The North Bay’s Marquee Theater Journalists Association has not held its annual awards ceremony since before the pandemic. The theater community, hit hard by venue closures and an initially slow return to box office health once the shows restarted, is finally sowing signs of its previous vitality, with multiple sold-out productions currently taking place all over Sonoma County and Napa.

In other words, it’s the perfect time for the MTJA to return — though now with a new partner and a new name for its award presentations.

Re-branded The Norbay Theater Awards, and set for a live in-person ceremony on Sunday, Sept. 28 at The California in Santa Rosa, the resurrected program has been folded into the same brand as the annual Norbay Music Awards, presented by the North Bay Bohemian.

Last week, nominees were announced for the 2025 event, the recipients reflecting shows that were presented during the 2024-2025 theater season. Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater and Mercury Theater each received mentions, as did a number of Petaluma-based theater artists whose work was presented on stages elsewhere in Sonoma County.

Cinnabar was named six times, four of those for its recent season-closing show “Bright Star.” The musical was nominated for Outstanding Lead Performance (Zanna Wyant), Outstanding Supporting Performance (Laura Odette Sandoval), Outstanding Musical Direction (Brett Strader) and Outstanding Choreography (Bridget Codoni). Cinnabar’s 2024 production of “Oklahoma” has nominated twice, for Outstanding Supporting Performance (Noah Evans) and for Outstanding Musical Production, an award that will be presented to a show’s director and stage manager, in this case Zachary Hasbany and Elise Clark, respectively.

Mercury Theater received a total of five nominations, all for its 2024 drama “Meet Me At Dawn,” which collected noms for Outstanding Drama Production (director Michael Fontaine and stage manager Celilia Hamilton-Lee), Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Drama (Illana Niernberger), Outstanding Lead Performance in a Drama (Amanda Vitiello), Outstanding Sound Design (Jared Emerson-Johnson) and Outstanding Lighting Design (Wayne Hovey).

Meanwhile, the Petaluma residents who picked up nominations include costumer Donnie Frank, who snagged a mention for her designs for 6th Street Playhouse’s “The Pirates of Penzance,” musician Lucas Sherman, nominated for Outstanding Musical Direction for Spreckels Theatre Company’s “All is Calm” and “Beautiful: The Carole King Story,” and actor-dancer Karen Miles, for her choreography in “Beautiful.”

Actor-director Sandra Ish, a native Petaluman, was named for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Drama for 6th Street Playhouse’s “What the Constitution Means to Me” and for her direction of the musical “Little Women,” at Sonoma Arts Live.

Local actor-director Larry Williams, meanwhile, was named along with Outstanding Comedy Production for his direction of Sonoma Arts Live’s “Rumors,” actor John Browning got a nom for Supporting Comedy Performance in Lucky Penny’s “Women in Jeopardy,” and so did Jimmy Gagarin for his own supporting comedy performance in “Rumors.”

And finally, among the several nominations given to Spreckels Theatre Company in Rohnert Park were one for Outstanding Drama Production (Sheri Lee Miller, director and Mary Jo Hamilton, stage manager) for its production of Petaluma playwright David Templeton’s “Mary Shelley’s Body.”

Recipients will be presented with certificates at the Sept. 28 awards event, which will run from 6-8 p.m. at the California, 528 Seventh Street, Santa Rosa. The event is free. For a full list of all nominees, visit NorthBayStageandScreen.com.