Best Historical Performance

In a year largely given over to the Lewis & Clark bicentennial and the the 100-year anniversary of the St. Louis World's Fair, Historyonics Theatre Company took a step off the all-too-beaten paths with Cool and Hip: Gaslight Square. Adapted by Joe Dreyer, Cool and Hip celebrated a time during the mid-1950s when St. Louis -- and more specifically, the intersection of Olive and Boyle streets -- was an artistic and comedic nexus. It was then, and there, that some of the biggest names in entertainment were in town on a regular basis, from the Smothers Brothers to Lenny Bruce, from Barbra Streisand to (former Webster Groves housewife) Phyllis Diller. Cool and Hip featured a versatile cast, including original Gaslight Square star Jeanne Trevor, along with Dean Christopher, Kari Ely, Whit Reichert and Rosemary Watts. Who knew history could be this much fun?