PIAZZA, REEFER MADNESS, SUNDAY and ICEMAN: 81 Shows in All Nominated for the 2012 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards!

Today, BroadwayWorld.com  is proud to announce the slate of nominees for the third annual BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards, the only fan-voted theater awards in the Chicagoland area! Expanded to thirty categories this year, the BCAs (or "Broadies")  honor Chicago's Theater Productions and artists in both Equity and Non-Equity categories, including plays, musicals, revues, Theater for Young Audiences, touring shows and special theatrical events. Productions which opened between November 1, 2011 and October 31, 2012 were eligible for nomination.

The BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards are the oldest and most popular of the several dozen regional BroadwayWorld Award competitions now being held in the U.S. And you can join the fun by voting for your favorites, and encouraging your friends to vote as the vote totals pile up!

Click HERE to vote for the 2012 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards!

Voting opens today, and runs through December 15, 2012. And get ready for the BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards Celebration at The Call nightclub, at 9:00 pm on January 9, 2013! Andersonville's Showtune Night is every Wednesday night at The Call, 1547 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue, and those 21 and over can celebrate with friends, castmates and fellow theater fans as the Broadie Award winners receive their certificates. All nominees will wear yellow ribbons, and showtune-themed cocktails will be available. It's free to attend, so put it into your calendars now!

This year's slate of nominees is a full 150 nominations, five in each category. And here's the rundown on the nominees:

Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre's production of "The Light In The Piazza" is receiving the highest number of nominations for any production this year, with six nods in the Resident Non-Equity categories: Best Revival of a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical or Revue (both Kelli Harrington and Rachel Klippel are being so honored), Best Musical Direction (Jeremy Ramey), Best Costume Design (Bill Morey) and Best Lighting Design (Michael M. Nardulli).

Another Non-Equity production is on the nominations list five times:  "Reefer Madness" from Circle Theatre, with nods for Best Revival of a Musical, Best Choreography (Brigitte Ditmars), Best Scenic Design (Peter O'Neill) and Best Costume Design (John Nasca), as well as for Best Ensemble (a highly coveted award, which pits Resident Equity and Non-Equity productions against one another).

Two Resident Equity productions are receiving five nominations apiece, "Sunday In The Park With George" at Chicago Shakespeare at Navy Pier and "The Iceman Cometh" at the Goodman Theatre. "Sunday"  is up for Best Revival of a Musical, Best Musical Direction (Brad Haak) and Best Costume Design (Mara Blumenfeld), and sees leading performer nods for both Jason Danieley and Carmen Cusack as Best Actor and Best Actress in a Musical or Revue. The nominations for "Iceman" are for Best Revival of a Play, Best Ensemble (Resident), Best Scenic Design (Kevin Depinet) and Best Lighting Design (Natasha Katz), as well as a Best Actor nod for co-star Brian Dennehy.

Three musical productions are receiving four Broadway World Chicago Award nominations today, "Floyd Collins" by the Bohemian Theatre Ensemble, "Man of La Mancha" from Light Opera Works and the new musical "Eastland" at Lookingglass Theatre. And a whopping twelve different productions are receiving three nominations apiece, including the musicals "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" (Bailiwick Chicago), "I Love Lucy Live On Stage" (Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place), "Memphis" (Cadillac Palace Theatre), "Harold And The Purple Crayon" (Chicago Children's Theatre), "Hairspray" (Drury Lane Theatre), "Spring Awakening" (Griffin Theatre Company), the new "Sexy Baby" (Hell In A Handbag Productions), "Little Shop Of Horrors" (Theatre At The Center) and "A Little Night Music" (Writers' Theatre). Plays receiving three nominations apiece include "The Rainmaker" (Bohemian Theatre Ensemble), the new work "To Tree" (Brown Paper Box Co.) and "33 Variations" (TimeLine Theatre Company).

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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