Regional Tony Award goes to Chicago Shakespeare Theater
May 13, 2008—The Chicago Shakespeare Theater is the recipient of the 2008 Tony Award for excellence in regional theater, it was announced Tuesday morning in New York.
Chicago Shakespeare is the fourth Chicago theater to win the regional-theater Tony. And it does so in the midst of a season of unprecedented acclaim for the Chicago theater in New York. Also on Tuesday, the Broadway production of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company's "August: Osage County" won a slew of Tony nominations.
Steppenwolf Theatre itself won the so-called regional Tony in 1985. The Goodman Theatre won in 1992. And Victory Gardens Theater won in 2001. But no other American city has won four regional-theater Tonys, an honor given only to those outside New York.
The award is the cap on an extraordinary rise to national prominence by a theater that has always prized its off-Loop roots—and putting both the Chicago actor and local audiences front and center. Throughout its history, Chicago Shakespeare has emphasized accessibility, clarity and storytelling. "I don't think Shakespeare set out to teach us anything," artistic director Barbara Gaines said in a 2002 Tribune interview. "He just wanted to tell a great story."
The story of Chicago Shakespeare Theater has its roots in Gaines' Shakespeare workshops at the old Organic Theater space on Clark Street in the early 1980s.
By 1985, Gaines and her actors were performing a selection of scenes called "To Shakespeare With Love" at the Second City's e.t.c. space in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.
But the formal beginning of Chicago Shakespeare was in the summer of 1986 on the roof of the Red Lion Pub, 2446 N. Lincoln Ave. The first show, Gaines' $3,000 production of "Henry V" was an Actors' Equity showcase production for which no one got paid. Such Chicago actors as Robert Scoggin, Ernest Perry, Jr. and Bernie Landis were all in the pub that day.
In 1987, Gaines moved her fledgling company to the Ruth Page Theater and renamed the troupe the Chicago Shakespeare Repertory Company. The first production was "Troilus and Cressida." And from there, Chicago Shakespeare began a period of steady growth.
The next major turning point was in 1997, when it was announced that Shakespeare Repertory would take up residence on a redesigned Navy Pier. Two years later, the new Chicago Shakespeare Theater opened up in an enviable facility on Navy Pier with a lavish production of "Anthony and Cleopatra," starring Lisa Dodson and Kevin Gudahl.
Since then, Chicago Shakespeare has expanded its repertoire. It has produced several musicals, including a prominent revival of Stephen Sondheim's "Pacific Overtures," directed by associate artistic director Gary Griffin. It has added extensive offerings aimed at young persons. And during the summer season on the pier, it takes advantage of the crowds of strolling visitors by offering accessible programming with short running times.
And perhaps most notable of all, Chicago Shakespeare's World Stage season brings to Chicago major international artists whom the city otherwise would not see. The theater is supported by a broad range of funders and corporations.
The award, which is given to a non-profit institution as distinct from an individual production, is the result of an annual recommendation by the American Theatre Critics Association to the American Theatre Wing and the League of American Theaters and Producers, which collectively runs the Tony Awards. (This reporter has an administrative involvement in the award).
Executive director Criss Henderson, known as an ambitious manager, has made public his desire for an additional proscenium theater on Navy Pier. The regional theater Tony only bolsters his case for the further expansion of a remarkable Chicago institution.
See photos of the Theater's leadership at the Tony Awards Ceremony
