By Kim Piekos
Entering its 23rd season, Lake Forest’s Citadel Theatre has plenty to celebrate. Two of its shows from last season, Silent Sky and She Loves Me, have been nominated for the Jeff Awards, and two of the four of this new season’s shows are premieres.
“We’re excited to be honored by the Jeff Awards,” said Citadel’s Artistic Director Scott Phelps. “Add those accolades to the opportunity to stage two shows essentially straight from Broadway, and we’re on cloud nine.”
Joel Ottenheimer and Shannon Bachelder. prepare for The Cottage for Citadel Theatre.
Established in 1968, the Jeff Awards have been honoring outstanding Chicago-based theatre annually through its recommendations, awards, and honors. Silent Sky, a historical piece about American astronomer Henrietta Leavitt and her remarkable ability to discern distance from the stars despite being prohibited from using a telescope, is up for Outstanding Production of a Play in a mid-sized theatre. She Loves Me, an adaptation of the 1940 film The Shop Around the Corner, is nominated for Outstanding Production of a Musical.
“We’re thrilled to be performing a number from She Loves Me at the awards ceremony this year,” Phelps acknowledged. “We’re up against a lot of heavy hitters.”
Phelps chose shows this season with levity in mind.
“With all that is going on in the world right now, we could all use shows that make us laugh, that draw us together and remind us that life is good,” he said.
The season kicked off Sept. 14 with a British romantic comedy, The Cottage, written by New Trier High School graduate Sandy Rustin, who has been recognized by American Theatre magazine as one of the “most produced playwrights” in recent years.
The second comedy premiere in the spring comes to Citadel straight from actor Jeff Daniels’ Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea, Mich. A Jukebox for the Algonquin, written by Chicago-based Paul Stroili, follows the escapades of former Brooklyn and Bronx residents as they attempt to find a way to bring a highly desired jukebox to their retirement home.
Famed musical Dames at Sea appears at Citadel Nov. 15 through Dec. 15. Phelps recalled a Lake Forest connection to this show.
“Bernadette Peters made her Broadway debut in this musical in the 1960s, and that tour included a stop at the 650-seat Drake Theatre at Barat College,” he said. “It’s a fun one.”
Phelps believes the theatre’s third show, I and You, will be balm to the nation’s current ideological chasm.
“This is a show that reminds us we are ultimately all the same,” he says.
Written by prolific playwright Lauren Gunderson, the play is directed by Golden Apple-winner Scott Shallenbarger, the former longtime Director of Theatre Arts at Highland Park High School.
Phelps believes, though Covid-19 left many accustomed to streaming television shows and movies in their living rooms, there is great value in seeing live theatre.
“It’s different being in a room with other people watching something live,” he explained. “Live theatre performances are changing every night as the actors’ performances relate to the response they are getting from the audience. It’s a communal, energizing experience that I encourage people to seek out.”
Citadel Theatre’s shows are held Thursday through Saturday evenings along with a Sunday matinee. Season subscription or individual show tickets can be purchased at www.citadeltheatre.org.
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