Jeff Awards for best play
Writers Theatre and Goodman Theatre take top honors.
Chicago’s theater community came together Monday night at the Drury Lane Oakbrook Theatre for the 46th annual Jeff Awards, that ever-exhilarating celebration of excellence in the area’s Equity contract theaters. And this year’s ceremony functioned as something of a rite of renewal, too— a reminder of the extraordinary work that continually graces the city’s stages despite the recent loss of many much- admired artists ( Sheldon Patinkin, Bernie Yvon, Molly Glynn and others) and everything from leadership shakeups ( at Steppenwolf) to a riverfront spectacle disappointment ( Redmoon).
Two breathtaking productions took the best play awards. Writers Theatre of Glencoe, soon to break ground for its lavish new home, received the “large theater” award for its intimate staging of “The Dance of Death,” a battle of nerves between a retired military officer and his wife. The show’s two principal actors, Larry Yando and Shannon Cochran, also won both leading actor awards.
In the “midsize theater” category, it was TimeLine Theatre’s impassioned revival of “The Normal Heart,” Larry Kramer’s tale of the early days of the HIV/ AIDS crisis in New York, that took the honors, with Nick Bowling winning the award for his superb direction.
The Goodman Theatre’s exuberant revival of “Brigadoon,” the tale of two Americans who find themselves in a magical Scottish town, was named best production of a musical by a large theater. “HankWilliams: Lost Highway,” a hugely engaging biography of the singer/ songwriter, produced by American Blues Theater, won for midsize musical, with leading actor Matthew Brumlow and music director Malcolm Ruhl earning much- deserved awards.
In the revue category, Porchlight Music Theatre’s wildly exuberant “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” the ever popular show celebrating FatsWaller, won for best production, with awards going to both its supremely talented director, Brenda Didier, and its pianist/ conductor, Austin Cook.
The always prestigious Ensemble Award, sponsored by Actors’ Equity Association, went to the Seanachai Theatre Company production of “The Seafarer,” Irish playwright Conor McPherson’s tale of a decidedly haunted Christmas Eve, with a cast that included Brad Armacost, Ira Amyx, Shane Kenyon, Kevin Theis and DanWaller. ( Seanachai recently renamed itself Irish Theatre of Chicago.)
The award for NewWork went to Rebecca Gilman, whose play, “Luna Gale,” about a social worker at the center of a child custody battle, premiered at the Goodman Theatre and will be remounted at the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles this winter. John Mossman won the New Adaptation award for “The Goddess,” his enthralling reimagining of Paddy Chayefsky’s screenplay about a small town girl’s struggle for Hollywood stardom, presented by The Artistic Home.
The Jeffs ceremony featured an emotional photographic memorial that honored 24 Chicago theater professionals who died in the past year, with musical accompaniment by the cast of Theatre at the Center’s “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.” Actor Bernie Yvon was driving to rehearsal for that show at the Munster, Indiana, venue when he was killed in a car crash.
A complete list of the Jeff Award winners is online at
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