10-30-07
Little Porchlight Captures Big Awards
L. Walter Stearns and Eugene Dizon with their awards for director and music director for Porchlight Theatre's Ragtime. Photo by Johnny Knight.
Porchlight Theatre is barely Equity. They have an annual budget of $370,000 and are on a Tier N contract. Tire N is the Equity entrance contract. They are only required to hire one Equity actor on whichever shows they produce under Tier N. They pay that actor $161.50 a week.
Marriott Theatre is the richest theatre in town, with a budget over $20 million supported by a subscribership of over 40,000. They have to pay Equity actors $623 per week. And they must hire a minimum of 16 Equity actors per show.
But for the Jeff Awards Monday night, money and Equity hires didn’t seem to matter. Porchlight took home five Jeff Awards—four for its long-extended production of Ragtime and one for Assassins. Marriott took home four Jeffs—three for All Night Strut! and one for Shendandoah.
David beat Goliath, and proved once again that some of the most professional, entertaining theatre can be found in the smaller venues, with stages that have no flies or traps.
Of course, the Jeff Committee agreed with critics, audiences and New York producers that the best production of the season was produced by Steppenwolf. Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County won six Jeffs, including the top honors of Play, Ensemble, New Work and Director.
In all, 14 theatres took home 32 Jeffs Monday night, though most of the theatres only took home one. The only other multiple winners were Goodman, with three Jeffs for Mirror of the Invisible World and one for King Lear; Northlight, with two Jeffs for Fire on the Mountain; Writers, with one apiece for Another Part of the Forest and The Puppetmaster of Lodz; and Lookingglass, which took home one Jeff for it’s production of Argonautika: The Voyage of Jason and the Argonauts and one award for it’s co-production with About Face Theatre of Clay.
There was also a rare tie in one of the categories—the newly instituted category of Solo Performance. Lance Stuart Baker was honored for Theater Wit’s Thom Paine (based on nothing) and Matt Sax won for Clay.
Jackie Taylor, founder and executive director of Black Ensemble Theater, received a Jeff Special Award, “for her lifetime of dedicated leadership in celebrating the contributions of African-Americans through theatre and related arts.”
The Jeff Awards were held at the Northshore Center for the Performing Arts on Monday, Oct. 29. The highlight of the evening was an appearance on stage of Dan Proctor, the actor who was shot in the head in June 2006 while on his way home from the theatre. Proctor stood with a cane midstage to a standing ovation, then announced, "I'm back" to the cheering crowd. Proctor appeared to honor The Actors Fund, which helped him in his recovery.
Following is the list of winners:
Production - Play
August: Osage County, Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Production - Musical
Ragtime, Porchlight Music Theatre Chicago
Production - Revue
The All Night Strut!, Marriott Theatre
Ensemble
August: Osage County, Steppenwolf Theatre Company
New Work - Play
Tracy Letts, August: Osage County, Steppenwolf Theatre Company
New Work - Musical
Joshua Schmidt & Jason Loewith, The Adding Machine, Next Theatre Company
New Adaptation
Mary Zimmerman, Argonautika: The Voyage of Jason and the Argonauts, Lookingglass Theatre Company
Director - Play
Anna D. Shapiro, August: Osage County, Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Director - Musical
L. Walter Stearns, Ragtime, Porchlight Music Theatre Chicago
Director - Revue
Marc Robin, The All Night Strut!, Marriott Theatre
Actor in a Principal Role - Play
Ben Carlson, Hamlet, Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Actor in a Principal Role - Musical
David Hess, Shenandoah, Marriott Theatre
Actress in a Principal Role - Play
Deanna Dunagan, August: Osage County, Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Actress in a Principal Role - Musical
Ernestine Jackson, Raisin, Court Theatre
Lance Stuart Baker was talking to his mother when he won is solo performance award. His mom said hi to the crowd. Photo by Johnny Knight.
Solo Performance (2 recipients)
Lance Stuart Baker, Thom Pain (based on nothing), Theater Wit
Matt Sax, Clay, About Face Theatre and Lookingglass Theatre Company
Actor in a Supporting Role - Play
Maury Cooper, The Price, Shattered Globe Theatre
Actor in a Supporting Role - Musical
Aaron Graham, Ragtime, Porchlight Music Theatre Chicago
Cameo Performance
Douglas Vickers, The Best Man, Remy Bumppo Theatre Company
Actress in a Supporting Role - Play
Penny Slusher, Another Part of the Forest, Writers' Theatre
Actress in a Supporting Role - Musical
Sara R. Sevigny, Assassins, Porchlight Music Theatre Chicago
Actor in a Revue
Mississippi Charles Bevel, Fire on the Mountain, Northlight Theatre
Actress in a Revue
Molly Andrews, Fire on the Mountain, Northlight Theatre
Choreography
Marc Robin, Beverly Durand, Mark Stuart Eckstein, Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi, & Sasha Vargas, The All Night Strut!, Marriott Theatre
Scenic Design
Todd Rosenthal, August: Osage County, Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Costume Design
Mara Blumenfeld, Mirror of the Invisible World, Goodman Theatre
Sound Design
Richard Woodbury, King Lear, Goodman Theatre
Lighting Design
John Culbert, Mirror of the Invisible World, Goodman Theatre
Music Direction
Eugene Dizon, Ragtime, Porchlight Music Theatre Chicago
Original Incidental Music
Michael Bodeen, Mirror of the Invisible World, Goodman Theatre
Artistic Specialization
Michael Montenegro, Puppet Design, The Puppetmaster of Lodz, Writers' Theatre