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At a star-studded gala at DePaul’s Merle Reskin Theatre on Monday, November 6, 2006, The Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee, honoring excellence in Chicago-area Equity theatre, presented 32 awards, including a Special Award, to recipients among 155 nominees in 28 categories for productions which opened between August 1, 2005, and July 31, 2006. The Jeff Committee sent judges to the opening nights of 123 Equity productions offered by 51 producing organizations, and recommended 92 of these productions for further judging by the entire committee, which made them eligible for Jeff Awards.
Court Theatre led all recipients with 10 awards. Their interpretation of the musical Man of La Mancha, which will move to the Long Wharf Theatre in Connecticut in February 2007, garnered 6 awards, including Production - Musical, and August Wilson's Fences received 4 awards, including Production - Play. Northlight Theatre and Geva Theatre Center's A Marvelous Party: The Noël Coward Celebration also received 4 awards, including Production - Revue.
Goodman Theatre's creative team of Robert Falls and Roche Schulfer received a Special Award for their 20-year collaboration, which has helped bring the Goodman – and Chicago theatre – to national eminence.
New Works recognized by the committee were the musical Loving Repeating: A Musical of Gertrude Stein from About Face Theatre and the Museum of Contemporary Art, written by Stephen Flaherty and Frank Galati, and Lydia R. Diamond’s play Voyeurs de Venus, produced at Chicago Dramatists.
Directing honors went to Charles Newell (Man of La Mancha), Ron OJ Parson (Fences), and David Ira Goldstein (A Marvelous Party: The Noël Coward Celebration).
Acting award recipients included A.C. Smith and Jacqueline Williams of Fences (Actor and Actress in a Principal Role - Play). In a rare tie, Ms. Williams shared Actress in a Principal Role - Play honors with Kirsten Fitzgerald for A Red Orchid Theatre's The Sea Horse. Remaining acting awards recipients were Michael Buchanan of Urinetown (Actor in a Principal Role– Musical), Blue Dog Entertainment LLC, Cindy Gold in Loving Repeating: A Musical of Gertrude Stein (Actress in a Principal Role - Musical), Jeff Kuhl and Barbara Robertson for Grand Hotel, The Musical (Actor and Actress in a Supporting Role - Musical), Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place, Carl Danielsen and Anna Lauris of A Marvelous Party: The Noël Coward Celebration (Actor and Actress in a Revue), Rick Boynton in Chicago Shakespeare Theater's A Flea in Her Ear (Actor in a Supporting Role - Play), and Ella Joyce in Goodman Theatre’s Crumbs From the Table of Joy (Actress in a Supporting Role - Play). Michael Patrick Thornton (who performed while recovering from a major stroke) received the award in a new category, Solo Performance, for The Good Thief produced by The Gift Theatre.
Hosts Ora Jones and Ed Kross presided over a lively ceremony, which included scenes or numbers from every nominated musical, play and revue and was directed for the first time by Michael Weber, himself a nominee. Presenters included many past Jeff Award recipients.
The Jeff Awards are given annually by The Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee to honor excellence in professional theatre produced in the immediate Chicago area. The committee, organized in 1968, consists of up to 45 men and women united by their active commitment to live theatre. They come to the committee with an academic background in theatre, significant professional theatrical experience, a history of theatre involvement, and/or years of consistent theatre attendance in Chicago and other major theatre capitals of the world. The committee evaluates approximately 200 theatrical productions and holds two awards ceremonies annually. Originally chartered to recognize Equity productions, the Citations (non-equity) wing was founded in 1973 to celebrate outstanding achievement in nonunion Chicago theatre, and the next Citations ceremony will be held on June 11, 2007, at the Park West.
RECIPIENTS:
Production – Play
Fences, Court Theatre
Production – Musical
Man of La Mancha, Court Theatre
Production – Revue
A Marvelous Party: The Noël Coward Celebration, Northlight Theatre and Geva Theatre Center
Ensemble
Man of La Mancha, Court Theatre
New Work – Play
Lydia R. Diamond, Voyeurs de Venus, Chicago Dramatists
New Work – Musical
Stephen Flaherty & Frank Galati, Loving Repeating: A Musical of Gertrude Stein, About Face Theatre and the Museum of Contemporary Art
New Adaptation
Raymond Fox, Heidi Stillman & Laura Eason, The Old Curiosity Shop, Lookingglass Theatre Company
David Ives, A Flea in Her Ear, Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Director – Play
Ron OJ Parson, Fences, Court Theatre
Director – Musical
Charles Newell, Man of La Mancha, Court Theatre
Director – Revue
David Ira Goldstein, A Marvelous Party: The Noël Coward Celebration, Northlight Theatre and Geva Theatre Center
Actor in a Principal Role – Play
A. C. Smith, Fences, Court Theatre
Actor in a Principal Role – Musical
Michael Buchanan, Urinetown, Blue Dog Entertainment LLC
Actress in a Principal Role – Play
Kirsten Fitzgerald, The Sea Horse, A Red Orchid Theatre
Jacqueline Williams, Fences, Court Theatre
Actress in a Principal Role – Musical
Cindy Gold, Loving Repeating: A Musical of Gertrude Stein, About Face Theatre and the Museum of Contemporary Art
Solo Performance
Michael Patrick Thornton, The Good Thief, The Gift Theatre
Actor in a Supporting Role – Play
Rick Boynton, A Flea in Her Ear, Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Actor in a Supporting Role – Musical
Jeff Kuhl, Grand Hotel: The Musical, Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place
Actress in a Supporting Role – Play
Ella Joyce, Crumbs From the Table of Joy, Goodman Theatre
Actress in a Supporting Role – Musical
Barbara Robertson, Grand Hotel: The Musical, Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place
Actor in a Revue
Carl Danielsen, A Marvelous Party: The Noël Coward Celebration, Northlight Theatre and Geva Theatre Center
Actress in a Revue
Anna Lauris, A Marvelous Party: The Noël Coward Celebration, Northlight Theatre and Geva Theatre Center
Choreography
Brian Loeffler, Urinetown, Blue Dog Entertainment LLC
Scenic Design
John Culbert, Man of La Mancha, Court Theatre
Costume Design
Mara Blumenfeld, A Flea in Her Ear, Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Sound Design
Mikhail Fiksel & André Pluess, Blind Mouth Singing, Teatro Vista
Lighting Design
Mark McCullough, Man of La Mancha, Court Theatre
Musical Direction
Doug Peck, Man of La Mancha, Court Theatre
Original Incidental Music
Alaric Jans & Lindsay Jones, Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, Chicago Shakespeare Theater
André Pluess & Ben Sussman, after the quake, Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Special Award
Robert Falls & Roche Schulfer, Goodman Theatre
STATISTICS:
Producing Organizations – Multiple Awards
Court Theatre – 10
Northlight Theatre and Geva Theatre Center – 4
Chicago Shakespeare Theater – 4
About Face Theatre and the Museum of Contemporary Art - 2
Blue Dog Entertainment LLC – 2
Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place – 2
Productions – Multiple Awards
Man of La Mancha, Court Theatre – 6
A Marvelous Party: The Noël Coward Celebration, Northlight Theatre and Geva Theatre Center - 4
Fences, Court Theatre – 4
A Flea in Her Ear, Chicago Shakespeare Theater – 3
Grand Hotel, The Musical, Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place - 2
Loving Repeating: A Musical of Gertrude Stein, About Face Theatre and the Museum of Contemporary Art – 2
Urinetown, Blue Dog Entertainment LLC – 2
Individuals – Multiple Awards
André Pluess - 2