| Show Search  |  Theatres  |  Actors  |  Auditions  |  Reviews  |  News  |
|  Drama Resources  |  Related Links  |  Search Site  |  About Us  |
Theatre News
2002 - 2003 San Diego Playbill "Billie" Awards

Lance Roberts and Jennifer Shelton from Moonlight's "Ragtime" Three years ago, I began reviewing plays for my new San Diego Playbill website. Two years ago, and 50 plays later, awards were announced to recognize some of the outstanding theatre work I had been privileged enough to see. Last year, 127 plays were reviewed, and we branched out to do both the regular awards and a special set of awards for our local youth theatres. This year, a total of 152 shows have been reviewed. It was such a thrill to see so much fantastic theatre, but of course that also made it that much harder to pick these winners!

This year's biggest single winning show proved to be Moonlight's Ragtime: The Musical, a show that I could not get enough of during its record-breaking run this summer, earning five awards. Both Moonlight and Sledgehammer Theatre received a total of five awards, giving them the most of any theatre this year. Many, many thanks to all the winners as well as all the other artists who have made producing this little website such a fantastic experience for me over the past three years.

Below is a complete list of this year's winners. A new category for "Artist of the Year" has been added to honor one person who has excelled in several roles throughout the year, as well as a category called the "Dignitary Award" for the most remarkable artist who came from far away to grace one of our local stages.

On Monday, June 30, this year's "adult" San Diego Playbill Awards will be presented at the Avo Playhouse in Vista. If you are interested in attending the awards ceremony, please click here for more details and RSVP information. For a list of winners and RSVP information regarding the Youth Theatre Awards, please click here.

Rob Hopper
San Diego Playbill

Youth Theatre Awards

And the winners are ...

Outstanding Production:
 Ragtime: The Musical (Moonlight Stage Productions)
Pericles (The Old Globe)

Artist of the Year:
 Sean Murray (Director of Cabaret at North Coast Rep, Co-Director with Rosina Reynolds of The Importance of Being Earnest and Travesties at North Coast Rep. Starred in Travesties and in A Christmas Carol at San Diego Rep. Started his own theatre company – Cygnet Theatre.)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical:
 Jeremiah Lorenz as the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret (North Coast Repertory Theatre)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical:
Elna Binckes as Adelaide in Guys and Dolls (Welk Resort Theatre)
Susan Jordan-DeLeon as Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun (Christian Community Theater)
Victoria Strong as Mother in Ragtime: The Musical (Moonlight Stage Productions)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy or Drama:
Ron Choularton as Jacob Marley, etc. in Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol (North Coast Repertory Theatre)
David Cochran Heath as Joe McLeod in Detective Story (Lamb’s Players Theatre)
Antonio “T.J.” Johnson as Dodge in Buried Child (North Coast Repertory Theatre)
Jeffrey Jones as Jerry in The Zoo Story (Renaissance Theatre Company)
Farhang Pernoon as Oscar Wilde in Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde (Diversionary Theatre)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy or Drama:
Gayle Feldman as Iago in Othello (Women’s Repertory Theatre)
Lisel Gorell-Getz as Rachel in Reckless (6th @ Penn Theatre)
Julianna Lorenz as Sonya in Uncle Vanya (New Village Arts)
Rosina Reynolds as Mrs. Holt in A Knife in the Heart (Sledgehammer Theatre)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical:
 Eric Anderson as Tateh in Ragtime: The Musical (Moonlight Stage Productions)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical:
 Leigh Scarritt as Jo in Trolls (6th @ Penn Theatre)
Jennifer Shelton as Sarah in Ragtime: The Musical (Moonlight Stage Productions)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama:
Diep Huynh as Jimmy in A Prayer for My Daughter (6th @ Penn Theatre)
Jason Waller as Marge, Dean, Leonel, Sirena, Groom 2 in Deporting the Divas (Diversionary Theatre)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Drama:
K.B. Mercer as Gwen Landis in Fifth of July (Diversionary Theatre)

Outstanding Ensemble:
 Ragtime: The Musical directed by Kathy Brombacher (Moonlight Stage Productions)
The Three Sisters directed by Kyle Donnelly (UCSD Theatre and Dance)
The Importance of Being Earnest/Travesties directed by Sean Murray and Rosina Reynolds (North Coast Rep)
Detective Story directed by Robert Smyth (Lamb’s Players Theatre)

Outstanding Costume Design:
Nadja Lancelot and Sheila Rosen for The Wedding on the Eiffel Tower (Actors Alliance Festival)

Outstanding Lighting Design:
 David Lee Cuthbert for Berzerkergäng and A Knife in the Heart (Sledgehammer Theatre)
Eric Lotze for Jekyll & Hyde (Starlight Musical Theatre)

Outstanding Set Design:
 Ralph Funicello for Pericles (The Old Globe)
Trevor Norton for Nuevo California (San Diego Repertory Theatre)

Outstanding Sound Design
 Paul Peterson for A Knife in the Heart (Sledgehammer Theatre)

Outstanding Choreography
 Jack Tygett and Joyce Schumaker for My One and Only (Starlight Musical Theatre)

Outstanding Direction:
 Kirsten Brandt for A Knife in the Heart (Sledgehammer Theatre)
Bill Fennelly for Edward II (UCSD Theatre and Dance)
Ismet Prcic for 4.48 Psychosis (UCSD)
Delicia Turner-Sonnenberg for Othello (Women’s Repertory Theatre)

Outstanding New Play by San Diego Playwright:
Kirsten Brandt for Berzerkergäng (Sledgehammer Theatre)
Nick Olney for his various works (Return of Blebbings and Zeitgeist)
Mat Smart for Hand, Foot, Arm, and Face (UCSD Theatre and Dance)
Andrea Stolowitz for Knowing Cairo (The Old Globe)

Dignitary Awards (for those artists who came from far and wide):
 Karen Kandel in Peter & Wendy (La Jolla Playhouse) 

152 Total Shows (118 adult productions)

56 Different Theatres (38 adult theatres)

42 Awards Given

31 Shows received awards (Ragtime – 5, A Knife in the Heart – 4).

17 Theatres received awards (Moonlight – 5, Sledgehammer – 5, North Coast Rep – 4, UCSD – 4).

Shows Reviewed:

  1. 1776 (Starlight Musical Theatre)
  2. 1776 (Lamb’s Players Theatre)
  3. 4.48 Psychosis (UCSD)
  4. Actor’s Alliance Festival – Bizarro Night [N]
  5. Actor’s Alliance Festival – Local Playwright Night [N-6]
  6. Actor’s Alliance Festival – Relationship Night [N-3]
  7. Actor’s Alliance Festival – A World in Flux Night [N]
  8. All My Sons (The Globe Theatres)
  9. Angels in America: Millennium Approaches (UCSD Theatre and Dance)
  10. Annie (Starlight Musical Theatre)
  11. Annie Get Your Gun (Christian Community Theater)
  12. Archaeology (UCSD Theatre and Dance) [N]
  13. Beauty and the Beast (Broadway-San Diego)
  14. Beehive (The Theatre in Old Town)
  15. Berzerkergang (Sledgehammer) [N]
  16. Beyond Therapy (The Globe Theatres)
  17. Blast! (Broadway-San Diego)
  18. The Boys Next Door (Moonlight Stage Productions)
  19. Buried Child (North Coast Repertory Theatre)
  20. Bye, Bye Birdie (Coronado Playhouse)
  21. Cabaret (North Coast Repertory Theatre)
  22. A Christmas Carol (INDEPENDant Players)
  23. A Christmas Carol (San Diego Repertory Theatre)
  24. Closer (Backyard Productions)
  25. Critical Darling (UCSD Theatre and Dance) [N]
  26. Dames at Sea (Moonlight Stage Productions)
  27. Deporting the Divas (Diversionary Theatre)
  28. Desperados in Dreamland (UCSD Theatre and Dance) [N]
  29. Detective Story (Lamb’s Players Theatre)
  30. A Divine Comedy (Lamb’s Players Theatre)
  31. Down South (The Fritz Theater)
  32. Echoes (Stone Soup Theatre Company)
  33. Edward II (UCSD Theatre and Dance)
  34. An English Music Hall (La Jolla Stage Co.) [N]
  35. Festival of Christmas (Lamb’s Players Theatre) [N]
  36. Fiddler on the Roof (Christian Community Theater)
  37. Fifth of July (Diversionary Theatre)
  38. Footloose (Christian Community Theater)
  39. Footloose (Moonlight Stage Productions)
  40. Forever Plaid (Welk Resort Theatre)
  41. Fritz Blitz #2 – There’s Someone Living in the House That Jack Built/Complicated Heroes (The Fritz Theater) [N-2]
  42. Fritz Blitz #4 – The Flower of Dubuque (The Fritz Theater) [N]
  43. Fritz Blitz #5 – Extreme Unction (The Fritz Theater) [N]
  44. The Full Monty (Broadway-San Diego)
  45. The Goddess of Flowers (Asian American Repertory Theatre) [N]
  46. The Good Doctor (Moonlight Stage Productions)
  47. Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde (Diversionary Theatre)
  48. Guys and Dolls (Welk Resort Theatre)
  49. Gypsy (Poway Center for the Performing Arts)
  50. Hand, Foot, Arm, and Face (UCSD Theatre and Dance) [N]
  51. Harry the Horse (Beacon Theatre) [N]
  52. Hello Dolly! (Moonlight Stage Productions)
  53. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (The Globe Theatres)
  54. I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Starlight Musical Theatre)
  55. Imaginary Friends (The Globe Theatres)
  56. The Importance of Being Earnest (North Coast Repertory Theatre)
  57. The Importance of Being Earnest – The Musical (Vantage Theatre)
  58. Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol (North Coast Repertory Theatre)
  59. Jekyll & Hyde (Starlight Musical Theatre)
  60. Jesus Christ Superstar (Broadway-San Diego)
  61. The Killing of Sister George (Diversionary Theatre)
  62. A Knife in the Heart (Sledgehammer Theatre)
  63. Knowing Cairo (The Globe Theatres) [N]
  64. A Life in the Theatre (Black Dog Theatre Company)
  65. Love’s Fire (Stone Soup Theatre Company)
  66. Of Mice and Men (The INDEPENDant Players)
  67. The Miracle Worker (North Coast Repertory Theatre)
  68. Miss MacInernie’s Acquaintances (6th @ Penn Theatre) [N]
  69. Mourning Becomes Electra (UCSD)
  70. Much Ado About Nothing (Coronado Playhouse)
  71. The Music Man (Broadway-San Diego)
  72. The Music Man (Welk Resort Theatre)
  73. My One and Only (Starlight Musical Theatre)
  74. The Mysterious Mr. Love (6th @ Penn Theatre)
  75. The Mystery of Irma Vep (La Jolla Stage Co.)
  76. Nuevo California (San Diego Repertory Theatre) [N]
  77. The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All (The Globe Theatres)
  78. The Only Game in Town (New Village Arts)
  79. Othello (Women’s Repertory Theatre)
  80. Pericles (The Globe Theatres)
  81. Peter and Wendy (La Jolla Playhouse)
  82. Peter Pan (Poway Center for the Performing Arts)
  83. Pets! (Full Circle Theatre Company)
  84. Playwrights Project
  85. A Prayer for My Daughter (6th @ Penn Theatre)
  86. Ragtime (Moonlight Stage Productions)
  87. Rent (Broadway-San Diego)
  88. Return of Blebbings (Actor’s Asylum – Nick Olney) [N-3]
  89. Saturday Night (San Diego State University)
  90. The Secret Garden (La Jolla Stage Co.)
  91. Sentimental Journey – A USO Style Show (Cooperative Show Company)
  92. Seussical the Musical (Broadway-San Diego)
  93. Sexual Perversity in Chicago / State of the Art (Fritz and 6th @ Penn) [N]
  94. Silent Night, Lonely Night (Actor’s Asylum)
  95. Singing in the Rain (Welk Resort Theatre)
  96. Smash (The Globe Theatres)
  97. Songs for a New World (Actor’s Asylum Productions)
  98. South Pacific (Broadway-San Diego)
  99. Spin Moves (UCSD Theatre and Dance) [N]
  100. The Spitfire Grill (Moonlight Stage Productions)
  101. Stage Door (UCSD Theatre and Dance)
  102. Streisand Festival (Jewish Community Center)
  103. The Stronger/The Turn of the Screw (Hormonally Incorrect Productions)
  104. Suds (Sycuan Showcase Theatre)
  105. The Taming of the Shrew (Eveoke Dance Company)
  106. The Taming of the Shrew (The Globe Theatres)
  107. Things May Disimprove (6th @ Penn Theatre)
  108. Three Sisters (UCSD Theatre and Dance)
  109. Traditions of Christmas (Christian Community Theater)
  110. Travesties (North Coast Repertory Theatre)
  111. Trolls (6th @ Penn Theatre)
  112. Two Gentlemen of Verona (UCSD Theatre and Dance)
  113. Uncle Vanya (New Village Arts)
  114. Valparaiso (Sledgehammer Theatre)
  115. What to Mix With Powdered Water/The Interview/Party (UCSD Cabaret) [N-3]
  116. Wintertime (La Jolla Playhouse)
  117. Working (San Diego Repertory Theatre)
  118. The Zoo Story/The American Dream (Renaissance Theatre Company)

[N] = New Play