KUDOS TO 2019 BROADWAY IN CHICAGO ILLINOIS HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL THEATRE AWARD RECIPIENTS

2019 BROADWAY IN CHICAGO 

ILLINOIS HIGH SCHOOL 

MUSICAL THEATRE AWARD RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED

BEST ACTOR: JACOB SIMON (DEERFIELD, IL)
BEST ACTRESS: MARGUERITE REED (PALOS PARK, IL)
BEST PRODUCTION AWARD: CARY-GROVE HIGH SCHOOL
BEST DIRECTION AWARD: SUSAN S. GORMAN (DEERFIELD HIGH SCHOOL)
BEST SCENIC DESIGN AWARD: BENET ACADEMY
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY AWARD: CARY-GROVE HIGH SCHOOL
BEST ENSEMBLE AWARD: LIBERTYVILLE HIGH SCHOOL

Best Actor and Actress Award Recipients will Represent Illinois in
“The Jimmy Awards®,” also known as The National High School Musical Theatre Awards®, named after James M. Nederlander



In celebration of outstanding achievement in high school musical theatre performances, Broadway In Chicago is thrilled to announce the award recipients of the Eighth Annual Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards (IHSMTA) sponsored by NBC 5: Jacob Simon of Deerfield, IL (Deerfield High School) as BEST ACTOR for his portrayal of “Bobby Child” in CRAZY FOR YOU  and Marguerite Reed of Palos Park, IL (Mother McAuley High School) as BEST ACTRESS for her portrayal of “Betty Haynes” in IRVING BERLIN’S WHITE CHRISTMAS. Jacob and Marguerite will represent the state of Illinois at The Jimmy Awards® (also known as The National High School Musical Theatre Awards®) in New York on June 24, 2019.

Cary-Grove High School was awarded Best Production presented by Guardian Music Travel for their production of ALL SHOOK UP and Benet Academy was awarded Best Scenic Design presented by SPL, celebrating excellence in scenic design, for their production of PIPPIN (designed by Ramon Marth and Charlie Pipal). Susan S. Gorman was awarded the Best Direction Award for her direction of Deerfield High School’s production of CRAZY FOR YOU. Two new categories were presented this year: Cary-Grove High School was awarded Best Choreography for their production of ALL SHOOK UP (choreographed by Amy Krigas), and Libertyville High School was awarded Best Ensemble for their production of PIPPIN.

On Monday, May 6, Broadway In Chicago crafted a full day of workshops with theatre professionals for twenty-four nominees that culminated in a performance on stage at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place. During the day, nominees performed for a panel of casting agents and theater professionals who chose the recipients of performance awards. 

In addition to a workshop led by CHICAGO THE MUSICAL cast member Christophe Caballero (Dance Captain/Swing), whose previous theatrical credits include four Broadway shows including original Tony®-winning companies of La Cage Aux Folles & Jerome Robbins' Broadway (who also performed at the Tony Awards® during each of the last three decades), each nominee received tickets to CHICAGO THE MUSICAL. The musical will play at Broadway In Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre (151 W. Randolph) from May 7-12, 2019.

BEST ACTOR Jacob Simon and BEST ACTRESS Marguerite Reed will be sent to New York City, on an all-expense paid trip, for a week-long theatre intensive of coaching and rehearsals with industry professionals in preparation for a one-night-only showcase, where they will represent the state of Illinois at The Jimmy Awards® on Broadway, on Monday, June 24, 2019. The Jimmy Awards® are named for legendary Broadway theater owner and producer James M. Nederlander. Broadway In Chicago is a Nederlander presentation, and is excited to join the network of theatres across the country participating in The Jimmy Awards®.

The Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards have proven to be a stepping stone for young performers, with several appearing in Broadway productions. Nathan Salstone (2012 IHSMTA Best Actor) made his Broadway debut in HARRY POTTER & THE CURSED CHILD, and John Clay III (2013 IHSMTA Best Actor) made his Broadway debut this year in CHOIR BOY. Other Illinois winners have also been successful at The Jimmy Awards®: Jonah Rawitz (2014 IHSMTA Best Actor) was awarded the 2014 Jimmy Award® for Best Performance by an Actor, Cecilia Trippiedi (2016 IHSMTA Best Actress) was awarded the 2016 Jimmy Award® for Best Dancer, and Darian Goulding (2018 IHSMTA Best Actor) was a 2018 Jimmy Award® finalist.

The 72 participating high schools involved in the program are given opportunities to see Broadway In Chicago shows and receive invitations to special events throughout the year. Recently, students performed with the cast of DEAR EVAN HANSEN (including the star of the National Tour Ben Levi Ross) at Broadway In Chicago’s Summer Concert at Millennium Park, in addition to performing with HAMILTON Chicago Company’s Miguel Cervantes (Alexander Hamilton) at the Illinois Bicentennial Birthday Party at Navy Pier.

For more information on The Jimmy Awards®, also known as the National High School Musical Theatre Awards®, visit www.jimmyawards.com. For more information on both awards and complete rules and regulations, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com/about/IHSMTA/.



ABOUT THE JIMMY AWARDS®
The Jimmy Awards®/The National High School Musical Theatre Awards® (NHSMTA®) program impacts more than 100,000 students who participate in high school musical theatre competitions sponsored by presenters of Touring Broadway productions throughout the United States. Presented by the Broadway League Foundation, the program sends a Best Actress and Best Actor winner from each of these competitions to New York for a week-long theatre intensive of coaching and rehearsals with industry professionals in preparation for a one-night-only talent showcase on Broadway. Named for Broadway impresario James M. Nederlander, the program has been the catalyst for more than $2,000,000 in educational scholarships. The eleventh annual Jimmy Awards® will take place on Monday, June 24, 2019 at the Minskoff Theatre on Broadway. Coaching and rehearsals for this one-of-a-kind event will be held Monday, June 17, 2019 through Monday, June 24, 2019 in New York City. For more information, please visit www.JimmyAwards.com.

ABOUT BROADWAY IN CHICAGO
Broadway In Chicago was created in July 2000 and over the past 19 years has grown to be one of the largest commercial touring homes in the country.  A Nederlander Presentation, Broadway In Chicago lights up the Chicago Theater District entertaining more than 1.7 million people annually in five theatres. Broadway In Chicago presents a full range of entertainment, including musicals and plays, on the stages of five of the finest theatres in Chicago’s Loop including the Cadillac Palace Theatre, CIBC Theatre, James M. Nederlander Theatre, and just off the Magnificent Mile, the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place and presenting Broadway shows at the Auditorium Theatre.

Broadway In Chicago proudly celebrates 2019 as the Year of Chicago Theatre.

For more information, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

Facebook @BroadwayInChicago ● Twitter @broadwaychicago ● Instagram @broadwayinchicago ● #broadwayinchicago

KUDOS TO CHICAGO CHILDREN’S THEATRE, WINNER OF THE NATIONAL TYA/USA ARTISTIC INNOVATION AWARD

Chicago Children’s Theatre is proud to announce the company has been awarded the 2019 National TYA Artistic Innovation Award from Theatre of Young Audiences/USA (TYA/USA), the national service organization supporting, connecting, and advocating for the field of theater for young audiences.

Chicago Children’s Theatre’s 2019 world premiere

X Marks the Spot

The company’s Red Kite Project for children on the autism spectrum.

Chicago Children’s Theatre has long been a favorite of ours, and it's wonderful to see them receiving well deserved fame and acclaim beyond Chicago. We are beyond fortunate to have this world class resource for young audiences right here at home. Kudos to Chicago Children’s Theatre for their stellar work in Chi, IL and beyond, creating new works and growing the next generation of empathetic, enlightened, theatre loving kids. 

“TYA/USA is thrilled to honor Chicago Children’s Theatre for the company’s profound impact in Chicago and the national TYA field,” said Jonathan Shmidt Chapman, Executive Director of TYA/USA. “At a time when TYA theaters across the country are increasingly unable to support the development of new work, Chicago Children’s Theatre continues to significantly expand the TYA canon while creating new pathways of access for underrepresented audiences. Led by Founding Artistic Director, Jacqueline Russell, Chicago Children’s Theatre has demonstrated national leadership in groundbreaking artistic vision and audience inclusivity as vanguards of our field, pushing the genre forward with their work.”

The TYA Artistic Innovation Award honors an individual or company that has demonstrated innovation – experimentation in content or in form – in recent artistic work in TYA. In particular, TYA/USA credits Chicago Children’s Theatre’s long-standing commitment to access via its Red Kite Project, which presents live adventure experiences and a popular summer camp program for children on the autism spectrum.



In this January 2019 blog post, TYA/USA also showcased Chicago Children’s Theatre’s groundbreaking 2019 world premiere of X Marks the Spot, an all-new form of “X Tra Sensory Theater” created by Jacqueline Russell inspired by children who are visually impaired. X Marks the Spot incorporated sounds, voices, tastes, touchable, scented props and a contemporary story inspired by a Victorian novel by Edith Nesbit to create an unforgettably different live theater experience that helped children better appreciate all of their senses.

“Chicago Children’s Theatre is delighted to receive this recognition from one of our most important audiences, our TYA peers around the U.S.,” said Russell. “Creating theater that's inclusive of all of children is core to CCT's mission. If our efforts to expand inclusivity are inspiring other theaters to create innovative new programming, particularly for children from often marginalized communities, then we’re both proud and humbled that our work is having a positive impact not just on children in Chicago, but on children throughout the U.S.”

Russell will accept this year’s TYA Artistic Innovation Award on behalf of Chicago Children’s Theatre on May 9, 2019 as part of the 2019 TYA/USA National Festival & Conference, the largest gathering of theatre for young audiences professionals in North America. Over 300 artists, educators and administrators will convene at this year’s event, held at The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, to experience 12 productions from around the globe, exchange current practice and discuss the future of the TYA industry. For more information, visit tyausa.org/fellowships-and-awards/national-tya-awards/.

Theatre for Young Audiences/USA (TYA/USA) is a national service organization whose mission is to promote the power of professional theater for young audiences through excellence, collaboration and innovation across cultural and international boundaries. The organization provides advocacy and resources in order to strengthen and diversify the field of theatre for young audiences.
For more, visit tyausa.org.

Nelson Simmons plays Kenny in The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963, Chicago Children's current world premiere production based on the Newbery Medal-winning book by Christopher Paul Curtis, now extended through May 19. 

Photo by Charles Osgood.

About Chicago Children’s Theatre
Led by Founding Artistic Director, Jacqueline Russell, Chicago Children’s Theatre was founded in 2005 with a big idea: Chicago is the greatest theater city in the world, and it deserves a great children’s theater. Nearly 15 years later, CCT is Chicago’s largest professional theater company devoted exclusively to children and young families, and has established a national reputation for the production of first-rate children’s theater, with professional writing, performing, and directorial talent and high-quality design and production expertise.

Chicago Children’s Theatre has produced 20 world premieres in the last 12 years including The Selfish Giant, The Hundred Dresses, Jackie and Me, The Houdini Box, Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money, Leo Lionni’s Frederick, Wonderland, Alice’s Rock & Roll Adventure, Jabari Dreams of Freedom, The Year I Didn’t Go To School: A Homemade Circus, Manual Cinema’s Magic City, My Wonderful Birthday Suit!, Last Stop on Market Street, X Marks the Spot, The World Inside Me (with New York’s Spellbound Theatre) and The Watsons Go To Birmingham - 1963. These productions enjoyed successful inaugural runs in Chicago, many followed by productions at theaters across the U.S.

Chicago Children’s Theatre has garnered six NEA Art Works grants, supporting the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence. In 2017, CCT became the first theater for young audiences in the U.S. to win a National Theatre Award from the American Theatre Wing, creators of the Tony Awards.

In January 2017, the company celebrated the opening of its new, permanent home, Chicago Children’s Theatre, The Station, located at 100 S. Racine Avenue in Chicago’s West Loop community. The building, formerly the Chicago Police Station for the 12th District, was repurposed into a beautiful, LEED Gold-certified, mixed-use performing arts, education and community engagement facility that now welcomes all Chicago families. CCT also continues to grow its education programs, offering classes, workshops, winter and spring break camps, and summer camps for ages 0 to 13. CCT offers free tickets to more than 5,000 low-income students each season in partnership with Chicago Public Schools.

In addition to leading Chicago Children’s Theatre’s new play development, main stage, and education programs, Jacqueline Russell is the creator of the Red Kite Project, a multi-sensory interactive theatre program tailored specifically to children with special needs. Recently, Russell created and directed an innovative production, X Marks the Spot, a multi-sensory experience inspired by her work with children with visual impairments. In 2010, she was appointed by the U.S. State Department to serve as Cultural Envoy to Canada, was awarded the 2013 “Hero of the Year Award” from the Chicago chapter of Autism Speaks, and was recently honored as one of 20 women who have shaped arts and culture in Chicago on the Kerry James Marshall mural at the Chicago Culture Center.

Chicago Children’s Theatre is led by Co-Founders, Artistic Director Jacqueline Russell and Board Chair Todd Leland, with Board President Eric Neveux. For more, visit chicagochildrenstheatre.org.

Kudos to Cirque du Soleil on Recent Cancellations Due To North Carolina's HB2 Anti Equality Legislation

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL WILL NOT PERFORM IN 

NORTH CAROLINA

Cirque du Soleil strongly believes in diversity and equality for every individual and is opposed to discrimination in any form. The new HB2 legislation passed in North Carolina is an important regression to ensuring human rights for all. We therefore choose to cancel our scheduled performances of OVO in Greensboro (April 20-24) and our scheduled performances in Charlotte (July 6-10) and our scheduled performances of TORUK – Avatar in Raleigh (June 22-26). 

Cirque du Soleil believes in equality for all. It is a principle that guides us with both our employees and our customers.  We behave as change agents to reach our ultimate goal of making a better world with our actions and our productions.

We sincerely hope that the customers that have purchased tickets for our performances in North Carolina will understand our motivation and we look forward to performing in North Carolina when this issue is addressed.  On-line and phone ticket purchases will be automatically reimbursed and in-person purchases must return to point of purchase for refunds.  Customer service can be reached at 1-877-924-7783.

About Cirque du Soleil

From a group of 20 street performers at its beginnings in 1984, Cirque du Soleil is now a major Quebec-based organization providing high-quality artistic entertainment. The company has close to 4,000 employees, including 1,300 performing artists from close to 50 different countries.

Cirque du Soleil has brought wonder and delight to more than 160 million spectators in 400 cities in sixty countries on six continents.

For more information about Cirque du Soleil, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com.

To find out more about the ONE DROP Foundation, visit www.onedrop.org