The year 2014 in Lehigh Valley theater will be remembered as the year when the lines blurred between community theater and professional theater.

Community theater got better. Civic Theatre of Allentown continued its record number of Valley premieres, now at more than 40 under artistic director William Sanders' stewardship.

Professional theater also got better and more popular. The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival had upwards of 30,000 tickets sold.

Locally-produced stage shows are one of the Valley's biggest, if not the biggest, arts and entertainment draws, not counting arena concerts by touring popular music groups and stars.

Add in area college theater, high school theater, the Freddys and national touring shows at Miller Symphony Hall, Allentown, and State Theatre Center for the Arts, Easton, and you've got a theater-going audience in size that rivals that of an equivalent-size region and even some larger areas.

The year had off-stage theater news, too.

The Crowded Kitchen Players' diaspora continued. Exit Quakertown. Enter Allentown and Bethlehem.

Moravian College is assessing the closed Boyd Theatre movie house in downtown Bethlehem as a venue to expand its theater department.

The former Pennsylvania Stage Company building along Linden Street in downtown Allentown was put up for sale. Is Allentown Public Theatre, still looking for a home, on the call board?

Reviews of 31 plays were published on the Lehigh Valley Press Focus web site in 2014.

The reviewers' tally: Dawn Nixon, 4; Douglas Graves, 3, and Paul Willistein, 24. Douglas Graves moved from the Valley mid-year.

Based on Lehigh Valley stage shows I saw in 2014, here's my annual theater overview, otherwise known as the ABEs (as in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton), now it its ninth year.

Community Theater

Producer: Civic Theatre of Allentown. It wasn't just Civic Theatre of Allentown's production of "Young Frankenstein," the best Lehigh Valley community theater production in memory. It was the inventiveness of Civic's season, including its 25th anniversary production of "A Christmas Carol," with seven Scrooges of "Christmas Carols" past.

Original Musical: No ABE

Musical: "Urinetown," Civic Theatre. The zany, brainy and outrageously funny musical comedy is a Broadway show with punk-rock attitude. The satirical show, which opened on Broadway in 2001 (receiving three Tonys), has really bad puns, to wit: the company that cornered the latrine market during a 20-year drought is Urine Good Company.

Actress, Musical: Morgan Reilly, Hope Cladwell, "Urinetown," Civic Theatre. Reilly, a Muhlenberg College student, was also delightful as Inga in "Young Frankenstein."

Actor, Musical: Jarrod Yuskauskas, Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, "Young Frankenstein," Civic Theatre. Yuskauskas, Director of Theatre Arts, Upper School at Moravian Academy, was also memorable as Sir Robin in Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre's hilarious Spamalot."

Ensemble, Musical: "Young Frankenstein," Civic Theatre. The cast of "Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein: The Musical," in its Lehigh Valley debut, was one of the most fully-realized community theater productions ever thanks to the cast of Jarrod Yuskauskas, Noah Ruebeck, Robert Trexler, Morgan Reilly, Eileen Veghte, Roseann Damico Schatkowski, JoAnn Wilchek Basist, Kirk Lawrence-Howard, Ted Williams and Robert Stinner.

Director, Musical: William Sanders, "Urinetown," Civic Theatre. Sanders left no production opportunity missed (silent-film like asides, cinematic slow-motion movement, audience presentation-confrontation) in his ingenious, bold and innovative staging.

Choreography: William Sanders, Deena Linn, "Urinetown," Civic Theatre. Sanders and Linn left no dance step (Bob Fosse, especially) unturned.

Original play: No ABE

Actress, play: Becky Engborg, "Other Desert Cities," Civic Theatre. Enborg gave us a jolly Polly only when she was spewing venom.

Actor, play: Troy Brokenshire, "To Kill A Mockingbird," Pennsylvania Playhouse. Proving there are no small parts, Brokenshire played Bob Ewell with tobacco-spitting racism.

Director, play: William Sanders, "Other Desert Cities," Civic Theatre. Sanders put a fine point on "Other Desert Cities," an audacious, surprising and heart-rending drama-comedy about a family's secrets.

Costume Design: Kate Scuffle, "To Kill A Mockingbird," Pennsylvania Playhouse. Scuffle's designs were particularly effective, from the vanilla ice cream suit of Atticus Finch, to the women's house dresses, to the bib overalls of Bob Ewell.

Scenic Design: George Miller, "To Kill A Mockingbird," Pennsylvania Playhouse. The classic drama, noted for the 1962 movie version starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch, was meticulously directed by Miller, who designed the set (as his nom de set design of Michael Lavelle Schofield) with Brett Oliveira, who did the superb lighting design.

Sound Design: Helena Confer, "Urinetown," Civic Theatre. The opening faucet "drip-drip-drip" and running stream by sound designer Confer set the stage.

Tim Roche Memorial "Meanwhile" Award: "Urinetown," Civic Theatre. With choral singing by a cast of 28, director William Sanders, music director Justin Brehm and a terrific ensemble of Will Morris, Molly Caballero, Tracy Ceschin, Brent Schlosshauer, Morgan Reilly, Kirk Lawrence-Howard, Robert Torres, Tom Nardone, Marie Ann Sutera, Mercedes Tonne, Johnny Schaffer, Katie Brobst, Nina Elias and Deena Linn, "Urinetown" took care of business, show business.

Professional Theater

Producer: Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. "Fiddler On The Roof" broke attendance records at PSF. Producing Artistic Director Patrick Mulcahy has the knack for mounting quality productions that make PSF the region's No. 1 summer cultural tourism destination.

Original musical: No ABE

Musical: "Fiddler On The Roof," Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. The show was stunning on a number of levels. Life lessons are at speare Festival. The show was stunning on a number of levels. Life lessons are at the heart of "Fiddler," based on the short stories of Sholem Aleichem, a Ukrainian native. I saw "Fiddler" twice and wished I had seen it a third time. The production, coinciding with the show's 25th anniversary, was that good.

Actress, Musical: Shani Hadjian, The Lady Of The Lake, "Spamalot," Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre. Hadjian was in gorgeous voice ("Come With Me") could vamp, scat and growl, adding self-deprecating humor ("Find Your Grail," "The Song That Goes Like This," "The Diva's Lament") to a magnificent stage presence.

Actor, Musical: Joe Vincent, "Fiddler On The Roof," Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Vincent played Tevye, the Jewish dairy farmer who yearns to be rich but learns to accept otherwise, with immense humanity. His robust and versatile voice plumbed the depth of meaning in dialogue and song. This was a sensitive interpretation, far from the buffoon as Tevye is sometimes portrayed.

Ensemble, Musical: "A Chorus Line," Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre: Director Charles Richter, MSMT co-founder, emphasized the poignancy of each of the 17 main dancers' stories among a cast of 28. As the emotional stakes for each were raised, the audience more and more identified with their plights. "A Chorus Line" built upon the "Montage" to four astounding production numbers: "Dance: Ten, Looks: Three," "The Music And The Mirror," "One" and "What I Did For Love." Choreographer Karen Dearborn had the dancers stepping across the stage with military precision.

Director, Musical: Dennis Razze, "Fiddler On The Roof," Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Razze and his production crew pulled out all the stops.

Choreography: Stephen Casey, "Fiddler On The Roof," Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. The high-powered all-dancing entrance foreshadowed Casey's vibrant choreography that permeated the show. The first act concluded with the "Wedding Dance," where the men dance while balancing bottles on their hats. The bottles were not attached (I asked).

Original play: "Journey: Dream Of A Red Pavilion," Touchstone Theatre: Storyteller Mary Wright wrote and directed "Dream," based on more than 100 hours of interviews she and the Touchstone team gathered from some 55 who live and work in Bethlehem, Asian tourists along the South Side Greenway and the four lead female actors. Slow, graceful choreography, evocative set and production design by Jp Jordan and Christopher Shorr, delicate Guzheng music recorded by Xiang Xiang created thought-provoking entertainment. The centerpiece was the real-life story of Touchstone Ensemble member and general manager Emma Chong.

Play: "Lend Me A Tenor," Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. The production of the Ken Ludwig play had a mistaken-identity plot, slamming doors right out of a Feydeau farce, characters silly beyond belief and split-second timing.

Actress, Play: Marsha Mason, "Deathtrap," Bucks County Playhouse. Mason generated most of the laughs as Helga ten Dorp, a wacky, eastern-European-accented prognosticator in the comedy gleefully directed by Evan Cabnet

Actor, Play: Ian Bedford, "Macbeth," Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Bedford, directed by PSF producing artistic director Patrick Mulcahy, was a towering Macbeth, resolute in his murderous actions. Bedford rendered the iconic "tomorrow and tomorrow" speech ("full of sound and fury. Signifying nothing") in sotto voce, wrapping poetry in the resonance of regret.

Ensemble, Play: "Lend Me A Tenor," Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Generating laughter of operatic proportions were Perry Ojeda, Carl N. Wallnau, Jacob Dresch, Deanna Gibson, Susan Riley Stevens, Eleanor Handley, Anthony Lawton and Suzanne O'Donnell.

Director, Play: Jim Helsinger, "Lend Me A Tenor," Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Helsinger directed the PSF "all-stars." The production was rife with physical comedy, double entendre and sight gags. The Helsinger touch was in effect.

Costume Designer: Amy Best, "Lend Me A Tenor," Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. The women's costumes were lovely, especially a yellow gown worn by Deanna Gibson, two sleek numbers for Eleanor Handley and a silver sheath for Riley Stevens, the latter outfit described as "the Chrysler Building." The Otello costume resembled a pepper mill.

Scenic Design: Will Neuert, "Fiddler On The Roof," Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Neuert's set, with its cozy pop-open house huddled under a foreboding border of houses uprooted like trees in a tornado and backdropped by a circle of the village skyline, symbolized Marc Chagall displacement and fancifulness.

Lighting Design: Eric T. Haugen, "Fiddler On The Roof," Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. The incredible effects by Haugen created a color palette of moods, especially for the bizarre "The Dream" nightmare scene with Amanda Steckerl as Grandma Tzeitel and Valerie Berger as Fruma-Sarah.

Sound Design, Ian P. Carr, "Fiddler On The Roof," Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. The frightening and funny "Dream" scene was heightened by Carr's careful cacophony.