The Old Globe’s production of “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” won five awards at Monday night's Craig Noel Awards, including Outstanding New Musical. The annual awards ceremony celebrating the best in San Diego theater was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.
It also won directing honors for former Globe artistic director Darko Tresjnak and an acting award for lead Jefferson Mays, a UCSD graduate. The musical currently is playing on Broadway.
San Diego Repertory Theatre won Outstanding Resident Musical for “In the Heights” and a production of Toni Morrison’s novel “The Bluest Eye” won Outstanding Dramatic Production. It was co-produced by Moxie Theatre and Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company.
“2013 was a pretty fantastic year in local theater,” James Hebert, theater critic at the U-T San Diego, said. Hebert is the vice president of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle, which votes annually on the Craig Noel Awards, named after the founding director of the Old Globe.
Full List Of Winners
Outstanding Resident Musical
“In the Heights,” San Diego Repertory Theatre
Outstanding New Musical
"A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder," The Old Globe
Outstanding Musical Direction
Don LeMaster, "The Sound of Music," San Diego Musical Theatre
Outstanding Choreography
Javier Velasco, "In the Heights," San Diego Repertory Theatre
Outstanding Orchestrations
Jonathan Tunick, "A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder," The Old Globe
Outstanding Ensemble
“The Bluest Eye,” Moxie Theatre & Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company
Outstanding Solo Performance
Sean Sullivan, “Baby Redboots’ Revenge,” San Diego Fringe Festival
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical, Female
Erin Davie & Emily Padgett, "Side Show," La Jolla Playhouse
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical, Male
Jefferson Mays, “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” The Old Globe
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical, Male
Phil Johnson, "A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Musical," Intrepid Shakespeare Company
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical, Female
Victoria Strong, "The Sound of Music," San Diego Musical Theatre
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play, Male
Miles Anderson, “The Merchant of Venice,” The Old Globe
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play, Female
Deborah Gilmour Smyth, "Wit," Lamb's Players Theatre
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play, Female
Yolanda Franklin, “The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler,” Diversionary Theatre
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play, Male
Don Sparks, “Pygmalion,” The Old Globe
Outstanding Sound Design
Christopher Luessmann, "The Wizard of Oz," Moonlight Stage Productions
Outstanding Costume Design
Paul Tazewell, "Side Show," La Jolla Playhouse
Outstanding Lighting Design
York Kennedy, “Other Desert Cities,” The Old Globe
Outstanding Scenic Design
Alexander Dodge, “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” The Old Globe
Outstanding Projection Design
Victoria Petrovich, "A Weekend with Pablo Picasso," San Diego Repertory Theatre
Outstanding Direction of a Play
Delicia Turner Sonnenberg, “The Bluest Eye,” Moxie Theatre & Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company
Outstanding Direction of a Musical
Darko Tresnjak, “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” The Old Globe
Outstanding Dramatic Production
“The Bluest Eye,” Moxie Theatre & Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company
Outstanding Special Event
The San Diego Fringe Festival
Without Walls Festival, La Jolla Playhouse
Don Braunagel Award for Outstanding Work by a Small Theater Company
Ion Theatre, for its 2013 body of work
Actor of the Year
Linda Libby and Randall Dodge
Outstanding Young Artist/Sandra Ellis Troy Scholarship
Abby DeSpain, "Wait Until Dark," New Village Arts Theatre
Outstanding Musical Performance in a Play
Gilbert Castellanos, "The Federal Jazz Project," San Diego Repertory Theatre
Hebert says 2013 provided an impressive mix of productions with a national profile and homegrown shows. "We see a lot of that here (in San Diego) but it seemed especially striking to me, the kind of cross-fertilization.”
Ten working critics make up the voting body. They each see more than 100 plays a year.
For the first time, the Actor of the Year award was a tie, so to speak, going to two different artists. Linda Libby (“Grey Gardens,” “Company”) and Randall Dodge (“South Pacific,” “The Wizard of Oz”) were each honored for an outstanding body of work in 2013.
Ion Theatre, a small independent theater known for provocative, edgy work, was given a cash award, the Don Braunagel Award for Outstanding Work by a Small Theatre Company. The award celebrates ion’s entire body of work in 2013.
And two theater festivals were recognized in the Outsanding Special Event category: The San Diego Fringe Festival and the La Jolla Playhouse's Without Walls Festival.
