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Aurora's Paramount leads all theaters in equity Jeff Award nominations

For the second time in as many years, Paramount Theatre in Aurora leads all Chicago-area theaters with 14 equity Joseph Jefferson Award nominations for the 2015-2016 season.

The theater made history in 2015 when it won five Jeff Awards in its first year of eligibility. This year, its bold, brutally re-imagined “West Side Story” earned nominations for best musical (large company), director Jim Corti, music director Tom Vendafreddo (who also picked up nominations for Paramount's “Oklahoma” and “A Christmas Story, the Musical”), actress Mary Antonini, choreographer William Carlos Angulo, set designer Kevin Depinet and lighting designer Jesse Klug.

Competing with Paramount's “West Side Story” in the best musical (large company) category is Marriott Theatre's gripping, modern-day “Man of La Mancha,” Paramount's “Oklahoma and Chicago Shakespeare Theatre's “Ride the Cyclone,” which opens off-Broadway in November under director and current Jeff nominee Rachel Rockwell.

Rounding out the best musical (large company) category is Goodman Theatre's Broadway-bound “War Paint,” whose leading ladies - multi-Tony Award winners Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole - received Jeff nominations for their work in the new show about the professional rivalry between cosmetics titans Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden.

Nathaniel Stampley, right, earned a principal actor Joseph Jefferson Award nomination for his performance as Don Quixote in Marriott Theatre's "Man of La Mancha." It was one of six nominations the Lincolnshire theater received Tuesday. Courtesy of Liz Lauren

Lincolnshire's Marriott received a total of 10 nominations, six for “Man of La Mancha,” which also picked up nominations for director Nick Bowling, music director Ryan T. Nelson, Nathaniel Stampley's Don Quixote, Richard Ruiz's Sancho, and lighting designer Jesse Klug.

Drury Lane Theatre's seven nominations included principal actress nods for Michelle Aravena (“Bye Bye Birdie”) and Klea Blackhurst (“Hazel, a Musical Maid in America”) and a supporting actress nomination for Alene Robertson for “Irving Berlin's White Christmas,” which also earned a nomination for choreographer Matthew Crowle. The Oakbrook Terrace theater's revival of “Deathtrap” earned nominations for set designer Jeffrey D. Kmiec, sound designer Ryan Hickey and set/properties designer Cassy Schillo.

Tony Award winner Christine Ebersole received a best actress Joseph Jefferson Award nomination for her portrayal of Elizabeth Arden, whose legendary rivalry with fellow cosmetics magnate Helena Rubinstein is chronicled in the Broadway-bound musical "War Paint," which premiered at Goodman Theatre this summer. Courtesy of Joan Marcus

Among the large play nominees are Goodman's ambitious adaptation of Robert Bolano's sprawling “2666” (for which adapters Robert Falls and Seth Bockley were also recognized), Writers Theatre's impeccable revival of Tom Stoppard's “Arcadia,” which inaugurated the Glencoe theater's artful new space; Steppenwolf Theatre Company's “Between Riverside and Crazy”; Northlight Theatre's “Charm”; Victory Gardens Theater's “The House That Will Not Stand”; Court Theatre's “Long Day's Journey into Night”; and Chicago Shakespeare Theater's magical production (in every sense of the word) of “The Tempest.”

Chicago Shakespeare Theater's revival of William Shakespeare's "The Tempest" earned a 2016 Jeff Award nominations for principal actor Nate Denby, right, who plays Ariel opposite Larry Yando's Prospero. The production also earned directing nods for co-directors Aaron Posner and Teller, of the comedy and magic duo Penn & Teller. Courtesy of Liz Lauren

Co-directors Aaron Posner and Teller (of the comedy/magic duo Penn & Teller) picked up directing nominations for their expertly conjured production, which earned nods for magic designer Johnny Thompson, principal actor Nate Dendy's Ariel and lighting designer Thom Weaver.

The 48th annual equity Jeff Awards ceremony takes place Oct. 17, at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace. See jeffawards.org.

Chicago Shakespeare conjures imaginative, enchanting 'Tempest'

Goodman brings Bolano to the stage in gloriously ambitious '2666'

Paramount's triumphant 'West Side Story' a tragic, timely tale

Marriott's modern-day 'Man of La Mancha' a riveting homage to idealism

Powerhouse performances, sophisticated score propel Goodman's 'War Paint'

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