Nominations Now Being Accepted For 2011 BWW Chicago Awards!

Nominations are now being accepted for the second annual BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards! Click here to submit the names of the artists, shows and theaters that you feel should be nominated for this year's awards, the Chicago area's only comprehensive fan awards for local and touring theatrical productions.

You can submit entries until October 31, 2011 after which the entry process will end. The final slate of nominees will be announced shortly thereafter, with online voting to take place November through mid-December.

Winners will be announced before Christmas, and a celebration will take place before New Year's, on Wednesday evening, December 28, 2011 at The Call nightclub, 1547 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood.

Mark your calendars now. Last year's awards celebration at The Call was a warm and special event--you won't want to miss this year's version!

Eligibility is for productions which opened (or will open) between September 1, 2010 and October 31, 2011. (Please note that this is a 14-month eligibility window.) Competition is likely to be fierce!

Nominations and awards are in the same 25 categories as in 2010. As a reminder, here is a complete list of the 2010 winners. Will the same artists and theaters be nominated for their work this year? They might be, if you submit their names now!

Click here to enter nominations for the 2011 BWW Chicago Awards!

Here is the list of last year's winners. Congratulations again to everyone!

Best Touring Production

• BILLY ELLIOT, Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre

Best Actress in a Touring Production

• Moya Angela, DREAMGIRLS, Cadillac Palace Theatre

Best Actor in a Touring Production

• Chester Gregory, DREAMGIRLS, Cadillac Palace Theatre

Best Special Theatrical Event

• AN EVENING WITH Patti LuPone AND Mandy Patinkin, Cadillac Palace Theatre

Best New Work/New Adaptation (Resident)

• Amanda Murphy and Jamie Campbell, FOUR PLAY, Studio BE

Best Revival of a Musical (Resident Equity)

• JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, Theatre at the Center

Best Revival of a Musical (Resident Non-Equity)

• CHESS, Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre

Best Revival of a Play (Resident Equity)

• A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, Writers' Theatre

Best Revival of a Play (Resident Non-Equity)

• THE PHILADELPHIA STORY, Circle Theatre

Best Revue (Resident)

• THE ABSOLUTE BEST FRIGGIN' TIME OF YOUR LIFE, The Second City e.t.c.

Best Actress in a Musical or Revue (Resident Equity)

• Cory Goodrich, RAGTIME, Drury Lane Theatre

Best Actor a Musical or Revue (Resident Equity)

• Max Quinlan, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, Theatre at the Center

Best Actress in a Musical or Revue (Resident Non-Equity)

• Heather Bodie, FOUR PLAY, Studio BE

Best Actor in a Musical or Revue (Resident Non-Equity)

• Jeremy Trager, CHESS, Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre

Best Actress in a Play (Resident Equity)

• Natasha Lowe, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, Writers' Theatre

Best Actor in a Play (Resident Equity)

• Brian Dennehy, HUGHIE/KRAPP'S LAST TAPE, Goodman Theatre

Best Actress in a Play (Resident Non-Equity))

Paul W. Thompson, a contributor to BroadwayWorld.com since 2007, is a Chicago-based singer, actor, musical director, pianist, vocal coach, composer and commentator. His career as a performer, teacher and writer is centered at Paul W. Thompson Music, located in Chicago’s historic Fine Arts Building, where he teaches the great songs of Broadway to the next generation of musical theater performers. A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Paul was raised in a family of professional musicians and teachers, steeped in classical, gospel, country, pop, sacred and show music. Dubbed a “thin, winsome lad” at the age of 13 by a critic for the Nashville Banner, he earned two degrees in musical theater (a B.F.A. with Honors from Baylor University and an M.M. from the University of Miami, Florida), plus an M.B.A. with Distinction from DePaul University. Paul’s memberships include Actors’ Equity Association, the American Guild of Musical Artists, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (proud voter for the Grammy Awards!), the National Association of Teachers of Singing and New York’s Drama League. Moving easily between the worlds of classical music, religious music, classic pop and musical theater, Paul has appeared onstage or in the orchestra pit in concerts, musicals, operettas and operas in 30 states and in Europe, in a career spanning more than 35 years. His Chicagoland stage credits include “Forever Plaid” at the Royal George Theater and twenty mainstage productions at Light Opera Works. Paul joined the Chicago Symphony Chorus in 1995 (he was Tenor I Section Leader for four years and sings on two Grammy-winning recordings), and is one of Chicago’s foremost liturgical singers, marking 20 years as a member of the choir at St. James Cathedral (Episcopal) in 2011.He has composed and arranged a number of anthems, hymns and songs for worship and concert use, and collaborates on the creation of new works of musical theater. Paul can be found on Monday nights watching showtune videos at the world-famous Sidetrack nightclub, the inspiration for his weekly column, “The Showtune Mosh Pit.” His proudest achievement is that he has seen the original Broadway production of every Tony Award-winning Best Musical since “Cats.” No, really. Since “Cats!”

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