Local Oil Lamp Theater amasses 25 nominations at the 2022 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards

BroadwayWorld, the leading theater news website in the United States, announced that local Glenview theater icon Oil Lamp Theater won a staggering 25 nominations spread over four productions for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards. Leading the pack was their summer production, "Failure: A Love Story," with 10 nominations; followed by their winter production, "Now and Then" (8 nominations); their spring production, "Never the Bridesmaid" (4 nominations); and their fall production "Frankenstein" (3 nominations).

Starring some of Chicago's best and busiest professional actors and featuring the artisanal work of some of its most creative crew, the 2022 season of Oil Lamp Theater further elevated the status of suburban theater to new heights with great reviews coming from city-based theatrical reviewers: "the upbeat, offbeat production succeeds in prodding the audience toward following their passions to the fullest even though in the end- as all those ticking clocks relentlessly remind- we're all on borrowed time," says Chicago Reader's Catey Sullivan of "Failure," while Rick McCain of Let's Play Theatrical Reviews raves, "'Failure: A Love Story' is a tragically heartwarming and humorous fable, and the cast at Oil Lamp Theater's solid performance of this play is a delightful night of theater." Of "Now and Then," Alan Bresloff of Around The Town Chicago was effusive in his praise, "under the sterling direction of Elizabeth Mazur Levin, seeing this production will make you laugh, smile, think and perhaps for some, bring a tear to your eye." For "Never the Bridesmaid," Bresloff summarizes what Oil Lamp has been to the North Shore community: "They are the 'Hallmark' theater doing stories that could easily make a movie for that network."

Oil Lamp Theater, which opened in the Glenview area in 2012, has been on a roll with putting on production after production even in the midst of the COVID-19 era. While other theaters in the Chicagoland area have closed or have had difficulty reopening during and after the pandemic, Oil Lamp managed to trump the odds and experiment with virtual theater, a drive-in performance, and last year, a season called Season Under the Stars, where the theater performed two plays outdoors at the lawn of St. David's Episcopal Church in Glenview, IL. One of those plays, "Shipwrecked: An Entertainment," won 5 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards (out of 9 nominations) last year including Best Play, Best Production (In-Person), Best Director for Corey Bradberry, Best Performer in a Play for Logan Brown and Best Supporting Performer in a Play for Van Ferro, who is batting for another BroadwayWorld Award in the same category this year with another Oil Lamp Theater production. With more than double the haul of nominations this year, the theater is expecting to be in the running and competitive in multiple categories.

Here is a complete list of nominations garnered by Oil Lamp Theater this year:

BEST PLAY

1. "Failure: A Love Story"

2. "Now and Then"

BEST NEW PLAY/MUSICAL

1. "Frankenstein"

BEST ENSEMBLE

1. "Never the Bridesmaid"

2. "Now and Then"

BEST PERFORMER IN A PLAY

1. Ashley Greenwood, "Now and Then"

2. Kendal Romero, "Failure: A Love Story"

3. RJ Cecott, "Now and Then"

4. Rose Leisner, "Never the Bridesmaid"

5. Sandy Spatz, "Now and Then"

6. Tim Kough, "Now and Then"

7. Trevor Earley, "Failure: A Love Story"

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMER IN A PLAY

1. Jake Busse, "Never the Bridesmaid"

2. Jasmine Robertson, "Failure: A Love Story"

3. Philip Macaluso, "Failure: A Love Story"

4. Van Ferro, "Failure: A Love Story"

BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY

1. Elizabeth Mazur Levin, "Now and Then"

2. Whitney Minarik, "Never the Bridesmaid"

3. Xavier Custodio, "Failure: A Love Story"

BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A PLAY OR MUSICAL

1. Ellen Markus, "Now and Then"

2. Jay Pastucha and Ellen Markus, "Failure: A Love Story"

3. Liz Hadden, "Frankenstein"

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A PLAY OR MUSICAL

1. Hannah Wien, "Failure: A Love Story"

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A PLAY OR MUSICAL

1. Emily N. Brink, "Frankenstein"

BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A PLAY OR MUSICAL

1. Jay Pastucha, "Failure: A Love Story"

You can learn more about the BroadwayWorld Awards and cast your vote of support for Oil Lamp Theater nominees at www.broadwayworld.com/chicago/voteregion.cfm. To vote, please enter a valid email address in the box provided and click START. The electronic ballot will load. After voting, please check your email for the confirmation email from BroadwayWorld to confirm the vote.