• I just received my first e-mail recommendation for Performer of the Year (not surprisingly, from the indefatigable Ron Necheff), which reminds me that it's high time to ask for your suggestions. This will be the 25th year that I and other PG reviewers have honored an actor in a play produced in Pittsburgh, as well as celebrating 10 favorite theater evenings and other high points of the past year. So if you have any thoughts about 2008's theatrical bests -- performers, shows, etc. -- please send me an e-mail (my preference) or give me a call.

For reference, here's the 2007 Performer of the Year article and the 2007 Top Ten list.

• In my review of the witty, melodic musical at Carnegie Mellon University (sadly, now closed), I neglected to cite some previous CMU connections. First there was the lovely Pamela Winslow, the original (1987) Rapunzel, who had far fewer lines than Lora Lee Gayer had now at CMU. (And Pamela had her big song cut during tryouts. What Rapunzel now sings was added for subsequent productions.)

• Second, there's the extraordinary story of how Billy Porter, CMU '91, was almost cast as the Witch for a planned 2001 Broadway revival. It was postponed after 9/11, and suddenly a male Witch seemed like too much of a risk, so when the revival did happen, the part went to Vanessa Williams. You can read the whole strange 2002 story here.

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• Jeanne Drennan asks me to publicize an "extraordinary gathering of acting teachers" set for Dec. 8 at CUNY, NYC. There will be "screenings of excerpts by master teachers" (Stella Adler, Sanford Meisner, Uta Hagen, Bobby Lewis, Anne Bogart), introduced by Lee Grant and Ellen Adler; acting teachers' dialogues; excerpts from "Let It Be Art, Harold Clurman's Life of Passion," starring Ronald Rand; and at 9 p.m., a photo of all acting teachers at the event.

The press release lists many famous actor/teachers, such as Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, Olympia Dukakis, Marian Seldes, Billy Crudup, Andre De Shields, Pittsburgher Barbara MacKenzie-Wood, former Pittsburgher Mel Shapiro, etc., etc., who are "scheduled to share their unique insights into the craft of acting and actor training in America."

The organizers are Rand and "The Soul of the American Actor," a newspaper about acting. Contacts are 1-917-622-5365, 1-800-490-1175 or RonaldRand@ClurmanThePlay.com.

• Word just came that the much-laureled Tarell Alvin McCraney, whose "The Brothers Size" at City Theatre we review today, just won London's Charles Wintour Award for most promising playwright, given by the Evening Standard. It cites "Brothers Size" and "In the Red and Brown Water," two-thirds of his "Brother/Sister Plays" trilogy, both staged this month at The Young Vic.

• Winning best director was Michael Grandage of the Donmar Warehouse, who also directed the "Frost/Nixon" coming to the Benedum on tour next week. And there was a special award to Kevin Spacey for bringing new life to the Old Vic. The judges, by the way, were five theater critics, showing that we still have our uses.

• Dean Poynor, an MFA playwriting student at CMU, just won the Helford Prize given by Jacksonville University. Named in honor of TV and film writer Bruce Helford, it comes with $10,000 and the option to produce Poynor's winning play, "Losing Sleep."

I checked out Poynor's Web site (www.deanpoynor.com) and found this entry from when he first arrived here in August:

"First off, let me say that I dig Pittsburgh. It's great. It's a well-kept secret of urban hipness and theatrical creativity. We've already enjoyed a few productions, and I'm getting to know the community a little. And I had a chance to schmooze with the vibrant local chapter of the Dramatists Guild. (Lest you think this is all I do, we also took in a Steelers pre-season game, got the cable installed and have mostly unpacked.)" He then provides links to seven of our professional companies, proving he's a good guest.

• Tomorrow's Byham Theater screening of Carl Kurlander's "My Tale of Two Cities" is sold out, but there's a limited number of DVDs available at www.mytaleoftwocities.com. They're also planning to take the show on the road to various neighborhoods. For info on that, e-mail mytaleoftwocities@gmail.com.

• David Whalen, the PG's 2007 Performer of the Year, is in NYC this weekend playing George W. Bush in a reading of Lee Blessing's new three-hander, "When We Go Upon the Sea" -- he got the role by playing Bush in PICT's "Stuff Happens." Then after Christmas, he's off to D.C. to play Polixenes (opposite the Leontes of Daniel Stewart, Patrick's son) in "The Winter's Tale" at the Folger. And he'll be back on a Pittsburgh stage in April in the City Theatre premiere of Eric Simonson's "Speak American."

• We've just posted the schedule of 2009 theater trips. The first is to London, projected for March 8-15, although we won't have final details confirmed for a week or two.

• Paid admissions at city's pro theaters, week ending Nov. 23: