Singing, dancing, acting, writing, painting, making music. The artists of Kitsap County kept very busy over the last 12 months, keeping me busy as well.

More than 200 stories about these people who enrich our lives passed through the pages of What’s Up, and that’s not even counting the Goings On calendar listings.

Everyone in that parade of talent is worthy of praise, but this is the time of year for making lists, and in that spirit I have compiled a list of some of the events and people that particularly impressed me.

Herewith, in no particular order:

i Most Moving Play or Musical: It was original, bold and beautiful. “That Was Then . . . This is Now,” a musical written, choreographed, produced and directed by young Vincent Palazzolo-Packard took Bainbridge Island by storm in March.

The cast of students from all over the county shared Palazzolo-Packard’s message of teen angst and hope through dance, song and skits that were moving and powerful.

The show went on to play at the Moore Theater in Seattle and Palazzolo-Packard is continuing his career in dance. Can’t wait for the video.

i Best “Noir” Play: The Bremerton Community Theatre’s April production of “City of Angels,” directed by Dan Estes, successfully recreated the dark and glamorous days of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

Phil Mitchell did an admirable job as the Bogart-like Det. Stone, and Rana Tan made an impressive stage debut as the bete noire femme fatale Alaura Kingsley.

i Cutest Actress: There are many beautiful and talented young women gracing the stages across Kitsap County, but one who was born to play the “cute-as-a-button” role is Kristina Scocca.

Her blue-eyed-blonde-haired cuteness might have doomed her to goody-goody roles, but Changing Scene Theater Northwest director Pavlina Morris shrewdly cast her in the lead role of Kate in the April production of “Taming of the Shrew,” a character not known for her niceness. Scocca played the wild woman admirably, with great humor and a really scary hairdo.

i Most Innovative Musical Group: Pat Strange brought new life to classical music on Bainbridge Island with her chamber orchestra “Soundscape Players,” which specializes in performing avant garde pieces incorporating visual and media elements. Their performances are feasts for the eyes and ears, and unlike anything you’ve heard before.

The theme for the 2004-2005 season was “Soundscapes and Seasons,” while 2005-2006 is “Soundscapes and Earth Tones.

“My fear was that people wouldn’t enjoy the new music, but there seems to be a niche for this,” Strange said at the end of the first season.

i Best concert: Earning points for the longest wait, this award goes to the grand opening concert at the new Island Music Guild Hall in Rolling Bay April 16. The evening concert featured Jon Doll and Lo Samuelson; Ranger and Michael Sciacca; the Arundel Consort; Peter Spencer; and the IMG Jazz Quintet, followed by an open mic jam session.

The concert hall gives local and regional performers another venue option on the island, and the teaching and recording spaces enable the guild to support its members under one roof.

i Actor With the Longest Arms: Easily taking the honors in this category (especially since it was made for him) is Terrell Stephens of Silverdale. He is a frequent performer on the CSTOCK stage, and made his Jewel Box Theatre debut in May as Al in the musical “Working.”

His easy grace, great voice and winning personality make him an audience favorite. He is also a musician and hopes to someday be on Broadway. That’s quite a reach, but this actor could do it.

• Best Festival: It’s hard to top fur-clad marauding Vikings as the reason for a festival, making Poulsbo’s Viking Fest in May the best festival of the year. Thor, the Norse god of thunder, rumbled from the heavens but held off on setting loose the storm until after the parade down Front street. Thanks Thor.

“We had an extremely good turnout and everything went fabulously,” Mariann Samuelsen, Sons of Norway administrator said. “It was one of our better years.”

The Vikings set up camp at Waterfront Park while the Sons of Norway lodge served a traditional Scandinavian luncheon, complete with rulepulse and lefse, as well as chips and hot dogs. The lutefisk eating contest may have left some contestants feeling like they had swallowed Thor’s hammer, but it’s always a crowd-pleaser.

• Most Original Art Show: His work may leave some people scratching their heads, but abstract artist Richard Stine’s show at Gallery Fraga in August was a huge hit with his followers and new converts. He debuted art that he said took him in a new direction, away from the familiar cartoon dogs and star-crossed lovers and into a world teetering on an abyss.

His huge colorful canvasses filled the small gallery on Winslow Way, and within an hour of the show’s opening more than one painting, with price tags in the four-figure range, sported red “sold” stickers. If you missed it, his whimsical cards are always available at the Bainbridge Arts and Crafts Gallery.

• Best Play Name: The award goes to “Smell of the Kill,” staged by the small but ambitious Performing Arts Guild of South Kitsap in August. The images that the name conjures up are icky, to say the least, but the play was more witty than gross. The theater group is currently homeless after they had to leave the space at Port Orchard’s Towne Square mall. Let’s hope 2006 is a better year for the group, and that more people come out to see their works.

• Best Opera: Another group that performs admirably on a shoestring budget is the Kitsap Opera, under the direction of Leone Cottrell-Adkins. It would deserve the Best Opera award even if it wasn’t the only opera company in Kitsap County, but it is particularly deserving for its October production of “Hansel and Gretel,” with professional opera singer Barbara Smith Jones playing the very wicked and well-made up witch.

The opera deserves special recognition as an effort by the small opera company to reach out to children, and expose them to the joy of opera. After all, it’s not all fat ladies singing.

• Best Holiday Production: And finally, at a time of year when theater people and ballet dancers are acting and dancing their hearts out to bring us a little respite from holiday preparations, one odd production stands out, “A Tuna Christmas,” staged by the Changing Scene Theatre Northwest. Even the name is odd.

Two actors, Darren Hembd and Chris Dolan, played 22 different characters without any interruption in the action, although they did break a sweat. Changing Scene, the little theater tucked away in a business park in East Bremerton, has a mission of bringing new and different plays to Kitsap County, and they have certainly succeeded. Can’t wait to see that they do next year.

My wish for the new year is that What’s Up readers get out and take in some of the many cultural opportunities available in Kitsap County, and that there will be more cross-pollination between the fertile art scenes on Bainbridge Island and those in the rest of the county.