CHICAGO -- It wasn't Radio City Music Hall, but the Park West nightclub -- and the timing might have been better.

Coming the day after the Tony Awards, Chicago's night of kudos might have seemed anticlimactic, except for the bumptious enthusiasm of the 13 non-Equity theaters nominated for recognition. The big winner in Monday night's Citations -- the Joseph Jefferson Committee's 25th annual ceremony -- was Redmoon Theater, a puppet- centered ensemble which surprisingly won six citations for its eclectic version of "The Ballad of Frankie and Johnny," produced at Steppenwolf Studio. (Unconverted by the awards, the theater intends to abandon conventional productions and concentrate on public-arena street shows over the next three years.)

Shattered Globe Theatre's electric revival of All My Sons was named outstanding production of the year. A special citation went to Chicago Dramatists for its two decades of developing plays and playwrights.

Interestingly, because of a plethora of larger-than- life illusionistic shows, for this year only a special category -- Puppetry and Masks -- was created to honor six nominated shows. Life-size doesn't seem to be enough anymore.

Here are the 1997-98 Citation Awards recipients: PRODUCTION:
"All My Sons," Shattered Globe Theatre ENSEMBLE:
"Company," Pegasus Players
"You Can't Take It With You," Raven Theatre Company

DIRECTOR:
Louis Contey, "All My Sons," Shattered Globe Theatre
Alena Murguia, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," Circle Theatre

ACTRESS IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE:
Marguerite Hammersley, "Out of Spite," Stage Left Theatre
Linda Reiter, "All My Sons," Shattered Globe Theatre

ACTOR IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE:
Wellesley Chapman, "Equus," Bailiwick Repertory
Darrell Cox, "Eye of God," Profiles Theatre
Steve Key, "All My Sons," Shattered Globe Theatre

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Bethanny Alexander, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," Circle Theatre
Maggie Carney, "Smash," Bailiwick Repertory
Cynthia Jackson, "Four Queens--No Trump," Onyx Theatre
Sara Rene Martin, "Company," Pegasus Players

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Rich Baker, "All My Sons," Shattered Globe Theatre
Nathan Rankin, "In the Heart of America," About Face Theatre
John Simmons, "Grand Hotel," Circle Theatre
Ian Vogt, "Long Day's Journey Into Night," The Excaliber Shakespeare Company

SCENIC DESIGN:
Michael Menendian, "You Can't Take It With You," Raven Theatre Company
Blair Thomas, "The Ballad of Frankie and Johnny," Redmoon Theater

COSTUME DESIGN:
Carol Cox, Jen Keller, Sarah Laleman, Beth Nowak and Chris Thometz, "The Skriker," Defiant Theatre
Zelda Lin, "The Ballad of Frankie and Johnny," Redmoon Theater

LIGHTING DESIGN:
Christine A. Solger, "The Ballad of Frankie and Johnny," Redmoon Theater

SOUND DESIGN:
Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman, "In the Heart of America," About Face Theater

CHOREOGRAPHY:
Kevn Bellie, "Grand Hotel," Circle Theatre
Marc Robin, "Company," Pegasus Players

ORIGINAL MUSIC:
Michael Zerang, "The Ballad of Frankie and Johnny," Redmoon Theater

MUSICAL DIRECTION:
Tom Murray, "Company," Pegasus Players
Jon Steinhagen, "Grand Hotel," Circle Theatre

NEW WORK:
Jim Lasko and Blair Thomas, "The Ballad of Frankie and Johnny," Redmoon Theater
G. Riley Mills and Ralph Covert, "Sawdust Spangles," Powertap Productions and The Prop Thtr. Group

PUPPETRY AND MASKS:
B. Emil Boulos, Joe Foust, Andrew Leman, Nick Offerman, Sean Sinistski, and Chris Thometz, "The Skriker," Defiant Theatre
Douglas O'Connell, "The Ballad of Frankie and Johnny," Redmoon Theater

-- By Lawrence Bommer
Chicago Correspondent