Marriott Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater & More Win Heartstrings Awards
The awards are presented in 19 categories for 2022, with categories honoring, acting, directing, and choreography, along with several specialty awards.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Dec. 29, 2022
The Heartstrings Awards celebrating the most moving creative efforts in Chicago area theatre for the 2022 theatrical season have been announced citing winners including Marriott Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Broadway in Chicago, Elgin Theatre Company, and Porchlight Music Theatre.
Unlike other Chicago theatrical awards, The Heartstrings Awards consider not just talent but also the emotions the performer, director, choreographer, or playwright inspired in the audience. As suggested by the awards program title, the Heartstrings Awards go to the most meaningful performances and creative efforts.
The awards are presented in 19 categories for 2022, with categories honoring, acting, directing, and choreography, along with several specialty awards.
A full listing of the awards and details about each winner are available HERE!
The Heartstrings Awards are presented by The Life and Times of Rikki Lee Travolta (www.LifeandTimes.biz), a premier source of theater and entertainment reviews. The website offers musings on a variety of subjects in the entertainment industry and has gained a national following; in the Chicago area the website is a favorite of theatre enthusiasts.
"The Heartstrings Awards celebrate positive energy in the theatrical community," explains Travolta. "I am a firm believer that every person who shares their talents with the world should be applauded, and I wish we could give an award to every single person. This is a celebration of how wonderful the Chicago area theatre community is as a whole."
Travolta originally came to Chicago as the first special guest star in Tony n' Tina's Wedding - reviving ticket sales in the Chicago production and then branching out to boost ticket sales in productions across the country. Other notable stage roles include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Camelot, West Side Story, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He is also an award-winning screenwriter, an Amazon Top Ten recommended author, and the producer of a television series on PBS. Travolta continues to occasionally make select, critically acclaimed appearances in film, television, and stage projects.
"I've played some parts. I've sung some songs. I've written a few words. And although I've won some awards, the real reason I do it is because it's fun," summarizes Travolta.
Winners of the 2022 Heartstrings Awards include:
Most Meaningful Production of a Musical
It Came from Outer Space - Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Most Meaningful Production of a Play
The Roommate - iambe theatre
Most Meaningful Touring Production
SIX: the Musical - Broadway in Chicago
Most Meaningful Direction of a Musical
Scott Weinstein - A Christmas Story, the Musical - Marriott Theatre
Most Meaningful Direction of a Play
Regina Belt-Daniels - I Hate Hamlet - Elgin Theatre Company
Most Meaningful Choreography
Alex Sanchez - West Side Story - Marriott Theatre
Most Meaningful Performance in a Female Leading Role in a Musical
Addie Morales - Maria - The Sound of Music - Marriott Theatre
Most Meaningful Performance in a Male Leading Role in a Musical
Joel Bennett - Officer Lockstock - Urinetown: The Musical - Theatre 121
Most Meaningful Performance in a Female Leading Role in a Play
Sarah Sapperstein - Maggie - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - MadKap Productions
Most Meaningful Performance in a Male Leading Role in a Play
Jamie Ewing - George - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - Elsinore Players
Most Meaningful Performance in a Female Supporting Role in a Musical
Lucy Godinez - Maureen - RENT - Porchlight Music Theatre
Most Meaningful Performance in a Male Supporting Role in a Musical
Alex Goodrich - Sheriff Matt Warren / George / Prakaxias - It Came from Outer Space - Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Most Meaningful Performance in a Female Supporting Role in a Play
Trace Gamache - Deirdre - I Hate Hamlet - Elgin Theatre Company
Most Meaningful Performance in a Male Supporting Role in a Play
Herb Metzler - Richard Burbage - The Book of Will - Theatre at Edge of the Wood
Most Meaningful Performance by a Young Person in a Female Role
Lea Biwer - Susan Waverly - White Christmas - Music Theater Works
Most Meaningful Performance by a Young Person in a Male Role
Elin Joy Seiler - Grover Dill - A Christmas Story, the Musical - Marriott Theatre
Most Meaningful Independent Production
The Princess Strikes Back: One Woman's Search for the Space Cowboy of her Dreams - Victoria Montalbano (writer/performer)
Most Meaningful Alternative Production
The Buttcracker: A Nutcracker Burlesque - Jaq Seifert (creator)
Most Meaningful New Work
A Christmas Carol (female version) - Jeff Cook (playwright)
There are two special awards going to the late Frank Roberts who served as Artistic Director of Music on Stage and the late Arla Faye Sarley Franchi who served as the Artistic Director of North Shore Dance Center (now known as North Shore Dance & Theatre). The awards honor their contributions to the Chicago performing arts community.
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