Drury Lane shines in Jeff Award nominations

Further confirmation of the artistic renaissance that has occurred at Drury Lane Theatre Oak Brook the last couple of years came Thursday with the announcement of the 2008-2009 Joseph Jefferson nominations.

In an extremely competitive season, Drury Lane Oak Brook received 16 nominations, six of them for "Miss Saigon" (musical, director, actor, music direction, sound, lighting), an adequate musical that Rachel Rockwell's direction and her cast's heartfelt performances made into a great show. The theater also received four nominations for its jazz and slapstick infused "The Boys from Syracuse" (musical, adaptation, director, choreography), which director/adapter/choreographer David H. Bell - recipient of four individual nods - revamped to marvelous effect.

Lincolnshire's Marriott Theatre received 14 nominations including five for "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," a middling musical made better by director/choreographer Marc Robin and a terrific comic turn by Bernie Yvon as the Pharaoh. Marriott also picked up three acting nominations and a music direction nomination for the exquisite "The Light in the Piazza" which runs through Sept. 20.

In a pleasant surprise, First Folio Theatre's Alison Vesely received a directing nod for "A Moon for the Misbegotten" which also earned nominations for play (mid-size theater), actor Larry Neumann Jr. and set designer Angela Miller.

Goodman Theatre led all companies with 17 nominations including six for Lynn Nottage's 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama "Ruined," a coproduction with the Manhattan Theatre Club, that earned nods for play, director and lead actress Saidah Arrika Ekulona. Goodman's production of Tom Stoppard's "Rock 'n' Roll" earned three Jeff nominations including a well deserved acting nod for Timothy Edward Kane as a rock and freedom loving Czech socialist.

Court Theatre's "Caroline, or Change" (with formidable performance from last year's Jeff winner E. Faye Butler who's likely to repeat this year) tied "Miss Saigon" with six nominations and looks to give the Drury Lane show a run for its money. Austin Pendleton's "A Minister's Wife," adapted from George Bernard Shaw's "Candida," for Glencoe's Writer's Theatre also picked up six nominations.

TimeLine Theatre's Midwest premiere of "The History Boys" - one of the season's very best shows - received five nominations for play, ensemble, director Nick Bowling, supporting actor Alex Weisman and set designer Brian Sidney Bembridge.

Steppenwolf Theatre's potent revival of Conor McPherson's dark comedy "The Seafarer" received nominations for production, ensemble and director but shockingly no individual acting nod for the consistently excellent and oft-overlooked Francis Guinan for his performance as a newly sober Sharky living in domestic turmoil with his cantankerous brother played by John Mahoney.

Established in 1968, the Jeff Awards honor excellence in Chicago area professional theater productions at both the equity (union) and non-equity (nonunion) levels. Non-equity awards, which include only Chicago productions, were announced earlier this year. The awards will be handed out Oct. 19, at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=317182">Complete list of Jefferson Award nominations<span class="date"> [9/28/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>