BroadwayWorld Chicago Announces New Theater Awards!

BroadwayWorld, the biggest theater site on the web, is announcing that it is launching a new set of theater awards for the Chicago theater community, to be presented in December 2010.

The awards will recognize excellence, as voted by the fans of Chicagoland theater, and will encompass all of the various forms and sizes of theater in the area, from tours to resident productions, large to small, Equity to Non-Equity, play, musical and revue. And BroadwayWorld's Chicago-based team will be directly involved in the administration of the awards process.

Awards will be given in 25 categories, and nominations are being solicited now for productions which opened in the Chicago area from September 1, 2009 to August 31, 2010.

Nominations will close on October 15, 2010, and the slate of nominations will be announced in late October.  Online voting by fans will occur November 1-30, 2010, and the winners will be announced in mid-December.

Here are the award categories:

Best Touring Production
Best Actress in a Touring Production
Best Actor in a Touring Production
Best Special Theatrical Event
Best New Work/New Adaptation (Resident)
Best Revival of a Musical (Resident Equity)
Best Revival of a Musical (Resident Non-Equity)
Best Revival of a Play (Resident Equity)
Best Revival of a Play (Resident Non-Equity)
Best Revue (Resident)
Best Actress in a Musical or Revue (Resident Equity)
Best Actor in a Musical or Revue (Resident Equity)
Best Actress in a Musical or Revue (Resident Non-Equity)
Best Actor in a Musical or Revue (Resident Non-Equity)
Best Actress in a Play (Resident Equity)
Best Actor in a Play (Resident Equity)
Best Actress in a Play (Resident Non-Equity)
Best Actor in a Play (Resident Non-Equity)
Best Ensemble (Resident)
Best Choreography (Resident Equity)
Best Choreography (Resident Non-Equity)
Best Scenic Design (Resident Equity)
Best Scenic Design (Resident Non-Equity)
Best Costume Design (Resident Equity)
Best Costume Design (Resident Non-Equity)

"I couldn't be more excited," said Editor-in-Chief Robert Diamond, "to bring to Chicago our extremely popular Theatre Fans' Choice Awards. We've had more than 1 million votes cast since the awards launched in New York, and after announcing these awards two months ago in the UK they have garnered a lot of interest there!"

Diamond continued, "I can't wait to continue our expansion of these awards to the Chicago theater community. Best of luck to all involved in this recognition of excellence by the fans of Chicago!"

Theatre aficionados, producers, performers and venues can all have their say in the nominations via a link on broadwayworld.com, which will close October 15. Then, the top five nominations in each category will be opened to a public vote during November, with the winners being announced in mid-December.

To nominate your favorite productions and theater artists, click this link:

Chicago Theater Fans' Choice Awards

And may your fan favorites win!