41st Jeff Awards recap

As if to prove that anything can go wrong in live theater, nearly everything did at Monday night's 41st annual Joseph Jefferson Awards ceremony. (See the full list of winners.) Starting with an over-descended curtain in the opening number by the cast of Million Dollar Quartet that briefly cut off the drummer and bass player from the rest of the band, the show was marked by a remarkable number of flubs. Most of the evening's presenters seemed unrehearsed, leading to bungled sequencing with the PowerPoint projection of nominees' and winners' names and to a number of awkward moments waiting for winners who weren't there. (I counted at least ten no-shows, about a quarter of the total, including Blackbird's William L. Petersen, Miss Saigon's Joseph Anthony Foronda and The History Boys' designer Brian Sidney Bembridge; also, not a single representative of Steppenwolf was present to accept its best production—large trophy for The Seafarer.) Hosts Elizabeth Ledo and Rob Lindley, too, seemed to be ad-libbing their shtick all evening. They'd have done well to take a cue from 50th-anniversary honorees Second City: Improv in rehearsal, then set the script.

Despite the clusterfuckedness of it all (can we give director Michael Weber a special Jeff for apparently not doing much?), there were still plenty of good lines and nice moments. A Minister's Wife lyricist Jan Tranen, accepting the new work—musical prize for herself and absent composer Joshua Schmidt, book writer Austin Pendleton and director Michael Halberstam, said, "I'm really sad that Josh and Austin and Michael aren't here, but it's the first time in three years I've gotten a word in edgewise."

Both winners for supporting roles in plays gave emotional speeches. History Boys' Alex Weisman said his show "has completely changed my life." Weisman closed a six-month run on Sunday, not long after beginning his senior year at Northwestern. "Thank you to all my professors at Northwestern…everyone who ever went to Northwestern," he said. Former Chicagoan Spencer Kayden, a Neo-Futurist alum and a Tony nominee for her role in Urinetown, got choked up accepting her award for Don't Dress for Dinner. "I've been living in Los Angeles for the last five years, and not working very much," she said, adding that the opportunity to return here came as a great reminder that we all have value even when we're not given the opportunity to show it.

Longtime Chicago theater critic Richard Christiansen gave a tribute to the importance of Second City in the growth of Chicago's theater scene, noting that theater in Chicago consisted largely of Broadway tours until SC proved the viability of the homegrown. "On December 16, 1959, there was a light in the wilderness," said Christiansen. "It was not an import. It was indigenous."

It was Second City e.t.c. that got Jeff's attention, though, with its newest revue, Studs Terkel's Not Working, taking home three awards while its big brother went home empty-handed aside from the special award accepted by CEO Andrew Alexander. A rendition of Not Working's opening number was one of the two performance highlights of the evening; the other was E. Faye Butler's absolute killing of "Lot's Wife" from Caroline, or Change, which tied Ruined with four Jeffs.

Goodman associate artistic director Steve Scott, accepting the best production—large prize for Ruined (it was a tie with Steppenwolf), said, "I'm the one from Ruined who did show up"—playwright Lynn Nottage, actor Saidah Arrika Ekulona and composer Dominic Kanza were among the no-shows—while TimeLine artistic director PJ Powers, accepting production—midsize for The History Boys—that show's fifth award of the night—happily pointed out that this was TimeLine's first season of eligibility in the Equity wing. "In a lot of ways, this feels like the quintessential Chicago theater story," he said.