[3] In 2018, Jones was additionally named Broadway theater critic for the newly acquired Tribune related publication, the New York Daily News.
[7] From 2000 to 2002, he served as associate dean of The Theatre School at DePaul University, where he remains an adjunct professor.
[13] He is among the most prolific critics in the nation, reviewing about 200 Chicago shows a year and covering all the major Broadway openings.
Chosen annually by an interdisciplinary faculty committee headed by the English department chairs at Cornell, Princeton and Yale Universities, the Nathan Award honors scholarly and journalistic dramatic criticism.
In making the award, the committee highlighted Jones' review of The Project(s), an American Theater Company docudrama exploring the lives of Chicago public housing residents.
[18][19] His other honors include the Gold Medallion from the American College Theatre Festival, for his work with young theater critics.
[25] A tryout of A Raisin in the Sun with then unknown Sidney Poitier, a "lost" interview with Tennessee Williams, the first performance of the musical Grease, and the biting wit of Claudia Cassidy and Peregrine Pickle are collected among dozens of reviews, each featuring commentary by Jones that puts the excerpt into cultural and historical context.