Best Male Actor

Powerhouse monologist MIKE DAISEY took the Alliance Theatre by storm last spring. Marrying the verbal and thematic ingenuity of the late Spalding Gray with the volcanic indignation of Lewis Black, Daisey took on money and materialism with The Last Cargo Cult, then trained his incisive eye on the problems of contemporary stagecraft with his one-night performance of How Theater Failed America. Atlanta may have literally gotten more out of Daisey than he put in. In Cargo Cult, Daisey conducted a sociological experiment by converting his fee for each performance into cash and giving it away to his audience as they entered. At the end of the show, Daisey politely requested the money be returned. His Atlanta run left him more deeply in the red than any other city. If that makes Daisey reluctant to return, we have only ourselves to blame. mikedaisey.blogspot.com less...

A mainstay of Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company, E. ROGER MITCHELL proves the best kind of utility player by putting fresh spins on vivid roles from Ceremonies in Dark Old Men’s urban operator Blue Haven to Gem of the Ocean’s bereft Citizen Barlow. Perhaps Mitchell’s most impressive quality is his ability to take a sketchy character, such as The Sunset Limited’s saintly ex-con, and invest it with dignity and gravitas. Mitchell can reliably make mediocre material strong, and strong material masterful. less...

CHRIS KAYSER has long enjoyed a reputation as one of Atlanta’s finest leading men, giving a particularly memorable performance in Actor’s Express’ enigmatic Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) in 2007. He affirmed the depth and flexibility of his craft with two shows in 2008. In the Alliance Theatre’s Eurydice, he offered a heartbreaking portrayal of a father who wouldn’t let a little thing like being dead get in the way of his love for his daughter. Kayser offered some of the most implosive work of his career in Georgia Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice as the despised moneylender Shylock. One of Shakespeare’s most problematic roles, Kayser played the character not as a vengeful villain but as an intelligent man twisted by a lifetime of anti-Semitism in Venice, with his sadistic behavior emerging as a misguided act of defiance. With work like that, what will he do for an encore? atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/eurydice/Content?oid=453632. less...

As artistic director of True Colors Theatre, just as in his tenure at the Alliance Theatre, Kenny Leon brought in terrific actors from out of town. Even by the high standard he’s already set in Atlanta, he still found a standout performance with GLYNN TURMAN IN TRUE COLORS’ CEREMONIES IN DARK OLD MEN. Turman’s career includes the film Cooley High, TV’s “A Different World” and “The Wire” and a Broadway debut of A Raisin in the Sun. In Ceremonies, he brought remarkable depth to his performance as a former vaudeville dancer turned failed barbershop owner. Turman not only captured the desperation of a life on the economic margins, he proved uproariously funny in the play’s lighter moments — which served to make Ceremonies’ mournful conclusion all the more tragic. less...

The word “performance” seems inadequate to describe DOYLE REYNOLDS IN I AM MY OWN WIFE. Given that the longtime Atlanta actor played more than 30 roles in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, surely “performances” is more appropriate. In the play (directed by Actor’s Express’ newly named artistic director Freddie Ashley), Reynolds not only conveyed the seemingly limitless complexities of German transvestite Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, he showed multiple characters grappling with the challenges of unreliable history, political oppression, and the tension between gender and identity. Reynolds reliably proved himself to be a funny character actor worthy of Old Hollywood. Our favorite moment was his rendition of Joan Jett’s “Do You Wanna Touch Me?” when Dad’s Garage staged The Rocky Horror Show, but I Am My Own Wife showed what he can really do. less...

As artistic director of True Colors Theatre, just as in his tenure at the Alliance Theatre, Kenny Leon brought in terrific actors from out of town. Even by the high standard he’s already set in Atlanta, he still found a standout performance with GLYNN TURMAN IN TRUE COLORS’ CEREMONIES IN DARK OLD MEN. Turman’s career includes the film Cooley High, TV’s “A Different World” less...

Out-of-towner J.D. GOLDBLATT had some big tap shoes to fill by playing pioneering jazz pianist Jelly Roll Morton in Jelly’s Last Jam, a role created by the late, legendary hoofer Gregory Hines. Goldblatt proved neither intimidated by his predecessor nor overwhelmed by the lavish stage effects of the Alliance Theatre production, which featured New Orleans street parties, costumed minstrels and enormous, dazzling marquees. A classic “triple threat,” Goldblatt displayed a ringing singing voice, graceful dance moves and intense acting chops that captured ’Roll’s complex racial demons. Here’s hoping someone can coax him back to Atlanta soon. less...

For years, local actor DAVID SILVERMAN established a reliable, boyish stage persona with occasional departures, like his gleefully nasty eBay addict in Jewish Theatre of the South’s Affluenza! last fall. Nothing prepared Atlanta audiences for his unnerving work as a pedophile in Actor’s Express’ world premiere musical Love Jerry in January. Silverman’s childlike affability took on sinister overtones, but he made the sexual predator more than just a villain, hitting the depths of self-loathing when the character confronted his transgressions — in song. Some performances change your assessment of an actor, but Silverman’s work in Love Jerry affected our insight into human nature. less...

No single male performance knocked it out of the park like the CAST OF TAKE ME OUT at Theatre in the Square’s Alley Stage. The nine-man team included the seemingly ubiquitous Daniel May, local stalwarts such as Brik Berkes and Isma’il ibn Conner, the reliably hilarious Matthew Myers and Bill Murphey, and relative rookies Brandon Dirden and Travis Young, who reached new career highs. As the diverse members of a scandal-plagued baseball team, Take Me Out’s all-star ensemble even managed to upstage its own shower scenes. less...