The awards were handed out Jan. 10 at the Museum of Contemporary Arts, San Diego, in La Jolla. The evening opened with a filmed tribute to Award namesake Noel, who died April 3, 2010, at the age of 94.

The La Jolla Playhouse co-production of Lynn Nottage's Ruined (with Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Huntington Theatre Co.) was honored in the categories of Outstanding Dramatic Production, Direction (Liesl Tommy), Lead Performance, Female (Tonye Patano), Featured Performance, Female (Zainab Jah), Ensemble, Set Design (Clint Ramos) and Sound Design (Broken Chord).

Other big winners at the Monday ceremony were Cygnet Theatre's production of Sweeney Todd and San Diego Repertory Theatre's Hairspray. The two musicals shared the award for Outstanding Resident Musical.

In the New Musical category, La Jolla Playhouse's production of Christopher Curtis and Thomas Meehan's musical Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin won top honors, as did the musical's star, Rob McClure, who won the Lead Performance in a Musical, Male.

Tony-winning composer Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening) was honored for his score for Whisper House, which had its world premiere last year at The Old Globe. Composer Mark Bennett was honored in the Music for Play category for his classically inspired score of La Jolla Playhouse's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Old Globe's new Broadway-aimed musical Robin and the 7 Hoods won for Outstanding Choreography by three-time Tony nominee Casey Nicholaw and for its costumes by Tony winner Gregg Barnes. Seema Sueko, founding artistic director for Mo'olelo Performing Arts Company, was honored with the second Des McAnuff New Vision Award. Named for the former artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse, the honor recognizes "inspired and risk-taking artistic vision."

Playwright Ronald McCants, a 2010 graduate of UC San Diego's master's program in playwriting, won the Outstanding New Play award for his drama Oyster, the story of a black father trying to reconnect with the adult son he abandoned years ago. The play premiered last spring at the university's Baldwin New Play Festival.

Winning the category of touring production was Bill Camp and Robert Woodruff's adaptation of Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, produced at La Jolla Playhouse. The other winner for Performance in a Touring Production was Tovah Feldshuh, who starred as Israeli prime minister Golda Meir in the solo show Golda's Balcony at The Old Globe (Feldshuh received a Tony nomination for the same role in 2004).

For information on the awards and members of the organization, visit the Web site at www.sdcriticscircle.org.

The complete 2010 Craig Noel Awards list follows.

Outstanding Resident Musical
Sweeney Todd, Cygnet Theatre Hairspray, San Diego Repertory Theatre

Outstanding Original Score
Duncan Sheik, Whisper House, The Old Globe

Outstanding New Musical
Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin, La Jolla Playhouse

Outstanding Direction of a Musical
Sean Murray & James Vasquez, Sweeney Todd, Cygnet Theatre

Outstanding Musical Direction
Charlie Reuter, Sweeney Todd, Cygnet Theatre

Outstanding Music for a Play
Mark Bennett, A Midsummer Night's Dream, La Jolla Playhouse

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical, Female
Deborah Gilmour Smyth, Sweeney Todd, Cygnet Theatre

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical, Male
Rob McClure, Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin, La Jolla Playhouse

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical, Male
Steve Gunderson, Hairspray, San Diego Repertory Theatre

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical, Female
Joy Yandell, MiXtape, Lamb's Players Theatre

Outstanding Choreography
Javier Velasco, Hairspray, San Diego Repertory Theatre

Casey Nicholaw, Robin and the 7 Hoods, The Old Globe

Outstanding Direction of a Play
Liesl Tommy, Ruined, La Jolla Playhouse

Outstanding Sound Design
Broken Chord, Ruined, La Jolla Playhouse

Outstanding Costume Design
Gregg Barnes, Robin and the 7 Hoods, The Old Globe

Outstanding Lighting Design
Eric Lotze, Private Lives, Cygnet Theatre

Outstanding Set Design
Andrew Hull, Private Lives, Cygnet Theatre

Clint Ramos, Ruined, La Jolla Playhouse

Outstanding Ensemble
Hurlyburly, Ion Theatre Ruined, La Jolla Playhouse

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play, Female
Zainab Jah, Ruined, La Jolla Playhouse

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play, Male
Jay Whittaker, Old Globe Shakespeare Festival body of work

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play, Male
Miles Anderson, The Madness of George III, The Old Globe

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play, Female
Shana Wride, Private Lives, Cygnet Theatre

Tonye Patano, Ruined, La Jolla Playhouse

Outstanding Performance in a Touring Production
Bill Camp, Notes From Underground, La Jolla Playhouse

Tovah Feldshuh, Golda's Balcony, The Old Globe

Outstanding Touring Production
Notes From Underground, La Jolla Playhouse

Outstanding Dramatic Production
Ruined, La Jolla Playhouse

Outstanding New Play
Oyster, Ronald McCants, Baldwin New Play Festival, UCSD

Outstanding Young Artist
Victoria Matthews, Hairspray, San Diego Repertory Theatre

SPECIAL AWARDS

Producer of the Year: Ion Theatre, Claudio Raygoza & Glenn Paris

Actor of the Year: Steve Gunderson

Des McAnuff New Visions Award: Seema Sueko, Mo'olelo Performing Arts Co.