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Gazette: Best of the Springs
May 2010
- Best Museum, Gold: Fine Arts Center
The Fine Arts Center seemed to find a fascinating balance this year. Instead of putting most of its eggs in the blockbuster touring art shows, the center mixed local and national artists around fascinating and provocative themes, such as NASA | ART: 50 Years of Exploration and Conflict | Resolution.
- Best Local Exhibit, Gold: NASA | ART
Using the NASA touring exhibition as a foundation, this ambitious show ventured into new territory by mounting the space-related work of local artists - Vance Kirkland, Eric Bransby, Monica Aeillo and. The additional programming, which extended to the Bemis School of Art, lectures and a film festival, were fun, engaging and downright daring. "NYC in our own backyard," wrote one reader.
- Best Actor, Gold: Marco Robinson
As Eugene in the Fine Arts Center's Broadway Bound, the young actor was both the narrator and central character. If his interactions with brother Stanley seemed particularly natural, maybe that's because Stanley has been played by his real-life brother, Oscar. Robinson also brought life to the Fine Arts Center's Christmas Survival Guide.
- Best Actress, Gold: Eryn Carmen
With her flawless comic delivery and boundless charm, this vivacious actress did the impossible: she managed to make a manipulative murderess (in the Fine Arts Center's Sweeney Todd) lovable. And she's got some powerhouse pipes to boot.
- Best Choreography, Gold: A Christmas Survival Guide
Michael E. Gold's jazzy, fresh and inventive choreography pumped plenty of life into the Fine Arts Center's musical about the joy and stresses of the holiday season.
- Best Choreography: GAZETTE PICK The Music Man
Mary Ripper Baker created some of her most demanding routines yet for this beloved musical, but the Fine Arts Center's all-ages cast members made them look easy, captivating the audience with their infectious energy.
- Best Set, Gold: Sweeney Todd
In this deliciously black comedy, Christopher L. Sheley's massive, multilevel set evoked its own grim mood, including the creepy shadows of the asylum and the fiery depths of Mrs. Lovett's kitchen. And who can forget that ultracool barber chair?
- Best Costumes, Gold: Sweeney Todd
Though new to the Fine Arts Center, Nicole Harrison has already proved her consummate artistry in this show, creating an array of eye-catching costumes that look like they stepped right out of a Dickens novel.
- Best Musical: Gold Winner Sweeney Todd In a production that would have impressed Stephen Sondheim himself, the brilliant cast and top-notch design team worked hand in bloody hand to remind us just how powerful a really great musical can be.
- Best Play, Gold: Broadway Bound
For the third installment of Neil Simon's Eugene trilogy, the Fine Arts Center brought back veteran actors from the first two, a cast that has become the first family of the local theater scene. Readers said: "Best play I've seen in a really long time"; "Amy Brooks is a star"; "The FAC gets better with each production."
- Best Gallery, Silver: Fine Arts Center
- Best Local Exhibit, Bronze: The Baroque World of Fernando Botero
- Best Play, Bronze: Sweeney Todd
- Best Actress, Bronze: Amy Brooks
- Best Theater Company, Bronze: FAC Theater Company
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Gazette: Best of the Springs
May 2008
- Best Comedy: Fuddy Meers
“An excellent cast, an imaginatively nonrealistic staging, and a fresh story brimming with inspiration: The FAC Theatre Company’s production of David Lindsay-Abaire’s bizarre, madcap comedy was one of the season’s highlights.”
- Best Actress: Leah Chandler-Mills
“She saved her best mother for last: Gertie in the Fine Arts Center’s Fuddy Meers – a beautifully nuanced portrayal of a person who has important things to say but just can’t get them out.”
- Best Performance in a Musical: Mercedes Perez, Into the Woods
“… brassy, cynical and yet still somehow a vulnerable mother – all projected with a bright, powerful voice … “
- Best Set: Sunday in the Park with George
“Chris Sheley and Brian Jude Beacom take the honors for the imagination with which they recreated Georges Seurat’s (painting).”
- Best Dress: Carmen Mock, Sunday in the Park with George
“More kudos to FAC set designer Chris Sheley … a sublimely silly moment when her confining dress opened up to let her out.”
- Best Art Museum: Fine Arts Center
“The best got better … “
- Best Local Exhibit: Altered Space: 21st Century Installation Art
“ … contemplative, thought-provoking works … “
- Best Traveling Exhibit: Impressionism and Modern Masters
“ … glamorous … truly great works … “
- Best Arts Event: Extremely Grand Opening
“For one weekend in August, Colorado Springs felt like a huge city.”
- Best Dramatic Exit: Michael De Marsche
“ … he exited with a bang …”
- Readers’ Choice...
Best Art Gallery: Fine Arts Center
Best Art Museum: Fine Arts Center
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