Following the 2021-22 season return of live theater, The Joseph Jefferson Awards will present its 54th Anniversary Equity Jeff Awards in a ceremony on October 17th at Drury Lane Theatre. Host of this year’s program is E. Faye Butler, a favorite actress, singer and entertainer known for her Chicago theater power and soul. Broadway veteran and acclaimed actor, director, choreographer and artistic director Jim Corti will direct the first live awards ceremony for the Jeff Awards since 2019. Butler and Corti, both recipients of multiple Jeff Awards and enormous talents, are leading the creation of a celebration that brings the spotlight back to theater excellence among recognized artists and new emerging faces and voices.
The production team also includes music director David Fiorello, lighting designer Mac Vaughey, stage manager Juli Hrovat-Walker, announcer Lorenzo Rush Jr., videographer Alberto Mendoza, and graphic designer Eddie Fieg. Paulette Petretti, Jeff Awards Equity Wing Chair, is the 2022 ceremony producer.
E. Faye Butler
Butler is a decorated theater actor and singer well-known to Chicago audiences. She is the recipient of nine Joseph Jefferson Awards among multiple other national award recognitions including a Lunt-Fontaine Fellowship and induction into the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Audiences across the country and internationally have enjoyed her performances in theaters, concert halls, club venues, cabarets and at corporate events. In addition to her work in Chicago, Butler has also been on stage with Off Broadway national and regional tours, as well as being a recording artist.
Jim Corti
Corti has been artistic director at Paramount Theatre for more than a decade. During his tenure the company has garnered 45 Jeff Award nominations with 16 theater excellence awards including two Outstanding Director awards. As an actor he appeared in the original casts of Ragtime and Candide, joined the long running A Chorus Line and toured nationally in Urinetown, Cabaret and Bob Fosse’s Dancin’. Corti remains the sole honoree to have won Jeff Awards as an actor (Marriott’s Grand Hotel), choreographer (Drury Lane’s Singin’ in the Rain) and director (Paramount’s The Producers, Sweeney Todd and Les Misérables, Drury Lane’s Sweet Charity and Northlight’s Blues in the Night).
David Fiorello
Fiorello is a director, music director, performer, orchestrator and playwright with work featured across the globe. He has enjoyed collaborating as a music director with Porchlight Music Theatre for several productions, including Gypsy featuring E. Faye Butler. In addition, he is founder and artistic director of The Beautiful City Project, which uses musical theater as a tool to give back to Chicago, and the Fiorello Studios where he provides vocal, music and directing training.
The 54th Anniversary Equity program also features actor and singer Lorenzo Rush Jr. and video producer Alberto Mendoza. Rush, who serves as the award show’s announcer, has appeared in productions at Drury Lane Theatre, Marriott Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre and received a Jeff Award for his role in the revue Five Guys Named Moe at Court Theatre. He has also been seen on screen in Chicago Fire and Sirens. Videographer Mendoza takes the reigns for video and projections during the 2022 live awards program. He is currently the Goodman Theatre video producer. Prior to and during the pandemic he collaborated with the Jeff Awards on live and virtual awards shows.
Rounding out the production team is lighting designer Mac Vaughey, who will bring theater excellence awards back to the spotlight after some dark pandemic days, graphic designer Eddie Fieg, and stage manager Juli Hrovat-Walker. Vaughey designed lighting for the current Fun Home at Copley Theatre of the Paramount Arts Center and for Passages at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company. Fieg’s graphic design work has been featured at Chicago Shakespeare Theater and the Museum of Science and Industry, among other institutions. Hrovat-Walker is a veteran production stage manager and production manager with a long career at Drury Lane and theaters across Chicagoland.
The 54th Anniversary Jeff Awards ceremony recognizes theater excellence over the 2021-22 Equity season and honors the dedicated artists, behind the scenes teams and theater companies. This year’s nominees include 201 theater artists across 38 categories of excellence in theater production among shows from 43 companies. The program will be held Monday, October 17th 7:30pm (CST) at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace, IL. The show will be preceded by a red carpet walk featuring award nominees and theater community members beginning at 6:15pm.
Tickets are $90 for general admission and $70 for union members (AEA/USA/SDC/IATSE/DGA/AFM/CFM). To purchase tickets and learn more about this program and the Jeff Awards, visit www.jeffawards.org. Information can also be found on social media including Facebook (Jeff Awards), Instagram (@thejeffawards) and Twitter (@josephjefferson).
SPECIAL NOTICE TO NEWS MEDIA
The Jeff Awards website, www.jeffawards.org, lists all the current nominees, along with previous recipients and nominees as well as other Jeff Awards information and news.
Names of award recipients will be released immediately following the ceremony October 17th by email and on our website under Equity Awards at www.jeffawards.org.
You may contact theaters and artists directly for interviews. If you would like to include a quote or an interview with any Jeff Awards committee member, please call or e-mail Suzanne Ross at 312-953-6987 or suzanne@suzanne-ross.com.
Credentialed media will receive information in late September about tickets for the awards ceremony.
ABOUT THE JEFF AWARDS
The Jeff Awards is one of the most active and engaged theater awards organizations in the country evaluating hundreds of theatrical productions annually and holding two awards ceremonies highlighting work over the past Equity and Non-Equity seasons. Through our recommendations, awards, and honors we help foster the growth of companies, encourage artists, bring new appreciation for diverse storytelling, and cultivate civic pride in the achievements of the Chicago theater community. Originally chartered in 1968 to recognize Equity productions, the Jeff Awards Non-Equity Wing was established in 1973 to celebrate outstanding achievement in non-union theatre. For more information, visit www.jeffawards.org.