Voting Begins for 2011 BWW Chicago Awards!

Voting-Begins-for-2011-BWW-Chicago-Awards-20010101

Today, BroadwayWorld.com is announcing the nominees for the 2011 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards! Representatives of 67 different Theater Productions, which played at 40 different Chicagoland theaters, are nominated in the 25 categories for the second annual Awards. As these are the only Theater Fan Choice Awards for the internationally known Chicago theater scene, the nominees rightly come from both Equity and Non-Equity theater companies, and from the worlds of plays, musicals, revues and touring shows.

The Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier is responsible for a whopping 18 nominations (an astounding showing), and the Goodman Theatre ranks second in nominations, with 9. Celebrities on the list include actor nominees John Mahoney and Constantine Maroulis, Best Theatrical Event solo stars Sutton Foster and Carrie Fisher, and writers David Henry Hwang and Darren Criss.

With a 14-month eligibility period, for productions which opened between September 1, 2010 and October 31, 2011, there are some fascinating choices for fans to make. Races may be hotly contested! Voting is open now, and will run through midnight on December 15, 2011, taking place through BroadwayWorld's international proprietary online voting system.

Look for the winners of the "Broadies" to be posted online about a week before Christmas. And make your plans now to attend the second annual BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards Celebration at The Call nightclub in the Andersonville neighborhood, beginning at 9:00 pm on Wednesday evening, December 28th. It's a nighttime, post-Christmas party for the Chicago theater family--artists and fans alike. Come one, come all!

Click on the link below to begin casting your votes for the 2011 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards. And tell your friends!

[CLICK HERE TO VOTE!]

Chicago Shakespeare Theater's remarkable nomination total is due to the company receiving multiple nominations for multiple productions. This fall's production of "Follies," directed by Gary Griffin, is nominated for 5 awards, including Best Revival of a Musical (Resident Equity) and for stars Caroline O'Connor and Brent Barrett as Best Actress and Best Actor in a Musical or Revue (Resident Equity). Last winter's production of "As You Like It," also directed by Griffin, is also up for 5 awards in the Resident Equity categories, including Best Revival of a Play. It's up against the company's spring production, "The Madness of George III," in that category (the Alan Bennett play received 3 nominations in all). And the summer's hit (and still running), the new musical "Murder For Two" is up for 4 Broadies, including Best New Work/New Adaptation (Resident). All of these productions, except for "Follies," are up for Best Costume Design, and the ChicagoShakes summer's alternative offering, "En Route," is nominated for Best Special Theatrical Event.

The Goodman Theatre's 9 nominations come from three productions, led by last fall's "Candide" with 5, including Best New Work/New Adaptation for Mary Zimmerman and Best Actor in a Musical or Revue nominee Geoff Packard. (As the two productions with the most nominations, it's worth noting that "Candide" and "Follies" will compete against each other for the Best Ensemble award.) David Henry Hwang's "Chinglish," which debuted at the Goodman before heading to Broadway, is receiving 3 nominations, including Best New Work/New Adaptation, and the Goodman's "Red" is one of the Best Revival of a Play nominees.

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Paul W. Thompson, a contributor to BroadwayWorld.com since 2007, is a Chicago-based singer, actor, musical director, pianist, vocal coach, composer and commentator. His career as a performer, teacher and writer is centered at Paul W. Thompson Music, located in Chicago’s historic Fine Arts Building, where he teaches the great songs of Broadway to the next generation of musical theater performers. A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Paul was raised in a family of professional musicians and teachers, steeped in classical, gospel, country, pop, sacred and show music. Dubbed a “thin, winsome lad” at the age of 13 by a critic for the Nashville Banner, he earned two degrees in musical theater (a B.F.A. with Honors from Baylor University and an M.M. from the University of Miami, Florida), plus an M.B.A. with Distinction from DePaul University. Paul’s memberships include Actors’ Equity Association, the American Guild of Musical Artists, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (proud voter for the Grammy Awards!), the National Association of Teachers of Singing and New York’s Drama League.

Moving easily between the worlds of classical music, religious music, classic pop and musical theater, Paul has appeared onstage or in the orchestra pit in concerts, musicals, operettas and operas in 30 states and in Europe, in a career spanning more than 35 years. His Chicagoland stage credits include “Forever Plaid” at the Royal George Theater and twenty mainstage productions at Light Opera Works. Paul joined the Chicago Symphony Chorus in 1995 (he was Tenor I Section Leader for four years and sings on two Grammy-winning recordings), and is one of Chicago’s foremost liturgical singers, marking 20 years as a member of the choir at St. James Cathedral (Episcopal) in 2011.He has composed and arranged a number of anthems, hymns and songs for worship and concert use, and collaborates on the creation of new works of musical theater. Paul can be found on Monday nights watching showtune videos at the world-famous Sidetrack nightclub, the inspiration for his weekly column, “The Showtune Mosh Pit.” His proudest achievement is that he has seen the original Broadway production of every Tony Award-winning Best Musical since “Cats.” No, really. Since “Cats!”

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