Court Theatre Holds Court at the Jeffs

By Justin Sondak in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 7, 2006 2:15PM

At last night’s Joseph Jefferson Awards gala, the Jeff Committee made a rather forceful argument for North Side theater fans to drag their cultured butts to the South Side. Hyde Park’s Court Theater dominated the proceedings, netting 10 total Jeffs for their highly acclaimed interpretations of Fences, August Wilson’s seminal play, and Man of La Mancha, Dale Wasserman, Joe Darion and Mitch Leigh’s popular musical. The Quixotic musical racked up more awards than better-advertised contenders like Drury Lane’s Grand Hotel (2 awards), Marriott Theatre’s Oliver! (bupkus), and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (big fat goose egg).

Northlight Theatre, collaborating with the Geva Theatre Center, produced the big winner among musical revues — A Marvelous Party: The Noël Coward Celebration. The Goodman had a pretty exciting night as well, as their long-time creative duo of Robert Falls and Roche Schulfer received a Special Award and Ella Joyce’s scene-chewing performance in Crumbs From the Table of Joy was also recognized.

The full list of awards is at the Jeff Awards website.

"Raisin" image by Michael Brosilow, Court Theatre