The Muny, the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival and The Midnight Company, with nine, eight and six awards, respectively, led the way at the 2022 St. Louis Theater Circle Awards, which were held in a virtual, streaming ceremony on HEC Media on Monday, March 28, 2022.

The Muny’s 2021 production of “Chicago,” which returns to open its 2022 season, took top honors for an individual show with seven awards. Denis Jones, director and choreographer of “Chicago,” and Joe Hanrahan, artistic director of The Midnight Company, each was honored with two individual awards to lead all honorees.

Nominees in more than 30 categories vied for honors covering comedies, dramas, musicals and operas produced by local professional theater and opera companies in the combined calendar years of 2020 and 2021.

Because the coronavirus pandemic brought about the cancellation of so many productions by nearly all local professional theater companies, approximately 75 productions were considered for nominations for the combined years of 2020 and 2021. This compares to roughly 120 to 130 productions normally considered in one year alone.

The eighth annual award ceremony, which was to have been held ‘live’ at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the campus of Webster University, was canceled in February 2020 due to the escalating number of cases of COVID-19. Instead, that event was held virtually in a highly polished presentation produced by HEC Media and streamed on HEC’s YouTube channel, Facebook page and web site, as was this ninth annual event. There was no ceremony of any type by the Theater Circle in 2021.

For the ninth annual ceremony, members of the St. Louis Theater Circle considered nominees from shows produced in the first three months of 2020 and the last eight months of 2021 combined. In addition, a few shows produced between April 2020 and May 2021 were included.

The winners for the ninth annual St. Louis Theater Circle Awards are:

Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Comedy, Female or Non-Binary Role

• Nicole Angeli, “It Is Magic,” The Midnight Company

Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Comedy, Male or Non-Binary Role (Tie)

• Joe Hanrahan, “It Is Magic,” The Midnight Company
• Carl Overly, Jr., “It Is Magic,” The Midnight Company

Outstanding Leading Performer in a Comedy, Female or Non-Binary Role

• Ellie Schwetye, “Tinsel Town,” The Midnight Company

Outstanding Leading Performer in a Comedy, Male or Non-Binary Role

• Adam Flores, “The Thanksgiving Play,” Repertory Theatre of St. Louis

Outstanding Lighting Design in a Play

• Seth Reiser, “A Christmas Carol,” Repertory Theatre of St. Louis

Outstanding Sound Design

• David R. Molina, “King Lear,” St. Louis Shakespeare Festival

Outstanding Costume Design in a Play

• Christina Leinecke, “Dress the Part,” St. Louis Shakespeare Festival

Outstanding Set Design in a Play

• Margery and Peter Spack, “The Ville: Avengeance,” St. Louis Shakespeare Festival

Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Drama, Female or Non-Binary Role

• Elizabeth Teeter, “The Glass Menagerie,” Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis

Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Drama, Male or Non-Binary Role

• Brian McKinley, “Spell #7,” The Black Rep

Outstanding Leading Performer in a Drama, Female or Non-Binary Role

• Laurie McConnell, “Annapurna,” St. Louis Actors’ Studio

Outstanding Leading Performer in a Drama, Male or Non-Binary Role

• Andre De Shields, “King Lear,” St. Louis Shakespeare Festival

Outstanding New Play

• “Tinsel Town,” by Joe Hanrahan, The Midnight Company

Outstanding Achievement in Opera

• Patricia Racette, “La voix humaine,” Opera Theatre of St. Louis

Outstanding Production of an Opera

• “Gianni Schicchi,” Opera Theatre of St. Louis

Outstanding Musical Director

• Charlie Alterman, “Chicago,” The Muny

Outstanding Choreographer

• Denis Jones,“Chicago,” The Muny

Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Musical, Female or Non-Binary Role

• Natascia Diaz, “On Your Feet!,” The Muny

Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Musical, Male or Non-Binary Role

• Adam Heller, “Chicago,” The Muny

Outstanding Lighting Design in a Musical

• Sean M. Savoie, “Jersey Boys,” Stages St. Louis

Outstanding Set Design in a Musical

• Edward E. Haynes Jr. and Kevan Loney, “Smokey Joe’s Café,” The Muny

Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical

• Emily Rebholz, “Chicago,” The Muny

Outstanding Leading Performer in a Musical, Female or Non-Binary Role

• Diana DeGarmo, “Always…Patsy Cline,” Stages St. Louis

Outstanding Leading Performer in a Musical, Male or Non-Binary Role

• Christopher Kale Jones, “Jersey Boys,” Stages St. Louis

Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy (Tie)

• “Dress the Part,” St. Louis Shakespeare Festival
• “It Is Magic,” The Midnight Company

Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama

• “Two Trains Running,” The Black Rep

Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical

• “Chicago,” The Muny

Outstanding Director of a Comedy

• GQ and JQ, “Dress the Part,” St. Louis Shakespeare Festival

Outstanding Director of a Drama

• Carl Cofield, “King Lear,” St. Louis Shakespeare Festival

Outstanding Director of a Musical

• Denis Jones, “Chicago,” The Muny

Outstanding Production of a Comedy

• “Dress the Part,” St. Louis Shakespeare Festival

Outstanding Production of a Drama

• “Two Trains Running,” The Black Rep

Outstanding Production of a Musical

• “Chicago,” The Muny

In addition, arts philanthropists Nancy and Ken Kranzberg were honored with a special award which was originally presented at the 2020 in-person ceremony.  Michael Hamilton and Jack Lane, co-founders of Stages St. Louis and the troupe’s recently retired artistic director and executive producer, respectively, were honored as well for their body of work. The Kranzbergs and Lane each gave a recorded acceptance speech during the virtual ceremony.

The mission of the St. Louis Theater Circle is simple: To honor outstanding achievement in St. Louis professional theater. Other cities around the country, such as Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., pay tribute to their own local theatrical productions with similar awards programs.

Members of the St. Louis Theater Circle include Steve Allen (stagedoorstl.com); Mark Bretz (Ladue News); Bob Cohn (St. Louis Jewish Light); Tina Farmer (KDHX); Michelle Kenyon (snoopstheatrethoughts.com); Gerry Kowarsky (Two on the Aisle, HEC Media); Chuck Lavazzi (KDHX); Rob Levy (Broadwayworld.com); Judith Newmark (judyacttwo.com); Ann Lemons Pollack (stlouiseats.typepad.com); Lynn Venhaus (PopLifeSTL.com); Bob Wilcox (Two on the Aisle, HEC Media); and Calvin Wilson (St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Eleanor Mullin, local performer and arts supporter, is group administrator.

For more information, contact stltheatercircle@sbcglobal.net or ‘like’ the St. Louis Theater Circle on Facebook.