Steppenwolf dominates a balanced Jeff Awards

The Jeff Awards Committee seemed intent on spreading the wealth at Monday's 39th annual Joseph Jefferson Equity Awards Ceremony honoring excellence in Chicago-area theater with suburban theaters Next (Skokie) and Writers' (Glencoe) sharing the spotlight with Goodman, Shattered Globe, Remy Bumppo and Lookingglass.Then the "August: Osage County" and "Ragtime" juggernauts kicked in. Those shows dominated the play and musical categories with Steppenwolf's "August," which begins Broadway previews today, receiving the most Jeffs (six out of eight nominations). The production, which Variety has touted as one of New York's tent pole shows for fall, received awards for play, ensemble, lead actress Deanna Dunagan (no surprise for those who saw her blistering performance as drug-addicted matriarch of a dysfunctional family), playwright Tracy Letts, director Anna D. Shapiro and set designer Todd Rosenthal. Casting director Erica Daniels and associated artistic director David New accepted the awards for ensemble and play respectively, with New expressing that the latter reflects what Steppenwolf most values "the artistic collegiality in this city." While Steppenwolf's actors and artistic team can be excused, it's surprising no other representative was on hand to accept the numerous awards for a show that was the odds-on favorite going into the ceremony. Perhaps they were distracted by Broadway's bright lights and buzz. Porchlight Music Theatre's "Ragtime," the company's biggest hit to date, received awards for best musical, director L. Walter Stearns (who paid homage to Marriott, Drury Lane, Goodman and the "dearly departed Candlelight" in his acceptance speech), music director Eugene Dizon and supporting actor Aaron Graham. Sara R. Sevigny received a supporting actress award for her performance in "Assassins." Lincolnshire's Marriott cleaned up in the revue category earning choreography, directing and best revue awards for its sparkling song-and-dance show "All Night Strut." David Hess also earned a best actor in a musical award for his performance as the isolationist patriarch in "Shenandoah," saying "every night felt like a big group hug form the audience."Mississippi Charles Bevel earned his second Jeff in as many years for his featured performance in the moving musical about Appalachian miners, "Fire On the Mountain," for which Molly Andrews also earned a featured actress award.Ignored in the acting and directing categories, Goodman Theatre picked up lighting, costume and incidental music awards for "The Mirror of the Invisible World") and a sound design award for "King Lear." Next Theatre's "The Adding Machine" the challenging musical by Joshua Schmidt and Jason Loewith that opens off-Broadway in February, earned a Jeff for new musical. Penny Slusher and Maury Cooper earned well-deserved supporting awards for Writers' "Another Part of the Forest" and Shattered Globe's "The Price." Sharing the solo performance award were Matt Sax and Lance Stuart Baker, who began his speech with: "I'd like to thank my mother who may or may not be on the other end of this cell phone." She confirmed her presence with a "hi."In a ceremony where a number of the nominees were no-shows, the most moving moment came courtesy of actor Dan Proctor, still recovering from a near fatal gunshot wound to the head he suffered in 2005, who received a standing ovation for his speech recognizing the Actors Fund of America. The most eloquent moment came from Black Ensemble Theater's Jeff Award-winning founder and artistic director Jackie Taylor accepting a special award. "When I was a little girl I would dream," she said. "Today I'm all grown up. And tonight the Jeff Committee has made one of my dreams come true."For a complete list of nominees and winners, see www.jeffawards.org.