Aurora’s Paramount Theatre is excited to share it earned 13 nominations for 2020 Equity Jeff Awards, celebrating excellence in Equity theater productions during Chicago’s abbreviated 2019-2020 theater season. The nominations were announced Tuesday morning this week.
Paramount’s blockbuster production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast took home six nominations, the most for any Paramount production, including best musical-large.
Paramount’s world premiere musical The Secret of My Success earned four nominations, including best new work.
Newsies captured three nominations, marking a nominations sweep for all three Paramount productions during the abbreviated 2019-2020 Chicago theater season.
Here’s the full list of Paramount’s 13 2019-20 Jeff Award nominations for outstanding performance, direction and design in Chicago theater last season:
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, six nominations
• Production, musical or revue, large
• Performer in a principal role, musical, Beth Stafford Laird (Belle)
• Performer in a supporting role, musical, Jackson Evans (Lumiere)
• Scenic design, Jeffrey D. Kmiec
• Costume design, large, Theresa Ham
• Lighting design, large, Jesse Klug
The Secret of My Success, four nominations
• New work, Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen, Michael Mahler, and Alan Schmuckler
• Performer in a principal role, Billy Harrigan Tighe, musical (Brantley Foster)
• Performer in a supporting role, musical, Heidi Kettenring (Vera Prescott)
• Projection design, Mike Tutaj
Newsies, three nominations
• Performer in a principal role, musical, Alex Prakken (Jack Kelly)
• Scenic design, large, William Boles
• Choreography, Joshua Blake Carter
“Thank you to the Jeff Committee for this year’s award nominations! This annual celebration brings us all together like one big family reunion and the hugs and hand shakes will be missed. I’ll also miss the live in-person roaring and cheering in recognition of all the deserving recipients,” said Paramount artistic director Jim Corti.
“The list of nominees represents the vast array of work in scale and substance unique to Chicago,” added Corti, who directed Paramount’s Jeff-nominated 2019 season opener, Newsies. “Whether given a nod this year or not, know how much doing what you love adds to the excitement of Chicago theatre-going and how proud we are at Paramount in the city of Aurora to be a part of it. Holding you close, all of our enthusiastic and supportive patrons, Paramount’s creative contributors and collaborators from actors to musicians, designers and production crews, this is a moment to acknowledge you and thank you for your excellence and achievement!”
“Beauty and the Beast was a labor of love and unbelievable collaboration amongst not just brilliant designers and company members but builders, crew, musicians and staff that truly made it an incredibly memorable experience for our Paramount audience and for me, personally,” said Amber Mak, director of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and New Works development director at Paramount. “It is always an honor to be able to not just create a magical show but to re-imagine a beloved story that we tell with heart first and that hopefully leaves a mark on an audience for many years.”
“Making The Secret of My Success at Paramount with their gifted and generous staff members, and the extraordinary cast, crew and creative team, was one of the best theatrical experiences of my life,” said Gordon Greenberg, director of The Secret of My Success. “Michael, Alan, Steve and I are so grateful for the opportunity to create a brand new musical with a profoundly talented, kind hearted and joyous company. Their passion and professionalism was matched only by the smart and buoyant audiences we played for in Aurora. Here’s to more Success on the other side of the pandemic – and to more and more new work at the Paramount!”
Since becoming Jeff-eligible only five seasons ago, Paramount Theater had previously garnered a total of 71 nominations and 20 wins.
Visit jeffawards.org to see this year’s full list of nominees and to watch who wins at the 2020 online Jeff Awards ceremony, Monday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m..
Paramount’s 2019-2020 Broadway Series was sponsored by BMO Harris Bank, Dunham Fund, ComEd and City of Aurora.
—Jay Kelly PR