Chicago NewsBroadway-Bound Six, Bruce Norris’ Downstate, More Among 2019 Equity Jeff Award Winners in ChicagoThe 51st annual ceremony took place October 21 in the Windy City.
The 51st annual Equity Jeff Awards, celebrating the best in regional theatre in the Greater Chicago Area, were held October 21 at Drury Lane Oakbrook.
Among the big winners of the night was the new musical Six, which made its American premiere at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. The show took home three awards: Best Production–Musical (Large), Ensemble in a Musical or Revue, and Music Direction for Roberta Duchak and Joe Beighton.
The U.K.-born pop concert-history lesson hybrid from Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss is set to open on Broadway March 12, 2020, at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre following additional regional engagements at Boston’s American Repertory Theater (where it ended September 29), Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre, and the Saint Paul, Minnesota’s Ordway Center. Most members of the Chicago company will reprise their performances.
Additional recipients included Pulitzer Prize winner Bruce Norris, who received the New Work–Play award for Downstate; the Steppenwolf Theatre Company staging also earned Best Production–Play (Large) and Performer in a Supporting Role for K. Todd Freeman.
Chicago’s Court Theatre and Remy Bumppo were the most awarded companies of the night with five wins each, with the former earning four for its production of Photograph 51.
See the full list of winners below.
Production–Play (Large) Downstate, Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Production–Play (Midsize) Frankenstein, Remy Bumppo Theatre Company
Production–Musical (Large) Six, Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Production–Musical (Midsize) Caroline, or Change, Firebrand Theatre in partnership with TimeLine Theatre Company
Production–Revue You Can’t Fake the Funk: A Journey Through Funk Music, Black Ensemble Theater
Ensemble–Play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow is Enuf, Court Theatre
Ensemble–Musical or Revue Six, Chicago Shakespeare Theater
New Work–Play Bruce Norris, Downstate, Steppenwolf Theatre Company
New Work–Musical (TIE) David Cale, We’re Only Alive for A Short Amount of Time, Goodman Theatre in co-production with The Public Theater Michael Mahler, Jason Brett, William A. Marovitz and Arny Granat, Miracle
Director–Play (Midsize) (TIE) Ian Frank, Frankenstein, Remy Bumppo Theatre Company Jonathan Wilson, The Recommendation, Windy City Playhouse
Director–Musical (Large) Jim Corti, The Producers, Paramount Theatre
Director–Musical (Midsize) Lili-Anne Brown, Caroline, or Change, Firebrand Theatre in partnership with TimeLine Theatre Company
Performer in a Principal Role–Play (TIE) Janet Ulrich Brooks, Master Class, TimeLine Theatre Company Chaon Cross, Photograph 51, Court Theatre
Performer in a Principal Role–Musical (TIE) E. Faye Butler, Gypsy, Porchlight Music Theatre Barbara E. Robertson, Queen of the Mist, Firebrand Theatre
Solo Performance Joe Foust, The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, American Blues Theater
Performer in a Supporting Role–Play (TIE) K. Todd Freeman, Downstate, Steppenwolf Theatre Company Brian Keys, The Recommendation, Windy City Playhouse
Performer in a Supporting Role–Musical (TIE) Donica Lynn, Ghost The Musical, Theatre at the Center Nat Zegree, Million Dollar Quartet, Marriott Theatre
Performer in a Revue Robin DaSilva, Mahalia Jackson: Moving Thru the Light, Black Ensemble Theater
The work follows a first-generation child of Mexican immigrants torn between joining the family garment business or embarking on her own dream of attending college in NYC.
