by AMY BARRATT

Theatre rarely makes the front page of any paper. An exception this year was when the announcement came that ousted Liberal MP Sheila Copps was doing dinner theatre in Kingston, Ontario, an ode to Southern womanhood, Steel Magnolias. In its review of the production, the Whig Standard ran this astonishing sentence: "This is a play about women hanging out together in a Louisiana hair salon and so the action should be casual and naturalistic, which for the most part Copps is anything but."

Ryan Davis and Joe Drymala are two of the bright young things who made Howard Dean the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination early in the year. The campaign was revolutionary in its use of the Internet to raise funds and rally the masses. After the "scream‚" and subsequent implosion of Dean's bid, these two New Yorkers looked around for a new cause and found it in the endangered Broadway cast album.

Drymala and Davis created StageSpace.com, a Web site for theatre professionals and fans alike to exchange information and ideas. They immediately started a petition in support of original cast recordings of Broadway musicals, which are apparently in danger of disappearing because record companies don't care about Broadway.

Davis and Drymala, both bloggers on the site, have remained political junkies: a post on Oct. 29 stated that they were off to Florida to work with the Kerry campaign. A deafening two-week silence ensued as, along with the rest of us, D & D absorbed the shock of Bush's re-election. Eventually, to paraphrase Jerome Kern, they picked themselves up, dusted themselves off and started all over again. They're keeping a close eye on the Commander-in-Chief, recently reporting that he was meeting, not for the first time, with a nutbar senator from Alabama who wants to "bury" all books and works of art that "promote a gay lifestyle."

And on to theatre chez nous

Best new festivals: the infringement and the GLBT International Theatre Festival. We congratulate them on their inaugural editions and wish them well in the future.

Funniest thing on stage this year: anything involving Danette MacKay and Danielle Desormeaux. Regulars at Kiss My Cabaret have gotten to know the polyester-clad duo of Madame and Matante and have even had the pleasure of tagging along with them (through the miracle of video - thank you Dayna McLeod) on a two-pronged pilgrimage to the Oratoire St-Joseph and the Plaza Côte-des-Neiges. Then the Halloween show introduced us to Chantal pis Chloé - nieces of the aforementioned esteemed ladies - a couple of "dancers" unfairly let go by the Casino de Chateauguay. Hi-larious.

Favourite Theatre Headline of 2004: on a review of Jesus Christ Superstar by Kamal Al-Solaylee in the Globe and Mail: "I Don't Know How to Love This."

Most memorable image on a local stage: a brittle Céline Bonnier as Sylvia Plath standing in a tupperware-like box that seemed to be closing in on itself in La Cloche de verre at Quat'Sous.

Most compelling moments: Joe Cobden chronicling the progress of his friend's AIDS alongside the horrors of the 20th century in The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios.

Most underrated performance: Holly O'Brien as the lawyer in Jesus Hopped the A Train.

Highest estrogen levels: everyone in Elyse Gasco's Bye Bye Baby

Highest testosterone levels: (tie) Neil Napier in SubUrbia; all the "guys" in EMMA's The Club.

Worst costuming moment: I still can't get over that orange dress in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (at the Saidye).

Most memorable interview: Veteran actor Douglas Campbell, who played Gonzalo in Gravy Bath's recent production of The Tempest.

Greatest loss to the theatre scene, both local and national: Bill Glassco.