The Court Theatre is being recognized for "its 50 years of excellence in the production of modern and traditional classics." The company was founded by the late actor and director James O'Reilly, and developed into a fully professional company under the leadership of Nicholas Rudall. The Court produces not only classics, but classic musicals, new works based on classic writing and non-European drama.
Dr. Bella Itkin is being honored for "her lifetime of dedication to the training, education, and continued development of actors and directors." Itkin is professor emeritus of the Theatre School, DePaul University/Goodman School of Drama. She began training actors in the 1940s, when Chicago was not a major theatre town. She later became chair of the Goodman School of Drama (which eventually became The Theatre School, DePaul University). Her many students have included the late Geraldine Page and Gloria Foster, Kevin Anderson, Joe Mantegna, Linda Hunt, Gillian Anderson, Melinda Dillon, Ann Dowd, Harvey Korman, Kevin O'Connor, Elizabeth Perkins and Tim Gregory. While at the Goodman, she directed more than 200 productions.
She was born in Russia, where her father, David Itkin, was a star of the Moscow Art Theatre and studied with famed acting teacher Stanislavski. The family moved to the United States in 1932. David Itkin settled in Chicago and became a force at the Goodman, where his daughter would eventually teach. Itkin was also, for 15 years, artistic director of Chicago Playworks, formerly the Goodman Children's Theatre. She is the author of "Acting: Preparation, Practice, Performance."
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The Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, the long-standing Windy City company whose reputation has been rising nationally in recent years, has been crowned with 25 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations for its work during the 2003-04 season. The nominations were announced on Sept. 9. Many of the nods were for CST's lauded production of Rose Rage: Henry IV, Parts 1, 2 and 3, which is due to open Off-Broadway Sept. 17. Others honored the troupe's A Little Night Music, Romeo and Juliet Musical, The Moliere Comedies and King John.
Other productions that reaped multiple nominations include Trying at the Victory Gardens Theater, Yellowman at the Next Theatre, Winesburg, Ohio at About Face and The Light in the Piazza at the Goodman, which won five noms. Trying and Piazza are also headed to New York.
Winners will be announced Nov. 1 in a ceremony at the North Shore Center for the Arts in Skokie.
NEW WORK
Margaret Lewis, Burying the Bones, Stage Left Theatre
Charles Smith, Free Man of Color, Victory Gardens Theater
Marsha Estell, Heat, Chicago Dramatists
Ron Hutchinson, Moonlight and Magnolias, Goodman Theatre
Patricia Kane, Pulp, About Face Theatre
Joanna McClelland Glass, Trying, Victory Gardens.
NEW ADAPTATION
Dermot Bolger, A Dublin Bloom, Irish Repertory of Chicago
Jim Lasko and Charles Newell, Cyrano, Court Theatre and Redmoon Theater
Eric Rosen, Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman, Winesburg, Ohio, About Face Theatre.
PRODUCTION — PLAY
The Doctor's Dilemma, Writers' Theatre
Our Town, Writers' Theatre
The Romance of Magno Rubio, Victory Gardens
Rose Rage, Henry VI Parts 1,2 and 3, Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Trying, Victory Gardens.
PRODUCTION — MUSICAL
Annie Get Your Gun, Marriott Theatre
Fiddler on the Roof, Drury Lane Oakbrook
The Light in the Piazza, Goodman
A Little Night Music, Chicago Shakespeare
The Sound of a Voice, Court
Romeo and Juliet Musical, Chicago Shakespeare and Second City Theatricals
Winesburg, Ohio, About Face.
DIRECTOR — PLAY
William Brown, Our Town, Writers' Theatre
Edward Hall, Rose Rage, Chicago Shakespeare
Sandy Shinner, Trying, Victory Gardens
Chuck Smith, Yellowman, Next Theatre
Jessica Thebus, Pulp, About Face.
DIRECTOR — MUSICAL
Gary Griffin, A Little Night Music, Chicago Shakespeare
Marc Robin, Annie Get Your Gun, Marriott Theatre
Bartlett Sher, The Light in the Piazza, Goodman
Jessica Thebus, Winesburg, Ohio, About Face
Ron West, Romeo and Juliet Musical, Chicago Shakespeare and Second City Theatricals.
ENSEMBLE
A Chorus Line, Theatre at the Center
Pulp, About Face
The Romance of Magno Rubio, Victory Gardens
Rose Rage, Chicago Shakespeare Winesburg, Ohio, About Face.
ACTRESS IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE — PLAY
Tracy Michelle Arnold, Lady Windermere's Fan, Northlight Theatre
Kati Brazda, Trying, Victory Gardens
Rondi Reed, The Fall to Earth, Steppenwolf
Barbara Robertson, The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?, Goodman
Jacqueline Williams, Yellowman, Next.
ACTOR IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE — PLAY
Brian Bedford, The Moliere Comedies, Chicago Shakespeare
Matt DeCaro, The Play About the Baby, Goodman
John Mahoney, I Never Sang for My Father, Steppenwolf
Mike Nussbaum, Tuesdays With Morrie, Northlight
David Rainey, Topdog/Underdog, Steppenwolf
Nick Sandys, The Misanthrope, Next
Fritz Weaver, Trying, Victory Gardens
E. Milton Wheeler, Our Lady of 121st Street, Steppenwolf.
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE — PLAY
Ivonne Coll, Electricidad, Goodman
Shelley Delaney, Free Man of Color, Victory Gardens
Lisa Dodson, King John, Chicago Shakespeare
Deanna Dunagan, I Never Sang for my Father, Steppenwolf
Paula Scrofano, Necessary Targets, Apple Tree Theatre
Demetria Thomas, Burying the Bones, Stage Left.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE — PLAY
Shawn Douglass, Major Barbara, Remy Bumppo
Tarell Alvin McCraney, Blue/Orange, Northlight
Kevin McKillip, A Midsummer Night's Dream, First Folio Shakespeare Festival
Scott Parkinson, Rose Rage, Chicago Shakespeare
John Sanders, Burying the Bones, Stage Left.
ACTRESS IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE — MUSICAL
Victoria Clark, The Light in the Piazza, Goodman
Deborah Lew, West Side Story, Marriott
Susie McMonagle, Annie Get Your Gun, Marriott
Nicole Parker, Romeo and Juliet Musical, Chicago Shakespeare and Second City Theatricals
Barbara Robertson, A Little Night Music, Chicago Shakespeare.
ACTOR IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE — MUSICAL
Tony Duwon, The House That Rocked, Black Ensemble
Timothy Gregory, Cotton Patch Gospel, Provision Theater Company
Scott Alan Jones, The Rocky Horror Show, Chicago Center for the Performing Arts Keegan-Michael Key, Romeo and Juliet Musical, Chicago Shakespeare and Second City Theatricals
Ross Lehman, A Man of No Importance, Apple Tree.
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE — MUSICAL
Mary Ernster, A Man of No Importance, Apple Tree
Janice Lorraine, Cookin' at The Cookery, Northlight
Rachel Rockwell, The Pajama Game, Marriott
Alene Robertson, The Pajama Game, Marriott
Samantha Spiro, A Little Night Music, Chicago Shakespeare.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE — MUSICAL
Michael Cerveris, A Little Night Music, Chicago Shakespeare
Jeff Dumas, Winesburg, Ohio, About Face
Mark Harelik, The Light in the Piazza, Goodman
Rob Moore, The Shaggs, Lookingglass
Roger Mueller, Annie Get Your Gun, Marriott
Evan Pappas, The Pajama Game, Marriott.
ACTOR IN A REVUE
Eugene Fleming, Ain't Misbehavin', Marriott
Joseph Plummer, Jammin' With Pops, Apple Tree.
SCENIC DESIGN
James Leonard Joy, The Taming of the Shrew, Chicago Shakespeare
Robert C. Martin, Lend Me a Tenor, Theatre at the Center
Matthew J. York, The Misanthrope, Next
Jacqueline and Richard Penrod, My Old Lady, Apple Tree
John Musial, Great Men of Science, Nos. 21 & 22, Lookingglass.
COSTUME DESIGN
Mara Blumenfeld, A Little Night Music, Chicago Shakespeare
Rachel Anne Healy, Lady Windermere's Fan, Northlight Theatre
Jane Greenwood, The Moliere Comedies, Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Michael Pavelka, Rose Rage, Chicago Shakespeare
Nancy Missimi, Show Boat, Marriott.
LIGHTING DESIGN
Christopher Akerlind, Electricidad, Goodman
Christopher Akerlind, The Light in the Piazza, Goodman
Ken Billington, A Little Night Music, Chicago Shakespeare
Ben Ormerod, Rose Rage, Chicago Shakespeare
T.J. Gerckens, The Secret in the Wings, Lookingglass
Jaymi Lee Smith, Yellowman, Next
Diane Ferry Williams, West Side Story, Marriott.
SOUND DESIGN
Ray Nardelli and Joshua Horvath, Electricidad, Goodman
Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman, The Secret in the Wings, Lookingglass
Robert Steel, Drink Me or, The Strange Case of Alice Times Three, Seanachai Theatre Company
David Van Tieghem, King John, Chicago Shakespeare
Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman, Cyrano, Court and Redmoon
Joshua Horvath and Ray Nardelli, Fraulein Else, Court.
CHOREOGRAPHY
Rudy Hogenmiller, A Chorus Line, Theatre at the Center
Tammy Mader, Singin' in the Rain, Theatre at the Center
Marc Robin, Annie Get Your Gun, Marriott
Marc Robin, West Side Story, Marriott
Patti Wilcox, The Pajama Game, Marriott.
ORIGINAL MUSIC
Henry Marsh, The Taming of the Shrew, Chicago Shakespeare
Henry Marsh, A Midsummer Night's Dream, First Folio
Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman, The Secret in the Wings, Lookingglass
Patricia Kane, Amy Warren and Andre Pluess, Pulp, About Face
Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman, Winesburg, Ohio, About Face.
MUSICAL DIRECTION
Margaret James, Fiddler on the Roof, Drury Lane
Oakbrook Alan Johnson, The Sound of a Voice, Court
Thomas Murray, A Little Night Music, Chicago Shakespeare
Rick Sims, The Shaggs, Lookingglass
Robert Reddrick, The House That Rocked, Black Ensemble
Jimmy Tilman, Mama Said There'll Be Days Like This, Black Ensemble.
OTHER CATEGORY
David Pleasant, Crowns, Goodman (Special Achievement in Percussion)
Scott Pondrom, Cyrano, Court and Redmoon (Property Effects)
John Boesche, Great Men of Science, Nos. 21 & 22, Lookingglass (Projections).
