La Jolla Playhouse productions heading for national exposure fared well as the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle on Monday, Jan. 26, 2009, presented the annual Craig Noel Awards for Theatrical Excellence, honoring the best local stage work of 2008.
Noel, the 93-year-old founding director of the Old Globe Theatre, was in attendance for his namesake awards, which were presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, in La Jolla, attended by some 350 theater industry members and supporters.
Moises Kaufman's "33 Variations," about to open on Broadway with Jane Fonda in the lead role, was honored for David lander's lighting and Derek McLane's set.
The Playhouse's premiere of Joe DiPietro and David Bryan's "Memphis" (now in production at Seattle's Fifth Avenue Theatre) was honored as outstanding new musical and for Chad Kimball's lead performance. A fresh staging of "Xanadu," which Playhouse artistic director Christopher Ashley first directed on Broadway, was named outstanding resident musical, and Bill T. Jones won for his choreography in the Playhouse's hip-hop musical "The Seven."
Old Globe productions garnered four mentions, including Steven Drukman's boxing-themed drama about Joe Louis, "In This Corner," which was named outstanding new play. "Dancing in the Dark," a debut musical with Broadway aspirations (based on the classic film "The Band Wagon"), won for Patrick Page's featured performance and Larry Hochman's orchestrations. A revival of "The Women," directed by Old Globe resident artistic director Darko Tresnjak, was honored for Anna Oliver's costumes.
And the national touring production of "Spring Awakening," produced by Broadway/San Diego, a Nederlander Organization, won for best touring show.
"The troubled economy had a great impact on San Diego County theaters in 2008," said Pam Kragen, president of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle, "but many companies rose to the occasion, producing adventurous, thought-provoking work, regardless of its commercial potential. We were excited to see a balance of strong work at theaters both large and small, and a rich variety of new and revival musicals."
The evening's big winner was "Fences," a February 2008 production by Cygnet Theatre.
The August Wilson classic won in five categories, including dramatic production, direction and ensemble. Its other two awards went to Antonio T.J. Johnson and Sylvia M'Lafi Thompson in the categories of male and female leads in a play.
Cygnet captured two other awards as the critics presented 32 plaques in 23 categories to 11 theater companies. Two other companies received mention in the lead-actor category as the critics made the unusual decision to honor Tom Andrew for his work in three plays: Inukshuk Productions' "Terra Nova," Cygnet's "It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play" and Mo'olelo Performing Arts' "Night Sky."
The small Ion Theatre Company won in three categories: Tim Boyce for his sound design in "A Streetcar Named Desire," Rachael VanWormer for her featured performance in "Bash" and Linda Libby for her solo work in "Request Programme." Four other companies took two awards each.
Special awards were given to Jonathan McMurtry, Arthur Wagner and Steve Karo. McMurtry is a veteran San Diego actor with nearly 48 years onstage at the Old Globe. Wagner founded the Department of Theatre & Dance at UC San Diego, was a longtime board member for La Jolla Playhouse and, with his wife, Molli, is a generous supporter of the arts in San Diego County. And Karo led the drive to renovate the historic Balboa Theatre in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter.
Filmmaker Martin Morawski created 10-minute tribute films in honor of McMurtry and Wagner. McMurtry's tributes included comments from his longtime friend and two-time Tony Award-winning director Jack O'Brien, who ran the Old Globe for 25 years.
