Press Release

The Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee Announces Special 2007 Citations Awards to Stage Left Theatre and Lifeline Theatre

Chicago, IL - Chicago, IL. The Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee today announced two Special Citations awards. Wrigleyville’s Stage Left Theatre and Rogers Park’s Lifeline Theatre are being honored for their contributions to theatre over the years. Both are mainstays of Chicago’s non-union theatre community and exemplify dedication to presenting new material.

Stage Left Theatre recently concluded its 25th Anniversary Season with a mission to develop and produce plays that raise debate and challenge perspectives on political and social issues, seeking to activate audiences to discuss and act on issues raised in the plays, and inspiring playwrights to address political and social themes through their Downstage Left new work development program.

Stage Left has been honored over the years with many Jeff Citations nominations and 14 Citations awards. Three of these were for New Works – "Police Deaf Near Far" (2000) by David Rush, "Chagrin Falls" (2002) by Mia McCullough, and "Fellow Traveller" (2006) by Margaret Lewis. For 1993’s "Leander Stillwell" Stage Left was honored with Citations for Outstanding Production – Play and for Outstanding Ensemble. As announced on May 2, two of four New Work nominations for 2007 Citations awards also went to Stage Left productions: "In Times of War" by David Alan Moore, about the pre-emptive incarceration of an enemy combatant in World War II, with themes echoing today’s debates on the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay; and "One Fine Day" by David Rush, on the continuing themes of academic freedom, First Amendment rights, anti-Semitism, respect for the memory of the Holocaust; and inter-personal sensitivity.

Lifeline Theatre, soon to enter its 25th Anniversary Season, was a lonely theatre pioneer in the Rogers Park neighborhood when it took over a former Commonwealth Edison substation on North Glenwood Avenue in 1986, which it calls home to this day and where it serves as an anchor of the Glenwood Avenue Arts District. Lifeline Theatre specializes in original literary adaptations, using imaginative, unconventional staging to portray sprawling stories in an intimate space. The theatre aspires to be a creative nest for new work that reflects and engages our community.

Lifeline, too, has received numerous Citations nominations and awards, including 4 Citations awards for Outstanding New Works (including a New Musical (2006) – "Queen Lucia," by Christina Calvit and George Howe); and 5 Citations awards for Outstanding New Adaptations – most recently for John Hildreth’s "Johnny Tremain" (2006). Lifeline also received an award from the committee’s Equity wing in 1996 for Christina Calvit’s adaptation of "The Talisman Ring." This year, Lifeline has been nominated for two New Adaptations – Christina Calvit’s "A Room with a View," and Frances Limoncelli’s "Gaudy Night," which also garnered a nomination for Outstanding Production – Play.

The Special Awards will be presented at the Jeff Awards Citations Ceremony, which will be held on Monday, June 11, 2007, at Park West, 322 W. Armitage, Chicago, IL. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Light supper at 6:30 p.m. Presentation at 7:30 p.m. Cash bar. Tickets are $30 in advance, $35 at the door. Purchase tickets on line with a credit card at www.jeffawards.org or by mail. A downloadable mail-order form is also available at www.jeffawards.org. For more information, contact Glenn Hering at jeff-citations@sbcglobal.net.

The Jeff Awards are given annually by The Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee to honor excellence in professional theatre produced in the immediate Chicago area. The committee, organized in 1968, consists of up to 45 men and women with varying backgrounds in theatre, but united by an active interest and concern. They come to the committee with an academic background in theatre, significant professional experience, a history of theatre involvement, and/or years of consistent theatre attendance in Chicago and in the other major theatre capitals of the world. The committee evaluates approximately 250 theatrical productions and holds two awards ceremonies annually. Originally chartered to recognize only Equity productions, the committee established the Citations (non-Equity) wing in 1973 to celebrate outstanding achievement in non-union Chicago theatre. The next Equity awards ceremony will be held on October 29, 2007, at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie.

SPECIAL NOTICE TO NEWS MEDIA

Your complimentary ticket to the 34th Annual Jeff Awards Citations Ceremony will be held at the News Media table at Park West only if you make a reservation in advance. If you have not reserved a seat, please contact Jeffrey Marks at 312.606.0400 or jmmarks@aol.com.

Names of award recipients will be released immediately following the presentation ceremony June 11. Copies of the news release with all award recipients will be available at the News Media table after the presentation ceremony ends. It also will be e-mailed to our regular distribution list (as a Word .doc attachment and in text format both as an attachment and in the body of the e-mail) by the morning of June 12. Special requests to fax a copy may be made to Jeff Marks at jmmarks@aol.com. Photos from the event will be available on our Jeff Awards website: www.jeffawards.org.

A Media Curtain is available for your own photos. We will also have an interview area available to you, and will assist in bringing interviewees to that area. If you need a quote or interview with any Jeff Awards committee member, please call or e-mail Jeffrey Marks at 312-606-0400 or jmmarks@aol.com.

The Jeff Awards Committee website, www.jeffawards.org, lists all the current Citations nominees and statistics, along with previous recipients and nominees and other Jeff Awards information and news.