Sullivan's Little Theatre wins theater awards
The cast of Little Theatre on the Square's "La Cage Aux Folles.”
SULLIVAN — The theater world has recognized the Little Theatre On the Square in Sullivan with multiple honors.
On Monday, Executive Director John Stephens was notified the local theater was the recipient of four awards presented by BroadwayWorld, the Chicago Region.
“This is the first time we’ve ever been nominated,” he said.
The awards include Best Musical for “Always Patsy Cline,” Best Director Clint Hromosco for “La Cage Aux Folles,” Best Actor in a Musical for Brittany Ambler in “Always Patsy Cline’’ and Best Neighborhood Theater.
Best Actor in a Musical for Brittany Ambler in “Always Patsy Cline'' at the Little Theatre on the Square.
BroadwayWorld has distributed awards for several years. This year’s nominations had their first performance between Oct. 1, 2021, through Sept. 30, 2022. “The audiences have voted and made their selections for the best theatre and performances,” the theatre agency stated introducing the recipients.
“I’ve seen other theaters get nominated and win awards,” Stephens said. “I’ve just never seen us get nominated.”
Voting ended Dec. 31. Little Theatre was nominated in nine categories. “We’ve just been sitting, waiting to see if we were going to win anything,” Stephens said.
The cast of Sullivan's Little Theatre on the Square performed despite a pandemic
The local theater’s competition included Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, the Paramount Theater in Aurora and other larger, historical theaters. “People voted for us and we won,” Stephens said. “It took 66 years.”
The Best Neighborhood Theater is a favorite award for the executive director. “There’s all these little and big theaters all over the place, hundreds of them,” Stephens said. “And we won.”
The awards will provide various opportunities for the directors and actors. “Because we’re in a town with 4,400 people means nothing about the quality of performances that we do,” Stephens said. “Having all the money that the big theaters have doesn’t mean anything. It’s all about the support that you’re getting from your community. And we are just as good if not better than some of these other theaters.”
Stephens didn’t know how BroadwayWorld learned about the Sullivan theater. “Anybody can nominate people,” he said. “But they are a little vague telling us how it all works together.”
In the meantime, Little Theatre continues to prepare for the 2023 season. Season ticket sales are on sale. Beginning Feb. 15, individual tickets will be available for “Jersey Boys,” “The Great American Trailer Park Musical,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Escape to Margaritaville,” “Million Dollar Quartet” and “Church Basement Ladies Two.”
Contact Donnette Beckett at (217) 421-6983. Follow her on Twitter: @donnettebHR
