Bold opening: San Diego’s 2025 theatre scene shines bright, crowned by transformative performances, daring new works, and standout creative leadership. But here’s where it gets controversial: the year’s biggest wins both celebrate tradition and push the envelope in ways that could spark lively debate about what counts as “top” theatre.
Here is a fresh, clarified rendition of the original details, expanded where helpful to aid understanding and provide context while preserving every key fact.
The San Diego Theatre Critics Circle distributed 30 awards on Monday night, recognizing the best achievements in 2025 theatre at its 22nd Craig Noel Awards ceremony. The awards carry the name of Craig Noel, a National Medal of Arts recipient who founded the Old Globe and helped cultivate San Diego’s professional theatre community over five decades. Each year, the ceremony honors professional theatre productions, directors, actors, and designers. This year’s event took place at the Joan B. Kroc Theatre in San Diego, drawing an audience of nearly 400 people.
San Diego’s reputation as a major hub for new plays and musicals set the tone for the evening, with new-work categories taking center stage. The Old Globe’s world-premiere musical comedy Regency Girls—described as a Bridgerton-inspired feminist romp about women’s reproductive rights in 1810 England—took the top prize for Outstanding New Musical. (For a sense of the show, you can read reviews such as the one in the San Diego Union-Tribune.)
The Outstanding New Play award went to local playwright Carla Navarro for Fragment/o/s of Air/e, a psychological drama about a Chilean refugee haunted by torture endured under Pinochet’s regime. It premiered last July at OnStage Playhouse in Chula Vista.
The Alice and Doug Diamond Outstanding Small Theatre Award went to TuYo Theatre, a San Diego company founded in 2017 by Daniel Jáquez, Patrice Amon, Crystal Mercado, Bernardo Mazón, Peter Cirino, and Evelyn Diaz Cruz. TuYo continues to present original Latinx musicals, plays, and events. In 2025, the company staged Mabelle Reynoso’s immersive production La Llorona on the Blue Line, performed aboard a vintage train car.
Other top honors included the Cygnet Theatre’s Follies, which won Outstanding Resident Musical, and Backyard Renaissance Theatre’s bold reimagining of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, named Outstanding Dramatic Production.
Actor of the Year for 2025 went to two versatile performers who appeared in multiple county productions. Eli Wood appeared in shows at Diversionary Theatre, Cygnet Theatre, Moonlight Stage Productions, and San Diego Musical Theatre. Lena Ceja appeared at New Village Arts, Moonlight Stage Productions, and La Jolla Playhouse.
The awards were selected by an all-volunteer panel drawn from San Diego County’s newspapers, magazines, and online critics, including myself.
Full 2025 winners list:
- Outstanding New Musical: Regency Girls — The Old Globe
- Outstanding New Play: Fragment/o/s of Air/e by Carla Navarro — OnStage Playhouse
- Outstanding Dramatic Production: A Streetcar Named Desire — Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company
- Outstanding Resident Musical: Follies — Cygnet Theatre
- Alice and Doug Diamond Outstanding Small Theatre Award: TuYo Theatre
- 2025 Actors of the Year: Eli Wood and Lena Ceja
- Audience Choice Award: La Llorona on the Blue Line by Mabelle Reynoso — TuYo Theatre
- Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical: Richard Bermudez for Jekyll & Hyde at San Diego Musical Theatre; Karole Foreman for Follies at Cygnet Theatre
- Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play: Marti Gobel for Beauty’s Daughter at OnWord Theatre; Valeria Vega for Fragment/o/s of Air/e at OnStage Playhouse
- Outstanding Youth Performance: Iris Manter
- Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play: Katie MacNichol for The Waverly Gallery at Backyard Renaissance Theatre; Jocorey Mitchell for The Hot Wing King at Cygnet Theatre
- Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical: Jacob Caltrider for Oklahoma! at Cygnet Theatre; Carmen Cusack for 3 Summers of Lincoln at La Jolla Playhouse
- Outstanding Direction of a Musical: Sean Murray for Follies at Cygnet Theatre
- Outstanding Direction of a Play: Francis Gercke for The Waverly Gallery at Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company
- Outstanding Choreography: Jon Rua and Daniel J. Watts for 3 Summers of Lincoln at La Jolla Playhouse
- Outstanding Music Direction: Patrick Sulken for Regency Girls at The Old Globe
- Outstanding Scenic Design: Mathys Herbert for To My Girls at Diversionary Theatre
- Outstanding Sound Design: Gareth Owen for The Heart at La Jolla Playhouse
- Outstanding Lighting Design: Sammy Webster for The Strangers at Chalk Circle Collective
- Outstanding Costume Design: David I. Reynoso for Regency Girls at The Old Globe
- Outstanding Projection Design: Michael Wogulis for The Mountaintop at New Village Arts
Broadway San Diego contributed to the event by presenting the Reviewers of Tomorrow cohort: Josiah Briggs, Ava Cherry, and Devina Keswani.
If you’d like, I can tailor this rewrite to a specific audience (e.g., a press release, a blog post, or a social media summary) or adjust the level of detail about particular shows. Do you want me to add brief explanations of each production’s premise or links to review excerpts for readers who want more context?
