Best Actor

Thomas Prior made an unlikely heartthrob in Stages' January production of Syncopation. He played Henry Ribolow, a middle-aged meat-packer who sweated, stomped about and lived with his harping mother. But at night, in the tenement walk-up he'd rented for dancing, Ribolow was a true Fred Astaire, filled with grace and tenderness. It was Prior's ability to be an average joe on the outside while burning with real sexual fire and charisma on the inside that made his performance so memorable. He was sexy, haunting and a little bit brutish. Best of all, the man can really dance.