EMBRACING THEIR ROLES
Theater, at its core, is people acting onstage. Actors make or break the shows they’re in, often elevating good or even mediocre fare to greatness by performance alone. This year saw several performances in Houston that weren’t just memorable — they added an essential element to the role.
Here are the Houston Chronicle’s Top 10 Best Actors in Houston in 2017.
Kyle Sturdivant, “Trevor” and “Rhinoceros”
I didn’t know you could make “pretend to be a very large animal” an art form, yet here we have Kyle Sturdivant, in two literally stage-shaking roles, as a chimpanzee in “Trevor” and as one of the titular mammals of “Rhinoceros.” He’s so committed in his pounding and huffing that he often does convince you that he’s an animal. It’s a brilliant, terrifying illusion.
Candice D’Meza, “Sender”
When D’Meza speaks, you listen. There’s something undeniably compelling about her performance in “Sender” as a voice of reason among confused young urbanites, a combination of uncompromising drive and a yearning for a kind of life her character will never have.
Elizabeth Bunch, “Dry Powder”
When was the last time you saw a character so serious, so threatening yet so laugh-out-loud hilarious? Bunch’s take as a private equity manager in Sarah Burgess’ play made her heartlessness both alarming and comedic. Straddling that line between drama and comedy is always tough, which makes Bunch’s roles as a Gordon Gecko/Sheldon Cooper amalgamation all the more impressive.
Gabriel Regojo, “Sender” and “My Mañana Comes”
Actors often gravitate to types. Gabriel Regojo is a wonderful exception, who can’t really be pinned down to a category yet showed his strengths as a bilingual Latino millennial in these two great contemporary dramas. The Houston theater scene could use more performers like Regojo.
Courtney Lomelo, “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” and “Snow White”
From a cackling witch to an attorney in purgatory with something to prove, Lomelo landed two roles this years that let her be a giant onstage without the appearance of overacting. That’s a difficult achievement — to push a character’s emotions to the limit without straining believability. She took different paths in creating that effect in these roles, showing that Lomelo is a truly versatile performer.
Jeffrey Bean, “Describe the Night”
The company of actors at the Alley are institutions in and of themselves, but that doesn’t mean each individual performance they give should ever be taken for granted. Bean’s performance as Isaac Babel could easily have been one of a tragic, noble hero. Babel turned out to be a seducer of women, whose ego blinded him from seeing the consequences of his love for a married woman. Bean made a good role great.
Yao Dogbe and Derrick Moore, “Topdog/Underdog”
Dogbe and Moore had different styles and played drastically different characters in University of Houston’s “Topdog/ Underdog,” but their performance in this wrenching two-hander was inseparable. Nearly every gesture from one actor added to, complicated or challenged what the other did. The result was a taut two and a half hours of drama that explored every inch of who Lincoln and Booth were: not only disenfranchised black men in America, but also brothers, sons and fatal rivals.
Jeff Miller, “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” and “Snow White”
Part of the reason why the world fell in love with Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” is because a truly captivating supervillain is a rare gem in entertainment. Miller, in his two villainous roles this year, understood something Ledger did, which is that a bad guy isn’t just someone who snarls and growls and hurts people. A villain should be the most charismatic person in the room, whose wickedness tears the audience apart. That’s exactly what the actor did in both “Snow White” and “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.”
Kara Young, “Syncing Ink”
“Syncing Ink” was a show about magnetism. Its success rested on how much pull its music and its characters sported, particularly during the rapbattle scenes. Young’s ferociously charismatic energy meant her character was more than just a love interest. When Young was at her best, it seemed like she was the hero of the entire story.
Kim Tobin-Lehl, “Reckless”
The role of a housewife in a holiday thriller could be easily overlooked, but Tobin-Lehl puts so much personality and detail into her acting that the role becomes better than the production. As a jittering runaway, Tobin-Lehl has a virtuosic performance filled with small choices and gestures to be savored.