Glenview's own Oil Lamp Theater wins two BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards
BroadwayWorld, the leading theater news website in the United States, announced that Glenview theater icon, Oil Lamp Theater, won two BroadwayWorld Awards and eight runner-up citations out of 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 two wins and four runner-up citations; followed by their fall production "Frankenstein" (two runner-up citations); and their winter production "Now and Then" and spring production "Never the Bridesmaid" with one runner-up citation each.
"Failure: A Love Story," Philip Dawkins' tale of the Fail family before, during and after the SS Eastland disaster, earned Oil Lamp Theater its consecutive Best Play award after winning last year for "Donald Marguiles' "Shipwrecked: An Entertainment." Last year's winner for Best Supporting Performer in a Play, Van Ferro, won the category again this year for his portrayal of John N. Fail. The production has four runner-up citations: Best Performer in a Play (Kendal Romero), Best Lighting Design (Hannah Wien), Best Sound Design (Jay Pastucha) and Best Scenic Design (Jay Pastucha and Ellen Markus).
On the other hand, Oil Lamp's most expensive production, "Frankenstein," had two runner-up citations for Best New Play or Musical and Best Costume Design (Emily N. Brink). The remaining runner-up citations from Oil Lamp Theater were from "Never the Bridesmaid" (Best Ensemble Performance for Geoff Isaac, Jake Busse, Marina Magnelli, Natalie Elizabeth, Rose Leisner, Ryan E. Lampe and Suzy Krueckeburg) and "Now and Then" (Best Director of a Play for Elizabeth Mazur Levin).
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 Chicago 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. One of those plays, "Shipwrecked: An Entertainment," won five BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards last year. Oil Lamp resumed in-person performances in fall 2021.
Currently, John Cariani's "Almost, Maine" is playing on its stage until Feb. 26, under the direction of Susan Gorman. The 2023 season will be rounded out by Lauren Gunderson's "The Revolutionists" (March 16-April 30), Joe DiPietro's "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change "(May 18-July 2), Donald Marguiles' "Collected Stories" (July 20-September 3), and David Lindsey-Abaire's "Ripcord" (September 21-October 21). The 2023 holiday show will be announced at a later date.