Recognizing extraordinary careers and impact on Chicago theater, the Joseph Jefferson Awards will honor Charles Newell and Roche Schulfer at the 56th Anniversary Equity Awards ceremony Monday, September 30th at Drury Lane Theatre with this year’s Special Awards. Both have been arts leaders for many decades with influence that has extended beyond Chicago to the national stage including Tony Awards for their respective theaters.
Charles Newell has been part of Court Theatre for more than three decades as a director, the Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director (1994 - 2024) and now Senior Artistic Consultant. At the Chicago theater he has directed over 60 productions including his Chicago directorial debut in The Triumph of Love, which won the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Production. Under his artistic leadership, he has played a vital role in the theater becoming a nationally recognized, Tony award winning, cultural institution.
A recognized collaborator and mentor, Newell has reimagined musicals and commissioned new works and new adaptations, as well as making the theater a hub where groundbreaking artists could challenge audiences with their radical interpretations of classics. Playwright Nambi E. Kelley's Stokely: The Unfinished Revolution is nominated for a Jeff Award for New Work this year. The organization attracted acclaim from the Wall Street Journal as the most consistently excellent theater company in America. Then in 2022, he and Executive Director Angel Ysaguirre accepted the Regional Theatre Tony Award on behalf of Court staff and artists. With the University of Chicago's Office of Civic Engagement, he also co-founded the Civic Actor Studio as a program to create space for southside community members to practice the embodiment of civic leadership.
Newell has a long list of local, regional and national directing credits and collaborations at Court, Goodman Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Arena Stage, Getty Villa, John Houseman's The Acting Company, the California and Alabama Shakespeare Festivals, Long Wharf Theatre, Juilliard, and New York University. His directing credits extend to opera including Regina (Lyric Opera), Rigoletto (Opera Theatre of St. Louis), Don Giovanni and The Jewel Box (Chicago Opera Theater), and Carousel (Glimmerglass Festival).
His industry honors include the Theatre Communications Group's (TCG) Alan Schneider Director Award, the League of Chicago Theatres' Artistic Achievement Award, and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation's Zelda Fichandler Award for an outstanding director or choreographer who is transforming the regional arts landscape through singular creativity and artistry in theatre. Additionally, Newell has four Jeff Awards (17 nominations). He has served on the Board of TCG, as well as on several panels for the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2025, he will return to the Court's stage to direct the world premiere of Berlin, adapted by Mickle Maher and based on the graphic novel by Jason Lutes.
Roche Schulfer began his career at the Goodman Theatre in the box office and went on to management positions and became the executive director in 1980 retiring in 2024. During that time, he has overseen more than 400 productions with nearly 200 premieres, including initiating their production of A Christmas Carol that has become Chicago's leading holiday arts tradition for over 40 years.
In partnership with Artistic Director Robert Falls, Schulfer led the establishment of quality, diversity and community engagement as the core values of Goodman Theatre. During his tenure, the Goodman has received numerous awards for excellence, including the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theater, recognition by Time magazine as the "Best Regional Theatre" in the U.S., the Pulitzer Prize for Lynn Nottage's Ruined and many Jeff Awards for outstanding achievement in Chicago area theater. In addition, he negotiated the presentation of numerous Goodman Theatre productions to many national and international venues, as well as a decade long process to relocate the Goodman to the Theatre District in 2000 where his name is part of the theater's "Walk of Stars."
Schulfer was a founder and twice chair of the League of Chicago Theaters trade association, and has served in leadership roles with Arts Alliance Illinois, TCG, the Performing Arts Alliance, the League of Resident Theatres, Lifeline Theatre and the Arts & Business Council. He is the recipient of multiple honors for leadership, artistic vitality, advocacy and generosity from the League of Chicago Theaters, TCG, Actors' Equity Association, the American Arts Alliance and Arts Alliance Illinois, the Arts & Business Council, Chicago magazine, Chicago Tribune, the City of Chicago, Columbia College Chicago, Lawyers for the Creative Arts, Lifeline Theatre, and Season of Concern. Schulfer taught at DePaul University, Southern Methodist and his alma mater Notre Dame, and holds an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from North Central College. He is a sought after speaker about the economics of the performing arts.
The 56th anniversary Equity Jeff Awards will take place September 30, 2024 at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace, IL. The ceremony will be directed by Johanna McKenzie Miller, co-hosted by Lillian Castillo and Kelvin Roston, Jr., along with announcer Janet Ulrich Brooks, and with musical direction by Carolyn Jean Brady.
ABOUT THE JEFF AWARDS
The Jeff Awards is one of the most active and engaged theater awards organizations in the country evaluating hundreds of theatrical productions annually and holding two awards ceremonies highlighting work over the past Equity and Non-Equity seasons. Through our recommendations, awards, and honors we help foster the growth of companies, encourage artists, bring new appreciation for diverse storytelling, and cultivate civic pride in the achievements of the Chicago theater community. Originally chartered in 1968 to recognize Equity productions, the Jeff Awards Non-Equity Wing was established in 1973 to celebrate outstanding achievement in non-union theatre. For more information, visit www.jeffawards.org.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON 56th ANNIVERSARY EQUITY AWARDS NOMINATIONS AND THE PROGRAM
The 56th Anniversary Jeff Awards ceremony recognizes theater excellence over the 2023-24 Equity season and honors the dedicated artists, behind the scenes teams and theater companies.
This year’s nominees include 193 nominees across 34 categories of excellence in theater production among shows from 36 producing entities.The program will be held Monday, September 30th 7:30pm (CST) at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace, IL. The show will be preceded by a red carpet walk featuring award nominees and theater community members beginning at 6:00pm.
The Jeff Awards website lists all the current nominees, along with previous recipients and nominations as well as other Jeff Awards information and news. Visit www.jeffawards.org.
Names of award recipients will be released immediately following the program on September 30th by email and on our website under Equity Awards at www.jeffawards.org.
Media may contact theaters and artists directly for interviews. For quotes or an interview with any Jeff Awards committee member, please call or e-mail Suzanne Ross at 312-953-6987 or suzanne@suzanne-ross.com.