On Eve of Broadway Bow, August: Osage County Reaps Six Jeff Awards

By Kenneth Jones
October 30, 2007

The day before its Broadway previews were scheduled to begin, the Steppenwolf Theatre Company production of Tracy Letts' August: Osage County won six Joseph Jefferson Awards for its world-premiere run in Chicago.

The Jeffs are the highest honor in Chicago Equity theatre. The awards were handed out at a gala on Oct. 29 in the Windy City.

Steppenwolf Theatre led all play recipients at the 2007 Jeffs with six awards for the sardonic epic of a dysfunctional family in Oklahoma. The staging played this past summer at Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theatre.

Awards to Steppenwolf's August included Production-Play, Ensemble, Principal Actress Deanna Dunagan, Director Anna D. Shapiro, Scenic Designer Todd Rosenthal and New Work-Play for playwright Tracy Letts.

Previews at Broadway's Imperial begin Oct. 30 toward a Nov. 20 opening. All but two of the original Steppenwolf cast members will be seen in the Broadway engagement, which will run 16 weeks.