San Diego Playbill - Theatre News

2000 - 2001 San Diego Playbill "Billie" Awards

A year ago I had the opportunity to embark on an exciting adventure: reviewing shows at various venues throughout the county. It is now 12 months and 50 shows later. So what have I learned from my adventure? That I should have started this years ago!!! San Diego County has dozens of theatres, each with their own unique atmosphere, offering all variety of shows throughout the year. By attending 50 shows in 22 theatres, I have only scratched the surface. Next year there will be more. But for this past year I just wanted to take a moment and thank all the talented artists who have made these last twelve months so memorable for me. Thank you! :)

And now comes the only hard part. Trying to pick just a few of the top amongst the top to recognize with the inaugural San Diego Playbill "Billie" Awards. There is, unfortunately, no way to do so without missing countless of actors and backstage personnel who are deserving of awards for their phenomenal work. And that's just in the shows that I actually saw. I apologize for all the shows I missed this year. I'll miss fewer this next one!

But enough hem-hawing. It's time to focus on the awards. Please note that I selected the top three in each category and listed their names in alphabetical order. All three are equal winners. There are 42 awards in all (because, as the late Douglas Adams realized, "42" is the ultimate meaning of life, the universe, and everything). In this case the awards were spread amongst 25 different shows and 13 different theatres ("13" to tempt fate and "25" because ... because ... well, because it just happened to turn out that way).

The most decorated show was Granite Hills Acting Workshop's The Trojan Women with four. Three awards went to Christian Community Theater's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, North Coast Rep's Man of La Mancha, Starlight's Peter Pan, and UCSD's Bash. The most decorated theatres were UCSD with eight (out of six shows reviewed), Christian Community Theater with seven (out of four shows reviewed), and Starlight with six (out of three shows reviewed). Congratulations to all, and thank you so much for helping make this past year such a thrill with your remarkable talents!

And the winners are ...

Outstanding Production:
Cinderella (Broadway-San Diego) Review
The Scarlet Pimpernel (Broadway-San Diego) Review
Thoroughly Modern Millie (La Jolla Playhouse) Review

Outstanding Actor in a Musical:
Sean Murray as Don Quixote/Cervantes in Man of La Mancha (North Coast Repertory Theatre) Review
Brandon Roesler as Jerry/Daphne in Sugar (Granite Hills Acting Workshop) Review
Jason Schauer as Billy Snibson in Me and My Girl (Christian Community Theater) Review

Outstanding Actress in a Musical:
Alexandra Auckland as Peter Pan in Peter Pan (Starlight Musical Theatre) Review
Jenn Grinels as The Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Christian Community Theater) Review
Leigh Scarritt as Evita in Evita (Starlight Musical Theatre) Review

Outstanding Actor in a Comedy or Drama:
James Cota as Matt Friedman in Talley's Folly (Grossmont College) Review
David Kim in Bash (UCSD Theatre and Dance) Review
David McBean as Chicklet in Psycho Beach Party (Diversionary Theatre) Review

Outstanding Actress in a Comedy or Drama:
Zina Camblin in Bash (UCSD Theatre and Dance) Review
Carly Nykanen as Hecuba in The Trojan Women (Granite Hills Acting Workshop) Review
Jessa Watson as Charlotte, Little Lady, and Mr. Weyerhauser in The Devil's River (Sledgehammer) Review

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical: (1)
Brian Buxton as Roger in Grease! (Youth Summerstock Theatre) Review
Travis Heath and Josh Brashars as First and Second Gangster in Kiss Me Kate (Youth Summerstock Theatre) Review
Barry Pearl as Ali Hakim in Oklahoma! (Welk Resort Theatre) Review
Rick Stevens as Luther Billis in South Pacific (Starlight Musical Theatre) Review

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical:
Rebecca Greenwood as Ado Annie in Oklahoma! (Welk Resort Theatre) Review
Summer Sablan as Tup Tim in The King and I (Christian Community Theater) Review
Katie Wilson as Bloody Mary in South Pacific (Starlight Musical Theatre) Review

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama: (1)
Trey Lyford as Malvolio in Twelfth Night (UCSD Theatre and Dance) Review

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Drama:
Denise Moharsky as Fourth Doctor in Reckless (UCSD Theatre and Dance) Review
Stacy Moore as Andromache in The Trojan Women (Granite Hills Acting Workshop) Review
Marjorie Oslie as Cassandra in The Trojan Women (Granite Hills Acting Workshop) Review

Outstanding Ensemble:
I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (San Diego Repertory Theatre) Review
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Christian Community Theater) Review
Man of La Mancha (North Coast Repertory Theatre) Review

Outstanding Costume Design:
Kathy Auckland for Peter Pan (Starlight Musical Theatre) Review
Elayn Thoeny and Tamara Myers for The King and I (Christian Community Theater) Review
Sheryl Colwell, Riley Elwell, Vana Elwell, Glenna Evans, Sue Ranscht, Sajida Sabir, Kristina Sloan, Sheona Turentine, and Debbie Weiss for Traditions of Christmas (Christian Community Theater) Review

Outstanding Lighting Design:
Mike Durst for The Devil's River (Sledgehammer Theatre) Review
Mike Harvey for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Christian Community Theater) Review
Jennifer Setlow for Faust Fragments (UCSD Theatre and Dance) Review

Outstanding Set Design:
Marty Burnett for Man of La Mancha (North Coast Repertory Theatre) Review
The Set Company for Peter Pan (Starlight Musical Theatre) Review
Jerry Sonnenberg for Faust Fragments (UCSD Theatre and Dance) Review

Outstanding Direction:
Barry Bosworth for The Trojan Women (Granite Hills Acting Workshop) Review
Jonathan Silverstein for Gorgeous Lies (UCSD Theatre and Dance) Review
Les Waters for Bash (UCSD Theatre and Dance) Review

(1) Using artistic license, the six awards for best supporting actors were divided between five for supporting actors in a musical and one for supporting actors in a comedy/drama.

Stats:
50 Total Shows
34 Local Shows
22 Different Theatres
42 Awards Given
25 shows received awards (The Trojan Women - 4, Bash - 3, Joseph - 3, Man of La Mancha - 3, Peter Pan - 3).
13 theatres received awards (UCSD - 8, CCT - 7, Starlight - 6).

The 50 Shows Reviewed:
*Annie Get Your Gun (Broadway-San Diego)
*Art (The Globe Theatres)
Bash (UCSD Theatre and Dance)
The Best of Festivals Past (San Diego Center for Jewish Culture)
*Cinderella (Broadway-San Diego)
*The Countess (The Globe Theatres)
*Crumbs from the Table of Joy (The Globe Theatres)
The Curious Savage (Mira Mesa Theatre Guild)
The Devil's River (Sledgehammer)
*Dinner With Friends (The Globe Theatres)
The Diviners (Full Circle Theatre Group)
Evita (Starlight Musical Theatre)
Faust Fragments (UCSD Theatre and Dance)
*Fiddler on the Roof (Broadway-San Diego)
Godspell (West Hills High School)
Gorgeous Lies: An Urban Fairy Tale (UCSD Theatre and Dance)
Grease! (Youth Summerstock Theatre)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (The Globe Theatres)
I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (San Diego Repertory Theatre)
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Christian Community Theater)
The King and I (Christian Community Theater)
Kiss Me Kate (Youth Summerstock Theatre)
*Love's Labours Lost (The Globe Theatres)
Man of La Mancha (North Coast Repertory Theatre)
Me and My Girl (Christian Community Theater)
*The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber (Broadway-San Diego)
Of Grapes and Nuts (Misfit Productions)
Oklahoma! (Welk Resort Theatre)
*Orson's Shadow (The Globe Theatres)
Oxygen (San Diego Repertory Theatre)
The Pajama Game (Monte Vista High School)
Persistence of Plentitude (UCSD Theatre and Dance)
Peter Pan (Starlight Musical Theatre)
Play On! (Granite Hills Acting Workshop)
Psycho Beach Party (Diversionary Theatre)
Rebecca (Lamplighters Community Theatre)
Reckless (UCSD Theatre and Dance)
The Rocky Horror Show (OutKast Productions)
*The Scarlet Pimpernel (Broadway-San Diego)
South Pacific (Starlight Musical Theatre)
Sugar (Granite Hills Acting Workshop)
Talley's Folly (Grossmont College)
*Thoroughly Modern Millie (La Jolla Playhouse)
*Titanic: A New Musical (Broadway-San Diego)
Traditions of Christmas (Christian Community Theater)
*The Trojan Women (The Globe Theatres)
The Trojan Women (Granite Hills Acting Workshop)
Twelfth Night (UCSD Theatre and Dance)
*Vita and Virginia (The Globe Theatres)
*The Woman in Black (The Globe Theatres)

* Connotes shows with non-local casts. These shows are only eligible for "Outstanding Production."