Theatre alumni nominated for awards

Two Northwestern College theatre alumni are among the nominees for the Jeff Awards, which recognize excellence in Chicago theatre. Matthew Foss, a 2001 graduate formerly of Orange City, is nominated in the best director and best new adaptation categories. Gabriel Franken, a 2004 alumnus formerly of Sioux Center, is nominated in the ensemble category.  The nominations were announced April 23.

Foss adapted Upton Sinclair’s Chicago stockyards novel, “The Jungle,” and directed the production for a seven-week run late last summer in Chicago’s Oracle Theatre. An Aug. 4 Chicago Tribune review called the production “significant and creative” and praised “Foss and his very committed cast” for delivering a thoughtful production that “could not be further removed from your typical summer fare.” In addition to Foss’s individual nominations, “The Jungle” is also nominated for best play.

Foss is a theatre professor at the University of Idaho, Moscow. A show he directed in 2012 at Iowa State University, “Six Characters,” received the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival’s National Award for Outstanding Production of a Play and Outstanding Director of a Play.

Franken and his fellow cast members received a best ensemble nomination for “Balm in Gilead,” produced by Chicago’s Griffin Theatre Company from mid-March to mid-April. Franken played the role of Tim, a hustler among the makeshift community of drug dealers, junkies, prostitutes and other drifters who frequent an all-night Manhattan café in Lanford Wilson’s drama. A Chicago Tribune review on March 24 described the show’s “packed-with-talent young cast” as “inhabit[ing] a stage with intensity.”

Franken lives and works in Chicago. In addition to appearing on numerous Chicago stages, he is a member of The Gift Theatre ensemble and recently had a role in episode three of Fox Network’s hit show “Empire.”

Established in 1968, the Jeff Awards honor outstanding Chicago theatre and theatre artists. The awards are named for 19th century Chicago actor Joseph Jefferson III. Both Foss and Franken are nominees in the Jeff Awards’ non-equity category; winners will be announced at a ceremony on June 8 in Chicago.