Costa Mesa CA
5-02-2025 5:19am

Orange County Theatre Guild Awards Ceremony held at the Samueli Theater at the Segerstrom Center

The Orange County theater community gathered once again to celebrate excellence in live performance at the 4th Annual OC Theatre Guild Awards. 

The awards ceremony was held at the Samueli Theater at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, where the house was packed with artists, designers, technicians, and supporters from across the county.

This year, the Guild recognized outstanding work across 21 categories, including four gender-neutral acting categories, with two recipients honored in each by design. A rare tie in Direction of a Play led to both Katie Chidester (Tiny Beautiful Things, Chance Theater) and Michael Martinez Hamilton (The Motherf**ker With The Hat, The Wayward Artist) receiving the award. In total, 26 awards were presented throughout the evening.

Photo by Francis Gacad

Brooke Aston Harper, Host of the 2025 OCTG Award Show.

Winston Peacock and Jocelyn A. Brown from Chance Theater's Production of "Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street", one of the nominees for Outstanding Production of a Musical, performing at the 2025 OCTG Award Show.

D.X. Machina, Oscar Emmanuel Fabela, Marta Portillo, Sydney Raquel, and Marci Alberti from The Wayward Artist's Production of "The MotherF*cker With The Hat" celebrating their win for Outstanding Production of a Play.

Kara Brouelette and Alec Reusch from SOUTHGATE Productions and Curtis Theatre's Production of "Once", one of the nominees for Outstanding Production of a Musical.

Maddie Breanne Young, Annalia Sellers, Naomi Groleau, Katie Hamilton (Covered), Braydern Bittel, Ryan Lloyd from Yorba Linda Spotlight Players' Production of "All Shook Up", one of the nominees for Outstanding Production of a Musical.

The cast, crew, creative team, and supporters of Chance Theater’s production of Jane Austen’s Emma, The Musical celebrate their win for Outstanding Production of a Musical.

The Motherf**ker With The Hat from The Wayward Artist earned the most honors of the night, taking home six awards, including Outstanding Production of a Play. Close behind was Jane Austen’s Emma, The Musical from Chance Theater, which received five awards, including Outstanding Production of a Musical.

Leading the night in recognition was Chance Theater, earning eleven awards for Jane Austen’s Emma, The Musical, Tiny Beautiful Things, Sweeney Todd, The Musical, Gloria, and Alma. The Wayward Artist followed with seven wins. Curtis Theatre took home three awards for their production of Once, while Costa Mesa Playhouse, Alchemy Theatre Company, STAGEStheatre, Yorba Linda Spotlight Players, and JStage Irvine were also recognized.

The ceremony was directed by Shinshin Tsai, hosted by Brooke Aston Harper, with Kim Le returning as musical director and pianist. The OCTG Theatre Awards Program Managers are Katie Chidester and Kristin Coyne, with Amanda DeMaio serving as OCTG President. The evening featured live performances and remarks from members of nominated productions. Presenters included Michelle Bendetti, Andrea Birkholm, Emily Neva Boliver, Michael Dale Brown, Adriana Rodriguez Burciaga, Paul Burt, Katie Chidester, Amanda DeMaio, Garrett Engle, Robert Fetes, Sara Guerrero, Lia Hansen, Kathy Harris, Rebecca Leeds, Joe Lauderdale, Jeff Lowe, Claire Pearson, Rob Salas, Lauren Shoemaker, Sheree Titus, Shinshin Tsai, Craig Tryl, Vincent Washicko.

And The 2025 OC Theatre Guild award recipients are:

  • Outstanding Production of a Play The Motherf**ker With The Hat, The Wayward Artist
  • Outstanding Production of a Musical Jane Austen’s Emma, The Musical, Chance Theater
  • Outstanding Direction of a Play (two recipients due to a rare tie) Michael Martinez Hamilton, The Motherf**ker With The Hat, The Wayward Artist Katie Chidester, Tiny Beautiful Things, Chance Theater
  • Outstanding Direction of a Musical Casey Long, Jane Austen’s Emma, The Musical, Chance Theater
  • Outstanding Ensemble of a Play The Motherf**ker With The Hat, The Wayward Artist
  • Outstanding Ensemble of a Musical Jane Austen’s Emma, The Musical, Chance Theater
  • Outstanding Lead Performance in Play (two recipients) D.X. Machina, The Motherf**ker With The Hat, The Wayward Artist Aubrey Saverino, Tiny Beautiful Things, Chance Theater
  • Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical (two recipients) Naomi Groleau, All Shook Up, Yorba Linda Spotlight Players Jocelyn A. Brown, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Chance Theater
  • Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Play (two recipients) Oscar Emmanuel Fabela, The Motherf**ker With The Hat, The Wayward Artist Will Martella, Gloria, Chance Theater
  • Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Musical (two recipients) Sadie Alexander, Jane Austen’s Emma, The Musical, Chance Theater Jeff Lowe, Jane Austen’s Emma, The Musical, Chance Theater
  • Outstanding Music Direction Patrick Copeland, Once, Curtis Theatre
  • Outstanding Choreography Jennifer Kornswiet, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Wayward Artist
  • Outstanding Scenic Design Kristin Campbell Coyne, Tiny Beautiful Things, Chance Theater
  • Outstanding Costume Design Marci Alberti, The Motherf**ker With The Hat, The Wayward Artist
  • Outstanding Lighting Design Kris Kataoka, Once, Curtis Theatre
  • Outstanding Sound Design Thor Fay, Once, Curtis Theatre
  • Outstanding Projection Design Victoria Serra, 33 Variations, Costa Mesa Playhouse
  • Outstanding Fight Direction Martin Noyes, Alma, Chance Theater
  • Outstanding Puppet Design Sarah Leonard, Into The Woods, JStage Irvine
  • Outstanding Wig & Hair Design Jeff Weeks, A Doll’s House, Part 2, STAGESTheatre
  • Outstanding Properties Design Jim Lowe & Kelsey Lowe, Puffs, Alchemy Theatre Company
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