Newsweek’s Jack Kroll called The Gospel at Colonus “one of the most marvelous shows of the decade based on one of the most inspired ideas of any time, a triumph of reconciliation bringing together black and white, pagan and Christian, ancient and modern in a sunburst of joy that seems to touch the secret heart of civilization itself.”
The word-of-mouth message was electric. The musical played to 97 percent capacity and was extended for four weeks.
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The Gospel at Colonus did not receive the necessary four votes on opening night.
OK, but what if the show is uniformly excellent in several categories? In that case, McGaughy says, three opening-night judges would probably nominate it for best production, and there would be no problem.
Certainly there is a history of friction between the Jeff Committee and the Goodman Theatre (which wants the awards to be noncompetitive, like the non-Equity Jeff Citations). Goodman no longer provides reserved seats for Jeff members and their guests, an indignity that has reportedly miffed several.
