For suburban and Chicago theaters, 2018 was a time of transition
After earning the Joseph Jefferson Award for best large musical for three years running, Aurora's Paramount Theatre bowed to Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire as its revival of "Ragtime" was named the best large musical of 2018.
It was just one transition in a year marked by many, most of which were rooted in local theaters' efforts to promote inclusion and increase diversity.
Here's a look back at some of the significant events in Chicago area theater in 2018.
Raising consciousness
• The Jeff Committee replaced separate categories for actors and actresses and adopted gender-neutral performance designations for principal and supporting acting categories for both musicals and plays. Going forward, each of the eight acting categories will consist of 10 nominees, with at least two winners for each category.
• In keeping with its commitment to race and gender-conscious casting, First Folio Theatre in Oak Brook announced in 2018 that Diana Coates will play the titular monarch in the company's summer 2019 production of William Shakespeare's history play "Henry V," about the newly crowned king's attempts to unify his people and solidify his rule by conquering longtime enemy France.
• Janus Theatre introduced the Elgin Shakespeare Project by which the Elgin ensemble presented the Bard's plays using original practices, meaning unrehearsed and with actors using cue scripts. Janus' unrehearsed productions included an all-female "The Tempest."
Gone but not forgotten
• The Chicago area theater community bid farewell to a number of its favorite sons and daughters this year. Among them was longtime Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble member John Mahoney, best known for co-starring in NBC's long-running sitcom "Frasier." He died in February a few months after performing in Steppenwolf's production of "The Rembrandt." The 77-year-old Tony Award winner and Oak Park resident frequently performed at Northlight Theatre in Skokie where friend and collaborator BJ Jones praised him as a consummate and generous artist who wore his celebrity easily.
• Beloved director/choreographer Rachel Rockwell, who helmed Drury Lane Theatre's celebrated revivals of "Ragtime" and "Billy Elliot The Musical" and Chicago Shakespeare Theater's 2015 U.S. premiere of "Ride the Cyclone," died in May at age 49 from ovarian cancer. Described as a champion for Chicago theater, Rockwell was hand-picked by Liza Lerner, daughter of lyricist/librettist Alan Jay Lerner, to direct Goodman Theatre's 2014 revival of "Brigadoon." Colleagues remembered her for her sensitivity and dedication.
• Other theater artists who passed in 2018 include: founding Court Theater director and University of Chicago professor Nicholas Rudall, 78; actor/director Fredric Stone, 70, co-founder of The Shakespeare Project of Chicago; actor-acrobat Raphael Cruz, 31; actor/teacher and ShawChicago Theater artistic director Robert Scogin, 80, whose career spanned 50 years; and Tony Award winner and Evanston native Barbara Harris, 83, who performed with the Compass Players (the country's first improvisational theater ensemble) and The Second City.
Out-of-town tryouts
A trio of Broadway-bound tuners, two adapted from hit romantic comedies and one based on a pop culture icon, premiered in Chicago this year.
• "Pretty Woman," adapted from the 1990 rom-com starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere with a score by rocker Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, bowed in March. The premise - down-on-her-luck sex worker meets workaholic corporate raider - remains problematic for its celebration of greed and for prettifying prostitution. However, the production boasted a star-making turn by Samantha Barks in the titular role.
• Cher herself, after catching a preview of "The Cher Show," reportedly acknowledged the docu-musical chronicling her life and loves needed work. She was right. That much was evident when Bob Mackie's dazzling costumes elicited more effusive applause than the musical numbers in this inconsistent, overly long show.
• Among the three, "Tootsie," adapted from the 1982 comedy by composer/lyricist David Yazbek and writer Robert Horn, fared best thanks in large part to a winning performance by Broadway veteran Santino Fontana. Fontana starred as unemployed actor Michael Dorsey, who dresses as a woman to win a part in the Broadway musical sequel to "Romeo and Juliet." Self-aware and laugh-out-loud funny, the show downplayed the film's troubling references to sexual harassment, gender and predation to depict truly empowered women in Lilli Cooper's Julie and Julie Halston's no-nonsense producer Rita.
Hail and farewell
• American Theater Company, which weathered the sudden loss of artistic director PJ Paparelli who died in a 2015 car accident, closed for good in March with the board of directors citing a "reduction in earned revenue" as the reason. Founded in 1985 as American Blues Theater, the company changed its name to American Theater Company. After new management and artistic leaders took over in 2008, the company's founders and most of its ensemble left ATC and reformed under its original American Blues name.
• After 20 years, New Millennium Theatre, a self-described producer of "pop-culture, geek-centric theater," called it quits.
• Quest Theatre Ensemble, which produced free theater for 16 years and was known for incorporating puppetry in its original shows, ceased operations in March.
• After 10 years and 367 shows, the Chicago Fringe Festival announced it will shut down. Organizers of the avant-garde performing arts festival held annually in Chicago's Jefferson Park cited the demands of producing the fest as the reason for the closure. In the spirit of Fringe, they will host a farewell celebration June 1 at the Windsor Tavern and Grill, 4530 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago.
Ch-ch-ch-changes
• Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, in residence at Glen Ellyn's McAninch Arts Center, announced the addition of six new ensemble members.
• Lifeline Theatre's longtime artistic director Dorothy Milne stepped down after nearly 20 years. Replacing her at the Rogers Park company is Ilesa Duncan, who takes over in January.
• BoHo Theatre artistic director Peter Marston Sullivan stepped down. During his eight years as artistic director, he helped shepherd the company from a tiny Rogers Park storefront to larger venues such as Theater Wit and Stage 773. Artistic associate and former Writers Theatre producer and casting director Stephen Schellhardt takes over as artistic director in January.
• Stage Left Theatre in April announced the departure of co-artistic directors Jason A. Fleece and Amy Szerlong at the same time it announced plans to restructure. To that end, the 36-year-old Chicago company put its 2018-2019 season on hold while board members searched for new leadership.
• Broadway in Chicago announced it will officially rename the Oriental Theatre at 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago, the James M. Nederlander Theatre in honor of the late Broadway theater owner whose company owns nine Broadway theaters, four Chicago theaters and three theaters in London's West End. The Nederlander Theatre marquee will be unveiled in February.
Welcome home
• Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, which for most of its 21 years called Chicago's North Side home, relocated to 721 Howard St., Evanston, this year.
• Otherworld Theatre, a company that specializes in science fiction and fantasy theater, opened its own space at 3914 N. Clark St., Chicago.
• Mercury Theater Chicago, at 3745 N. Southport Ave., Chicago, opened a new performance space adjoining its main stage "where storytelling, music, dance, comedy and variety acts are paired with food and drink."
• TimeLine Theatre announced in December the purchase of a five-story warehouse at 5033-5035 N. Broadway Ave., Chicago, which it will convert to a performance space housing two black-box theaters and amenities. The company purchased the building for $2.699 million. The conversion will likely cost up to $20 million and take several years to complete, a company representative said. Until then, TimeLine will continue to stage most of its shows at 615 W. Wellington Ave., Chicago.