She said she intended to keep going until the CATs reached their 25th anniversary "and that's it as far as I'm concerned - I will give up after the 25th ...it will be time to hand over to someone else.

"I'll take a step back."

But Wood was fully involved in the 23rd awards, hosted by Simon Gallaher and Ian McLean. She said the CATs this year had received some welcome support from the ACT government via Joy Burch for the first time as well as their ongoing support from the NSW government.

This year's Silver Cat Award went to Fiona Leach from Canberra, for outstanding achievement in costume design for numerous companies and across a range of styles, and for the contribution she made to the community through the Cook Collective.

The Gold Cat Award, for achievement across a range of different categories, went to Sam Lloyd, for outstanding achievement in the areas of set design, costume design, direction and performance for the Bay Theatre Players. Lloyd has won a number of CAT awards, including this year when she won the award for best costumes for a play, for A Murder is Announced.

The winners were spread fairly evenly between Canberra (24) and NSW (20).

Numbers collator and website manager Edwin Briggs, a CAT judge since 2003, said the category judges had most difficulty deciding this year was best actress in a leading role in a musical. "The judges have never seen such a strong field and had great difficulty narrowing it down to a 'reasonable' number." As it was, they ended up with 12."

He said it was "the year of Wicked" - with productions in Orange, Albury, Griffith and Wagga Wagga - that contributed to this. The Stephen Schwartz musical about the witches of Oz based on Gregory Maguire's novel calls for strong performers in the two leading roles of Elphaba and Galinda.

"We made sure people saw all four productions so they could compare the strengths of all four productions."

The winner of best actress in a leading role in a musical, however, was Anastasia Feneri as Roxy Hart in So Popera Productions' Chicago. The Wollongong company's mounting of the Kander and Ebb musical about crime and show business won five other awards: best ensemble, best director of a musical, best musical director, best director of a musical and best production. So Popera's Beauty and the Beast won two awards: best costume design for a musical or variety show and best set designer for a musical, variety or dance production, bringing the company's total to eight.

Canberra Repertory Society's productions won a total of seven awards. Briggs said, "A View from the Bridge did really well - it was probably best play I saw all year. What I liked about it was it had a central vision. The design complemented the concept of the production."

In this case, the set designer, Chris Baldock, was also the director of the production of the Arthur Miller play about a New York longshoreman and his family. It won five awards: best production of a play, best actor in a leading role in a play (Knox Peden as Eddie Carbone), best director of a play, best lighting designer (Chris Elyard) and best set designer.

Rep's production of the Frederick Knott thriller Wait Until Dark won two awards: best actress in a leading role in a play (Jenna Roberts as Suzy Hendrix) and best original work (Matthew Webster's original music).

Briggs said the music captured the period well and added to the tension of director Jordan Best's production and Roberts had the ability to disappear into the role of the blind but resourceful Suzy.

In the school and youth section, "Daramalan College had a good year too," Briggs says". It won six awards overall. Hamlet won four: best production of a school or youth play; best director of a school/youth play (Joe Woodward); best youth actor in a leading role in a play (Oliver Durbridge as Hamlet); and best youth actress in a leading role in a play (Zara McCann as Gertrude). Daramalan's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe won two awards: best original work for a school or Youth production (Bartholomew Bunk, Charlie Curry, Jack Curry, Nick Philp, Luke Wheelwright, Michael Wilson - music) and best youth actress in a featured role in a play (Sophie Marzano as Mrs Beaver).

Among the younger talents Wood was highlighting was Meaghan Stewart, the 18-year-old who won for best youth actress in a leading role in a musical - but in an adult rather than in a school or youth show: Dramatic Productions' Sweeney Todd. She played the scheming piemaker Mrs Lovett.

Briggs says, "It was a performance of considerable adeptness and experience."

For a full list of CAT Award winners visit catawards.com.au.