The suburbs were where it was at, the shopping malls were the new trendy centers of commerce, and jobs were rapidly following the new subdivisions. Downtown was yesterday’s news.

It is difficult to rationalize public obsession with tragic love stories. The brief escapades of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, which took place at the height of the Great Depression, gripped the attention of the nation then and continues to captivate people to this day.

Stage Center Artistic Director Jared Watson said awards were handed out in a number of categories in which voters could indicate their favorites. He emphasized that Stage Center was trying to make these awards more about pleasing patrons than deciding who was the best in any given role.