Eclipse Theatre Company's Seventh Annual Corona Award Ceremony Set for 12/15

Eclipse Theatre Company will present its Seventh Annual Corona Award to Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co. Artistic Director Richard Cotovsky on December 15, 2015. The Corona Award honors an individual who has played an important role in supporting and nurturing the growth of the Chicago theatre community as well as small- to medium-sized Chicago theatre such as Eclipse.

Actor and playwright Jon Steinhagen will host the evening. Guest speakers slated to appear include Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co. Producing Director Carlo Garcia, Mary-Arrchie ensemble member Rudy Galvan, Stage Left Theatre's Artistic Director Vance Smith, A Red Orchid Theatre founder Guy Van Swearingen, A Red Orchid's award-winning playwright and ensemble member Brett Neveu, and award-winning actor and director David Cromer, among others to be announced.

The Seventh Annual Corona Awards will be held on Tuesday, December 15, at the Athenaeum Mainstage Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave. in Chicago. Cocktails begin at 6:30 p.m., and the awards ceremony begins at 7:30 p.m. An assortment of light appetizers and cash bar will be offered during the evening as well as a silent auction. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door, and are available at 312-869-4870 andwww.eclipsetheatre.com

The Corona Award derives its name from the outer atmosphere of the sun most easily seen during a total eclipse, and the Latin root of the word means crown. Past Corona Award recipients include Chicago casting director Jane Alderman, TimeLine Theatre Managing Director Elizabeth K. Auman, former Steppenwolf Associate Artistic Director Erica Daniels, Goodman Theatre Associate Producer Steve Scott, Goodman Artistic Associate Chuck Smith, and League of Chicago Theatres Executive Director Deb Clapp.

In selecting Richard Cotovsky as the recipient of this year's Corona Award, Artistic Director Nathaniel Swift said, "Richard has been a pioneer and champion of Chicago storefront theatre for 30 years, creating a unique artistic vision through his direction of Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co. while contributing to the growth and success of theatre artists throughout Chicago. His impact on Chicago theatre has been enormous, and Eclipse is excited to honor his work with the 2015 Corona Award."

Richard Cotovsky is a founding member of Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co., serving as Artistic Director since its inception. He is a native Chicagoan who grew up in West Rogers Park. His initial introduction to theater was in an elective course of Introduction To Theater as the Chicago Circle Campus of the University of Illinois where he had been studying pharmaceuticals. In that class, David Mamet's American Buffaloinspired him. Over the next several years he studied at The Second City with Josephine Forsberg, Paul Sills and David Shepard. He also studied at the Wisdom Bridge Training Center, Victory Gardens and Center Theater Training Center. He performed in several plays in the Chicago Park District before his breakout performance with The Blackbird Theater in 1984 in the Terry Nelson play Renegade, Farwell. He went on to work with Blackbird in Pistoleer. In 1985, the group took Renegade, Farwell to Los Angeles and left Cotovsky behind to maintain the theater when the long-running show Gas Mask 101 developed. On the group's return to Chicago there was a split in the group and Cotovsky became a member of Americana Theater, which was housed in the facility above the current Strawdog Theatre. After a few shows there, Cotovsky formed Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co. out of a workshop that he organized for Americana. The first shows were Sam Shepard's 4-H Club and Cowboy Mouth in which Cotovsky played Joe and Lobster Man, respectively. Some of his more memorable parts include Weston in Curse of the Starving Class, Max in The Homecoming, Dodge in Buried Child (nominated for Best Actor), Davies in The Caretaker, Uncle Bob in Uncle Bob, and Arthur inSuperior Donuts. He has directed many Mary-Arrchie productions including Saved by Edward Bond, Detective Story by Sidney Kingley, The Freedom of the City by Brian Friel (Jeff Award for Best Direction), The Killer and the Comic by Rooster Mitchell (Best Director nomination),Birdsend (Best Director After Dark Award), and Beyond Mozambique by George F. Walker. In 2013 he was awarded the special Jeff Award for four decades of involvement in non-Equity theater in Chicago. He can also be seen in many TV shows, movies and commercials filmed in Chicago.

To post a comment, you must register and login.