On the scene: 2010 Equity Jeff Awards

Hot on the heels of four brides and brothers (hawking the current Drury Lane show), Jeff Awards cohost Felicia P. Fields displayed the cover of a recent issue of The Dramatist magazine, which read: “Chicago. That’s right: Chicago. Now shut up.” It was an appropriate kickoff to a fast-paced and feisty ceremony celebrating a theater community that’s earned the right to preen. The obligatory jibes at New York this time around seemed less defensive, the claims to have banished second city status almost plausible.

Astute listeners might have wondered, as Kristoffer Diaz took the stage for the night’s initial award to the strains of “The Winner Takes It All,” just how much the pit band was tipping Jeff’s hand. Diaz and his play The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity did in fact take pretty much all it could: best director for Eddie Torres, best actor in a lead role for Desmin Borges, best large production, best fight choreography for David Woolley (who would have easily taken best hair were he up for it). “You know you’ve given out three awards to Puerto Ricans tonight?” asked an effusive Borges, who also requested that the band lay down a hip-hop or salsa tune when his speech inevitably ran over.

Even Borges, though, exceeded the tight reins on acceptance speeches by no more than a minute or so. The well-oiled proceedings left little room for colorful outrage: No one dropped to the floor for one-handed push-ups or rushed the stage Kanye-style to suggest a more deserving nominee. Still, the night allowed enough surprises to warrant a few additional awards:

Best outfit: Alison Siple, picking up a costuming award for Irma Vep, in a layer-cake ensemble and a big studded belt, with a tiny black hat perched at an angle. (Runner-up: Michael Patrick Thornton, for most stylish top hat.)

Most succinct: Natalie West, winning best supporting actress for Abigail’s Party, simply acknowledged director Shade Murray and A Red Orchid Theatre.

Oddest category: Every time a revue award came up, the Borgesian (as in Jorge Luis, not Desmin) aspect of a category made up of a Second City show, a Noël Coward showcase, and Low Down Dirty Blues was unmistakable; it drove Rob Lindley, winning for Oh Coward!, to wax Conan O’Brien-style on his extreme whiteness.

Speaking of whiteness: Curiously, only one cast member from Steppenwolf’s The Brother/Sister Plays was on hand to accept the Best Ensemble award. Even more curiously, that cast member was Jeff Parker (aka The White Guy).

Best inside-ish joke: Sound designer Ray Nardelli, stepping up for his second award of the night for Hephaestus:  “I feel like Marc Robin.”

Loudest cheering section: Drury Lane shows had a home court advantage, and the reax for anything involving Ragtime or (yikes) Thoroughly Modern Millie were fairly deafening. But no one matched the intensity of Chad Deity’s corner. Quipped PJ Powers, as he and Nick Bowling accepted the best midsize production for The Farnsworth Invention immediately after Deity won for large: “I feel outnumbered—and those guys wrestle!”