2022 Jeff Awards Julia W. Rath with a note by editor

This year, rather than do it all myself, two of Around The Town’s writers, Frank Meccia and Julia W. Rath, attended the proceedings in Oak Brook at Drury Lane Theatre. This Sunday we will do a recap on WCPT820 at 2 p.m.. In looking at the list of winners, I find it quite impressive, that once again a pre-Broadway show that started here, “Good Night Oscar” won so many awards. Well deserved by the way, not political in any way. When we saw the production almost everyone agreed that this was a winner, and is destined to head to New York.

The 2022 Equity Jeff Awards was held on the evening of October 17th at the Drury Lane Theatre, in Oakbrook, Illinois. In a previous article, Al Bresloff mentioned who the 2022 award winners are, so this piece is not meant to be a rehash of that information. Rather, it is my job to capture the flavor of this highly enjoyable evening that brought together the Who’s Who of Chicagoland’s live theatre community. But first, a brief summary: “Kinky Boots” won six awards, including “best” production for a musical in a large theatre, “best” director Trent Stork, and “best” performer in a principal role Michael Wordly. “Good Night, Oscar” followed with five awards, including “best” production for a play (large theatre), and Sean Hayes as “best” performer in a principal role. This was tied with “The Moors”, which also won five awards, including “best” production for a play for a midsize theatre and for the work of director Kirsten Fitzgerald, who is also the artistic director of A Red Orchard Theatre.

All throughout the evening, there were live snippets of song and dance numbers from this year’s nominated musical productions. These presentations (in alphabetical order) consisted of outtakes from “Blues in the Night”; “Do the Right Thing, No Worries if Not”; “Evita”; “Forever Plaid”; “Kinky Boots”; “Life After”, “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King and I”; “Sister Act”; “Somewhere Over the Border”; “The Sound of Music”; “Women of Soul”; and “The World Goes ’Round.” Later, there was a film montage taken from nominated performances for “best” production, such as clips from “Choir Boy”; “Good Night, Oscar”; “Two Trains Running”; and “Relentless.” In the middle, there was the tribute to those theatremakers who had passed away over the last year. Some of the biggest applause were for actors Hollis Resnik, Mary Ann Thebus, and Tony Mockus; and of course, I must pay a nod to the influential theatre critic Richard Christiansen. The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Chuck Smith, who is a member of the Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees and the theatre’s current resident director.

Host E. Faye Butler nailed it as M.C. with her good humor, solid introductions, frank remarks, and memorable costume changes, including her turquoise dress and rhinestone footwear. I liked the way that she started the ceremony off by asking the audience to join her in singing the hymn, “This Little Light of Mine.” Above all, I loved her speech where she warned the award winners to keep their speeches short: a red light will first come on, shortly followed by the music—and if things get too long, then she’ll come out! (And she’s definitely a force to be reckoned with!) As a guide to keeping the remarks short, she urged award winners to thank their mother or their God or their Guardian ahead of time and instead to spend the allotted time thanking the people they work with, because (and I’m paraphrasing here) “These are the people who employ you!”

All told, the awards ceremony was brilliantly directed by Jim Corti. There was never a dull moment! David Fiorello was marvelous in his role as music director, conductor, and pianist. Not only did he and the orchestra back up all the production presentations, but he also won an award for music direction for “Blues in the Night.” I watched director for a large play Ron OJ Parson gave a very moving speech after winning the award for “Relentless”, as did Kirsten Fitzgerald, when she talked about how people took a chance on her when she came up with her show “The Moors.” Brian Quijada talked about his mother coming to America as being the basis for his show “Somewhere Over the Border.” We heard some beautiful voices, such as that of Daniella Dalli (Mother Superior), singing “Climb Every Mountain” from the “Sound of Music” and Richard Bermudez (Che), performing “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina” from “Evita.”

Finally, there are my vignettes of the Equity Jeff experience. The prelude to the awards ceremony is called “The Red Carpet”, where celebrities gather for interviews and pose for the cameras. But as I learned quickly, there is no carpet per se (as is in Hollywood), but, rather, this event takes place on a portion of the floor indoors with the awards logo in the backdrop. This is where I observed some of the more unusual outfits that people were wearing, such as the one worn by a man who looked like he was imitating King Henry VIII and another gentleman who wore chain mail from the waist up. As for the women’s apparel, I saw one of the presenters in a bright chartreuse dress with poofy sleeves that stood out from all the others in the room. Unfortunately, the program listed only the award categories and nominees but not the list of presenters, so I didn’t catch her name. But perhaps my favorite remembrance was this very outgoing little redheaded girl (about eight years old), wearing a black and pink crinoline dress, who went around the room curtseying to everybody.

In short, attending the Equity Jeff Awards was like dining on foie gras: You can enjoy it tremendously but only so much before it becomes overwhelming. By the end of the evening, my hands were hurting me from all the applauding. The festivities lasted until quite late, as there was a buffet after the awards ceremony. It was an unusually winterlike night for October with a trace of snow in the air, and the cold Chicago wind greeted me as I walked back to my car. I was so glad that I ditched my heels in favor of short fashion boots. (Why didn’t I think of wearing red kinky boots? This would have been prescient!) Maybe somebody ought to develop a “shoe check” in addition to a “coat check” in order to store shoes and boots that won’t be worn again until the evening ends and it’s time to drive home.

For more information about the 2022 Equity Jeff Awards and for general information about the Jeff Committee, please turn to www.jeffawards.org

2022 EQUITY JEFF AWARD RECIPIENTS

Production – Play (Large) – The Dr. Harlan Haimes Awards
“Good Night, Oscar” – Goodman Theatre

Production – Play (Midsize)
“The Moors” – A Red Orchid Theatre

Production – Musical (Large)
“Kinky Boots” – Paramount Theatre

Production – Musical (Midsize)
“Somewhere Over the Border” – Teatro Vista

Production – Revue (Large)
“Blues in the Night” – Porchlight Music Theatre

Director – Play (Large)
Ron OJ Parson – “Relentless” – TimeLine Theatre Company

Director – Play (Midsize)
Kirsten Fitzgerald – “The Moors” – A Red Orchid Theatre

Director – Musical (Large)
Trent Stork – “Kinky Boots” – Paramount Theatre

Director – Musical (Midsize)
Denise Yvette Serna – “Somewhere Over the Border” – Teatro Vista

Director – Revue (Large)
Kenny Ingram – “Blues in the Night” – Porchlight Music Theatre

Ensemble – Play
“Choir Boy” – Steppenwolf Theatre Company
“Steel Magnolias” – Drury Lane Productions

Ensemble – Musical
“Somewhere Over the Border” – Teatro Vista

Performer in a Principal Role – Play
Sean Hayes (Oscar Levant) – “Good Night, Oscar” – Goodman Theatre
Cassidy Slaughter-Mason (Lissette) – “The Luckiest” – Raven Theatre

Performer in a Principal Role – Musical
Richard Bermudez (Che) -“Evita” – Drury Lane Productions
Michael Wordly (Lola) – “Kinky Boots” -Paramount Theatre

Performer in a Revue
Felicia P. Fields (Performer) – “Blues in the Night” – Porchlight Music Theatre

Solo Performance
Bethany Thomas (Performer) – “Songs for Nobodies” – Northlight Theatre

Performer in a Supporting Role – Play
Sheldon D. Brown (AJ) – “Choir Boy” – Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Elizabeth Ledo (Truvy) – “Steel Magnolias” – Drury Lane Productions

Performer in a Supporting Role – Musical
Daniella Dalli (Mother Abbess) – “The Sound of Music” – Marriott Theatre
Sara Reiniecke (Lauren) – “Kinky Boots” – Paramount Theatre

New Work (The Libby Adler Mages Award)
Tyla Abercrumbie – “Relentless” – TimeLine Theatre Company
Doug Wright – “Good Night, Oscar” – Goodman Theatre

Scenic Design (Large)
Rachel Hauck – “Good Night, Oscar” – Goodman Theatre

Scenic Design (Midsize)
Joe Schermoly – “Hurricane Diane” – Theater Wit

Costume Design (Large)
Ryan Park – “Kinky Boots” – Paramount Theatre

Costume Design (Midsize)
Myron Elliott-Cisneros – “The Moors” – A Red Orchid Theatre

Sound Design (Large)
André Pluess – “Good Night, Oscar”  – Goodman Theatre

Sound Design (Midsize)
Jeffrey Levin – “The Moors” – A Red Orchid Theatre

Lighting Design (Large)
Jason Lynch – “Choir Boy” – Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Lighting Design (Midsize)
K Story – “The Moors” – A Red Orchid Theatre

Choreography
Alex Sanchez – “West Side Story” – Marriott Theatre

Music Direction
Kory Danielson – “Kinky Boots” – Paramount Theatre
David Fiorello – “Blues in the Night” – Porchlight Music Theatre

Original Music in a Play
Pornchanok Kanchanabanca – “Gem of the Ocean” – Goodman Theatre

Fight Choreography
Christian Kelly-Sordelet and David Blixt – “Athena” – Writers Theatre

Projection Design
Rasean Davonte Johnson and Michael Salvatore Commendatore – “It Came From Outer Space” – Chicago Shakespeare Theater in association with Universal Theatrical Group

Artistic Specialization
Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi – Circus and Movement Design – “Lookingglass Alice” – Lookingglass Theatre Company in association with The Actors Gymnasium

SHORT RUN – Production
“The Magnolia Ballet” – About Face Theatre

SHORT RUN – Ensemble
“What to Send Up When It Goes Down” – Congo Square Theatre Company

SHORT RUN – New Work
Natalie Y. Moore – “The Billboard” – 16^th Street Theater

SHORT RUN – Performer
Terry Guest (Ezekiel “Z” Mitchell VI) – “The Magnolia Ballet” – About Face Theatre

SHORT RUN – Design
Angela Weber Miller – Scenic Design – “Who’s Holiday!” – Theater Wit

SPECIAL AWARD – Lifetime Achievement in Theatre
Chuck Smith