At Monday night’s Jeff Awards in Skokie, Alex Weisman remembers the waiting.
“The time between when they said ‘And the Jeff goes to’ and when they announced my name [felt like] four hours,” the Communication senior said. Then it was all a blur. “I don’t even know what song they were playing. I literally had no idea what to say. I didn’t write a speech, because I knew I wasn’t going to win.”
Weisman was awarded the Best Actor in a Supporting Role trophy at the 41st Annual Jeff Equity Awards, an annual ceremony honoring professional Chicago theater. It is sometimes referenced as the Chicago equivalent of New York’s Tony Awards.
Weisman was given a Jeff for his portrayal of Posner in The History Boys — a play that follows a group of young students as they come of age at a British university in the 1980s. The play, which closed earlier this month, was held at the TimeLine Theatre in Lakeview.
Weisman was not the only Wildcat to take home a Jeff. Communication ‘08 graduates Govind Kumar and Josh Schecter had both been in the cast of The History Boys, which also won for Best Ensemble. Northwestern alumni, including Spencer Kayden, Mara Blumenfeld and Doug Peck, received awards in acting, costume design and music direction, respectively. Moreover, Northwestern faculty members Ray Nardelli, Joshua Horvath and David H. Bell won trophies in sound design and choreography.
“I thanked Northwestern like seven times,” Weisman said of his acceptance speech. “I was like, ‘Thank you Northwestern, thank you, all my teachers at Northwestern, all my friends at Northwestern, everyone who goes to Northwestern, everyone who went to Northwestern, everyone who’s been to Northwestern’s campus.’”
He added that he credits the university not only with instilling a strong work ethic and passion in its students, but also for creating a vast network of support in the field.
Post-Jeff Award, Weisman has a lot on his plate. After he finishes reading more than 200 congratulatory notifications on Facebook, in November and December he will star as the Ghost of Christmas Past in A Christmas Carol at the Goodman Theatre in downtown Chicago. After that, though, he plans to return to campus to finish his senior year and perform in The Handmaid’s Tale in March, 2010.