SAN DIEGO DRAMA CRITICS : Old Globe Dominates Critics’ Nominations

Two Shakespearean productions helped the Old Globe Theatre dominate the fifth-annual San Diego Critics Circle awards nominations Saturday.

The Old Globe led with 28 nominations, to 17 for the La Jolla Playhouse and 11 for the San Diego Repertory Theatre.

The winners, who will be selected by the 13 voting theater critic members of the Critics Circle, will be announced Oct. 23 at the Abbey Restaurant.

Classics rather than new plays ruled the day. The much-heralded world premiere of Neil Simon’s “Rumors” at the Old Globe picked up only two nominations, for best new play and best supporting actress, Christine Baranski. But the Old Globe scored with nine nominations for “Love’s Labour’s Lost”--the most for any play-- and eight for “Coriolanus,” which tied it with the La Jolla Playhouse’s new adaptation of the German classic “Lulu” and the San Diego Repertory Theatre’s “Red Noses,” a story about a medieval comedy troupe.

The nominations reflected the diversity of offerings in the San Diego theater community as eight theaters garnered 70 nominations for 25 plays plus five road shows. Nine of the plays came from the Old Globe, which had a record 13-play season this year.

The voting members of the San Diego Critics Circle are: Frances L. Bardacke, San Diego Magazine; Don Braunagel, Variety; Nancy Churnin, the Los Angeles Times; Carol Davis, San Diego Jewish Times; William Fark, Escondido Times-Advocate; Welton Jones, San Diego Union; Jonathan Saville, The Reader; Christopher Schneider, the La Jolla Light; Eileen Sondak, Heritage-San Diego Jewish Press; Jeff Smith, The Reader; D. Larry Steckling, Dramalogue; George Weinberg-Harter, The Source for San Diego; Ann-Marie Welsh, San Diego Union.

The list of nominations follows:

BEST DIRECTOR

John Hirsch, “Coriolanus,” Old Globe Theatre; Craig Noel, “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” Old Globe Theatre; Sharon Ott, “Lulu,” La Jolla Playhouse; Bartlett Sher, “The Strong Breed,” Plus Fire (performed at Installation Gallery); Jael Weisman, Sam Woodhouse, “Red Noses,” San Diego Repertory Theatre.

BEST ACTRESS--LEAD

Elizabeth Berridge, “Lulu,” La Jolla Playhouse; Erin Kelly, “Danny and the Deep Blue Sea,” Bowery Theatre; Karmin Murcelo, “The Boiler Room,” Old Globe Theatre; Deborah Gilmour Smyth, “St. Joan,” Lamb’s Players Theatre; Rosina Widdowson-Reynolds, “Private Lives,” Gaslamp Quarter Theatre Company.

BEST ACTRESS--SUPPORTING

Shuko Akune, “Tea,” Old Globe Theatre; Priscilla Allen, “Heathen Valley,” San Diego Repertory Theatre; Christine Baranski, “Rumors,” Old Globe Theatre; Ellen Crawford, “Lulu,” La Jolla Playhouse; Jo Henderson, “Two Rooms,” La Jolla Playhouse.

BEST ACTOR--LEAD

Bill Dunnam, “Heathen Valley,” San Diego Repertory Theatre; Michael Fields, “Red Noses,” San Diego Repertory Theatre; David Cochran Heath, “The Book of the Dun Cow,” Lamb’s Players Theatre; Byron Jennings, “Coriolanus,” Old Globe Theatre; Sean Sullivan, “The Voice of the Prairie,” Old Globe Theatre.

BEST ACTOR--SUPPORTING

Bernard Baldan, “Red Noses,” San Diego Repertory Theatre; Tom Lacy, “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” Old Globe Theatre; Dakin Matthews, “Coriolanus,” Old Globe Theatre; Ollie Nash, “Red Noses,” San Diego Repertory Theatre; Ken Ruta, “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” Old Globe Theatre.

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

J. D. Burns, “Nite Club Confidential,” Gaslamp Quarter Theatre Company; Byron Jennings, “Coriolanus,” Old Globe Theatre; Bonnie Johnston, “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” Old Globe Theatre; Pamela Turner, “The Book of the Dun Cow,” Lamb’s Players Theatre; Javier Velasco, “Suds,” Old Globe Theatre.

BEST SCENIC DESIGN

John Arnone, “Lulu,” La Jolla Playhouse; David Jenkins, “Coriolanus,” Old Globe Theatre; Douglas W. Schmidt, “80 Days,” La Jolla Playhouse; Richard Seger, “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” Old Globe Theatre; Bob Shaw, “Once in a Lifetime,” La Jolla Playhouse.

BEST COSTUMES

Cindy Citinski, “Yeomen of the Guard,” Gilbert & Sullivan Company; Deborah M. Dryden, “Lulu,” La Jolla Playhouse; Susan Denison Geller, “Once in a Lifetime,” La Jolla Playhouse; Susan Hilferty, “80 Days,” La Jolla Playhouse; Robert Wojewodski, “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” Old Globe Theatre.

BEST LIGHTING

Kent Dorsey, “Coriolanus,” Old Globe Theatre; Peter Maradudin, “Lulu,” La Jolla Playhouse; Peter Maradudin, “Red Noses,” San Diego Repertory Theatre; Robert Peterson, “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” Old Globe Theatre; David Thayer, “The Book of the Dun Cow,” Lamb’s Players Theatre.

BEST SOUND DESIGN

Lawrence Czoka, “Danny and the Deep Blue Sea,” Bowery Theatre; Michael Holten, Conrad Susa, “Coriolanus,” Old Glboe Theatre; James La Brecht, “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” Old Globe Theatre; Robert Smyth, “The Book of the Dun Cow,” Lamb’s Players Theatre; Adam Wartnik, Steve Gunderson, Bill Doyle, “Suds,” Old Globe Theatre.

BEST NEW SCORE

Larry Czoka, “The Last Good Moment of Lilly Baker,” Gaslamp Quarter Theatre Company; Ray Davies, “80 Days,” La Jolla Playhouse; Stephen LeGrand, Eric Drew Feldman, “Lulu,” La Jolla Playhouse; Gina Leishman, “Red Noses,” San Diego Repertory Theatre; Douglas Michilinda, Stephen Metcalfe, “White Linen,” Old Globe Theatre.

BEST NEW PLAY

Lee Blessing, “Two Rooms,” La Jolla Playhouse; Reuben Gonzalez, “The Boiler Room,” Old Globe Theatre; A. R. Gurney, Jr., “The Cocktail Hour,” Old Globe Theatre; Neil Simon, “Rumors,” Old Globe Theatre; Snoo Wilson, Ray Davies, “80 Days,” La Jolla Playhouse.

BEST PRODUCTION

“Coriolanus,” Old Globe Theatre; “Danny and the Deep Blue Sea,” Bowery Theatre; “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” Old Globe Theatre; “Lulu,” La Jolla Playhouse; “Red Noses,” San Diego Repertory Theatre.

BEST ROAD SHOW

“Confessions of a Nightingale” at the Hahn Cosmopolitan Theatre; Le Cirque du Soleil; “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” at the Old Globe Theatre; “Me and My Girl,” presented by San Diego Playgoers at the Civic Theatre; “Tartuffe,” Seattle Repertory Theatre at the East County Performing Arts Center.

BEST MUSICAL

“The Cradle Will Rock,” San Diego Repertory Theatre; “80 Days,” La Jolla Playhouse; “Six Women With Brain Death or Expiring Minds Want to Know,” San Diego Repertory Theatre; “Suds,” Old Globe Theatre; “Yeomen of the Guard,” Gilbert & Sullivan Company.