October 1, 2007 - Chicago, IL. Jackie Taylor, Executive Artistic Director of the 31-year-old Black Ensemble Theater (BET) will receive a Special Award at the 39th Annual Jeff Awards Ceremony on
October 29, 2007.
Jackie Taylor founded BET in 1976 with a $1200 loan and free legal work from Lawyers for the Creative Arts and has built it into a $1.6 million-dollar cultural organization earning national recognition. Ms. Taylor has also been involved in writing, directing, choreographing, or managing over 100 musicals and plays. She has previously received a Jeff Award for Director of a Revue for her 1996 production of “Great Women in Gospel”, which represents one of BET’s 28 Jeff Nominations. BET recently embarked on a new capital campaign, and will break ground in 2008 at its new facility at 4440 N. Clark Street. Ms. Taylor’s works celebrate the contributions of African-Americans in a highly educational and uplifting manner. Despite her busy schedule, she always volunteers for the arts, is President of the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago, and past Vice President of the Chicago League of Theatres.
Ms. Taylor was raised in the Cabrini Green Housing Projects, received her BA from Loyola University under the tutoring of Dennis Zacek, and attended graduate school at Roosevelt University. She has taught in the Chicago Public Schools for almost 30 years. Her professional career began with Free Street Theater in 1973 and she worked with Goodman Theatre and Victory Gardens for many years. Her film career began with "Cooley High" in 1976, and she has worked with such stars as Sidney Poitier, Vanessa Williams, Bill Duke and Laurence Fishburne. Her most recent film was "Barber Shop II" with Ice Cube. She has two daughters, Tynea (32) and adopted daughter Lexus (12).
The 39th Annual Jeff Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, October 29, at The North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, 9501 Skokie Boulevard. A pre-show Appetizer Buffet and Martini Bar runs from 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m., and the Awards Ceremony begins at 7:30 p.m. Advance purchase tickets, which include the ceremony and the pre-show buffet, are $65 ($50 for members of Actors' Equity Association, United Scenic Artists, Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and the Dramatists Guild of America). The evening is black-tie optional, and the public is cordially invited to attend. To purchase tickets, visit the Jeff Awards Committee's website at www.jeffawards.org.
The Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee previously announced 119 nominations in 30 categories for Chicago Equity theatrical productions which opened between August 1, 2006 and July 31, 2007. The Jeff Awards Committee sent judges to the opening nights of 123 Equity productions
offered by 49 producing organizations. From these openings, 93 were "Jeff recommended," which made them eligible for Jeff Award nominations. A complete list can be found at www.jeffawards.org.
The Jeff Awards are given annually by The Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee to honor excellence in professional theatre produced in the immediate Chicago area. The committee, organized in 1968, consists of up to 45 men and women with varying backgrounds in theatre, united by an active interest and concern for the advancement of Chicago theatre. Jeff members come to the committee with an academic background in theatre, significant professional experience, a history of theatre involvement, and/or years of consistent theatre attendance in Chicago and in other major theatre capitals of the world. The committee evaluates approximately 250 theatrical productions and holds two awards ceremonies annually. Originally chartered to recognize only Equity productions, the committee established the Citations (non-Equity) wing in 1973 to celebrate outstanding achievement in non-union Chicago theatre. The next Citations awards ceremony will be held on Monday, June 9, 2008, at the Park West in Chicago.
© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc.
published by Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc.
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