’s Journey into Night, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company

He teaches five courses at CCM, maintained ‘S’ clinic tutorials for Musical Theatre majors, did workshops for the American College Theatre Festival at Carnegie Mellon University, presented a lecture at NYU’s Steinhart School for the Musical Theatre Educators Alliance-International, turned in the final manuscript for a new textbook, Acting in Musical Theatre, a comprehensive course, turned in the last three articles in a series on “Acting in Musical Theatre” for Dramatics Magazine, served as an external evaluator for the Theatre Department at Brooklyn College (which also required a site visit), helped Richard Hess produce a new promotional video for the Drama Program, served as a consultant for the Xavier University Center for Intercultural Communication, the Xavier Leadership Center, and Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary – and, Dal Vera confesses, failed to return an embarrassing number of emails and phone calls – and, he adds with heartfelt gratitude, depended heavily on the endless goodwill of my wife and daughter and students and colleagues.