Best SupportingActor
Chester Gregory, Two Trains Running It almost felt unfair to nominate Gregory for his work among a universally fine ensemble in the Goodman Theatre’s revival of the 1960s entry in August Wilson’s Century Cycle. But Gregory’s charisma and energy as newly released ex-con Sterling were overpowering. Call his magnetic performance a standout among standouts. OTHER NOMINEES: Behzad Dabu, Samsara, Victory Gardens Theater; K. Todd Freeman, Airline Highway, Steppenwolf Theatre Company; Brendan Meyer, Look, we are breathing, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble; Jack Miggins, The Vandal, Steep Theatre
Best New Work
All Our Tragic It was certainly among the year’s most ambitious projects. The Hypocrites founding artistic director Sean Graney, building on the success of 2011’s Sophocles: Seven Sicknesses, devoted a year to working full-time on his 12-hour adaptation of Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides that strung all 32 surviving Greek tragedies into one anachronistic but reverent narrative. Audiences, remarkably, wanted all-in: Weekend marathon performances sold out, while Friday night bite-size chunks were under attended. OTHER NOMINEES: The Downpour, Caitlin Parrish; The Humans, Stephen Karam; Native Son, Nambi E. Kelley; Shining Lives: A Musical, Jessica Thebus, Andre Pluess and Amanda Dehnert
Best Production of a Musical The Wild Party
Brenda Didier’s up-close Bailiwick Chicago staging of Michael John LaChiusa’s 1999 Jazz Age musical, based on Joseph Moncure March’s narrative poem about a particularly heated soiree, was a steamy, swinging affair. A 15-actor ensemble, reigned over by Danni Smith’s marvelously layered Queenie, kept the proceedings at a steady simmer before boiling over; it was the best work yet from both Smith and Bailiwick. OTHER NOMINEES: Assassins, Kokandy Productions; The Secret Garden, Court Theatre; Camelot, Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace; Shining Lives: A Musical, Northlight Theatre
Best Production of an Existing Play
Stupid Fucking Bird
Aaron Posner’s brilliantly self- aware riff on Chekhov’s Seagull wasn’t a satire so much as a reboot, updating the text for our age of self- narration. Director Jonathan L. Green’s lithe, inventive staging for
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TIMEOUT.COM/CHICAGO September–November 2015
Sideshow Theatre Company, the play’s Chicago premiere, sported breathtakingly open, honest performances
by the likes of Stacy Stoltz, Nina O’Keefe and Nate Whelden as modern versions of Chekhov’s pained Russians. OTHER NOMINEES: Balm in Gilead, Griffin Theatre Company; Marie Antoinette, Steppenwolf Theatre Company; Mr. Burns, a post-electric play, Theater Wit; Two Trains Running, Goodman Theatre
BestActress
Hillary Clemens, Bethany In Laura Marks’s drama, Gift Theatre ensemble member Clemens played a single mother in financial crisis who goes to remarkable extremes to keep custody of her daughter (Bethany is the unseen child’s name). Clemens’s muscular depiction of the mother’s desperation and resolve was as grounded as her character’s ultimate actions were excessive. OTHER NOMINEES: Alana Arenas, Marie Antoinette, Steppenwolf Theatre Company; Shannon Cochran, The Little Foxes, Goodman Theatre; Heidi Kettenring, The King and I, Marriott Theatre; Tara Mallen, Look, we are breathing, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble
Best SupportingActress Caroline Neff, Airline Highway
Neff’s grounded, honest presence has been a favorite for years at some of the city’s smaller theaters, including Steep Theatre, where she’s an ensemble member. It’s only recently that she’s found a steady footing at the likes of Steppenwolf; with her performance as a New Orleans stripper with good intentions but bad impulses in Lisa D’Amour’s new work, which became her Broadway debut with the production’s transfer to Manhattan Theatre Club, Neff cemented her status as a Chicago star.
PHOTOGRAPHS: TOP: LIZ LAUREN; BOTTOM: CLAIRE DEMOS
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