Non-Equity Jeff Awards Present Special Jeff Award to Theater on the Lake Tonight, 6/4

At the Non-Equity Jeff Awards Ceremony tonight, June 4, 2012, a Special Jeff Award will be presented to the Theater on the Lake of the Chicago Park District in honor of the theater's 60th anniversary in June 2012 and in recognition of its long contribution to the vitality of the city's theatre scene.

Since its debut, the Theater on the Lake has promoted live theatre by showcasing a diverse body of productions by local performing arts organizations, generally non-equity. In a beautiful location in Lincoln Park on The Edge of Lake Michigan, Theater on the Lake annually offers a summer season, with low-ticket prices, made up of some of the most exciting small productions from the previous year. As a result, Theater on the Lake has often brought new audiences to theatre and introduced existing theatre lovers to a wider range of performing arts companies.
 
The Special Award will be presented tonight, June 4 as part of the 39th Annual Non-Equity Jeff Awards Ceremony celebrating excellence in Chicago-area non-equity theatre. The ceremony will be held at Park West, opening with a cash bar at 6 p.m. The awards presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m.
 
Over the years, the Theater on the Lake has evolved from a showcase of amateur theatre to a diverse sampling of work by a wide range of the city's outstanding professional theatre companies. This year, new co-curators Michael Patrick Thornton (artistic director of The Gift Theatre Company) and Meghan Beals McCarthy (associate artistic director of Chicago Dramatists) selected eight recent productions from around the city. Each will perform for one week. Additional programming, including live music and story-telling, will be announced later. More information can be found at www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks/theater-on-the-lake.
 
The 39^th Annual Non-Equity Jeff Awards Ceremony will be held on Monday, June 4, 2012, at the Park West, 322 W. Armitage, Chicago, IL. Doors open for a cash bar at 6:00 p.m., with a light buffet at 6:30 p.m., and the presentation ceremony at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $40 in advance, $45 at the door. A group rate of $35 is available for parties of 10 or more. Festive cocktail attire is suggested, and the public is cordially invited. Tickets may be purchased online with a credit card at www.jeffawards.org or by mail with the downloadable mail-order form. For more information contact Doug Bradburd, Non-Equity Wing Chair, at nonequitywing@jeffawards.org. Follow live twitter feeds from the ceremony and behind the scenes at @josephjefferson.