2025 Non-Equity Jeff Awards
Dani Pike is an actress, who was nominated for Solo Performance for her work in Tell Me on a Sunday, which ran from March 15 through April 20, 2025, at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre in Evanston, Ill.
To watch the interview with Dani Pike, click the play button below (or click here to open the video player in a new tab/window).
Click here to display the video player on this page.
To listen to the interview, click the play button below (or click here to open the audio player in a new tab/window).
Mike Reflects
Dani is a great performer. Even if you can't see her perform in person, there are videos on her website (which I've linked above) that offer a strong sense of who she is as a performer.
The non-Equity theatre scene in Chicago is comprised primarily of a bunch of talented individuals (like Dani) who are using their talent to make art for the broader community to enjoy.
The Jeff Awards should be a night for those talented individuals to celebrate their accomplishments and those of their peers.
In the immortal words of Sesame Street, "one of these things is not like the others". I hope you noticed it.
I'm not going to deign to speak for anyone in the non-Equity theatre community. I'm also not a person with any knowledge or authority to speak for the Jeff Awards.
The Jeff Awards did write a letter, entitled "A Letter to the Chicago Theater Community", which they posted on their website.
And members of the community to whom they addressed the letter, being far more decentralized, responded in their own ways and their own places.
I can't possibly find them all, let alone link them all, so I'm just providing a link to the letter as it appeared on the Jeff Awards Facebook page, with the accompanying comments that it garnered.
While "we'll have to wait and see what changes, if any, come from this", is rarely the most satisfying answer, it is sometimes the best one, as people hopefully work behind the scenes to develop protocols that prevent similar issues from reappearing.
It's also, as it is here, often the only answer available.