The ceremony, focusing on the best San Diego-area stage work of 2009, was dedicated to Noel, the 94-year-old founding director of the Old Globe. He's in frail health and, for the first time since the awards were renamed in his honor in 2002, was unable to attend the event at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Topping the winners' list was the La Jolla Playhouse world premiere of Bonnie & Clyde, which took five awards in the musical categories: new musical, direction, musical direction, female lead performance and female featured performance.
Taking four Noels was the La Jolla Playhouse’s fresh version of Strindberg's Creditors. It won for lighting design, set design, music for a play and for Tony-winning playwright Doug Wright's new adaptation.
The Globe's summer production of Cyrano de Bergerac won three major awards: dramatic production, direction of a play and lead male performance, which went to Patrick Page in the title role.
Darko Tresnjak, winning director for Cyrano, received one of the evening's Special Awards for his body of work in San Diego, "especially reviving and helming the Globe's Summer Shakespeare Festival." Also honored with a special award was DJ Sullivan, for her decades of acting on stage and screen, "for her union activities on behalf of actors, and for teaching and directing local actors, many of whom have gone on to illustrious careers."
An Outstanding Special Event Award went to the Ira Aldridge Repertory Players, for its doo-wop musical revue, Looking for an Echo.
Obba Babatundé, who won the Lead Actor in a Musical award for his performance as Sammy Davis Jr. in Sammy, thanked Davis for inspiring him and paving the way for other entertainers.
Veteran television actor Armin Shimerman ("Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") was honored for his featured performance in San Diego Rep's The Seafarer.
The San Diego Theatre Critics Circle's 2009 Craig Noel Award Recipients
SPECIAL AWARDEES
DJ Sullivan, San Diego actor/teacher/labor organizer for more than 40 years - Lifetime Achievement Award
Darko Tresnjak, former artistic director of the Old Globe's Summer Shakespeare Festival – "for his vivid reimagining of the classics."
SPECIAL THEATRICAL EVENT
Looking for An Echo – Ira Aldridge Repertory Players
OUTSTANDING RESIDENT MUSICAL
42nd Street - Moonlight Stage Productions
OUTSTANDING NEW MUSICAL
Bonnie & Clyde – La Jolla Playhouse
OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
Jeff Calhoun, Bonnie & Clyde, La Jolla Playhouse
OUTSTANDING MUSICAL DIRECTION
John McDaniel: Bonnie & Clyde, La Jolla Playhouse
Mark Danisovszky, Threepenny Opera, San Diego Rep
OUTSTANDING LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL, FEMALE
Colleen Kollar Smith, Bed and Sofa, Cygnet Theatre
Laura Osnes, Bonnie & Clyde, La Jolla Playhouse
OUTSTANDING LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL, MALE
Obba Babatundé, Sammy, The Old Globe
OUTSTANDING FEATURED PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL, MALE
Jordan Miller, Bed and Sofa, Cygnet Theatre
OUTSTANDING FEATURED PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL, FEMALE
Sara Chase, The First Wives Club, The Old Globe
Melissa van der Schyff, Bonnie & Clyde, La Jolla Playhouse
OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY
Keith Young, Sammy, The Old Globe
OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A PLAY
Darko Tresnjak, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Old Globe
OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN
Lindsay Jones, Opus, The Old Globe
OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN
Linda Cho, Twelfth Night, The Old Globe
OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN
Japhy Weideman, Creditors, La Jolla Playhouse
OUTSTANDING SET DESIGN
Michael McKeon, Killer Joe, Compass Theatre
Robert Brill, Creditors, La Jolla Playhouse
OUTSTANDING MUSIC FOR A PLAY
Christopher R. Walker, Twelfth Night, Old Globe
David Van Tieghem, Creditors, La Jolla Playhouse
OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE
Noises Off, Cygnet Theatre
The Dresser, North Coast Repertory Theatre
Opus, The Old Globe
OUTSTANDING FEATURED PERFORMANCE IN A PLAY, FEMALE
Amanda Sitton, Doubt, San Diego Repertory Theatre
Harriet Harris, Unusual Acts of Devotion, La Jolla Playhouse
OUTSTANDING FEATURED PERFORMANCE IN A PLAY, MALE
Armin Shimerman, The Seafarer, San Diego Repertory Theatre
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| Patrick Page inCyrano de Bergerac |
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| photo by Craig Schwartz |
OUTSTANDING LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A PLAY, FEMALE
Karson St. John, The Little Dog Laughed, Diversionary
Dana Hooley, Frozen, ion theatre
OUTSTANDING YOUNG ARTIST
Ian Brininstool, Over the Tavern, North Coast Repertory Theatre
OUTSTANDING TOURING PRODUCTION
The 39 Steps, La Jolla Playhouse
OUTSTANDING DRAMATIC PRODUCTION
Cyrano de Bergerac, The Old Globe
OUTSTANDING ADAPTATION OF A PLAY
Creditors, Doug Wright, La Jolla Playhouse
