Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department alum Courtney Mack (BFA ’15), a graduate of Columbia’s BFA Program in Musical Theatre Performance, received the 2016 Joseph Jefferson Award for Non-Equity Theatre for Actress in a Principal Role in a Musical for her lead performance in the Chicago premiere of Heathers: The Musical.

The show, presented by Kokandy Productions, ran February 28-April 24, 2016, at Chicago’s Theater Wit. Chicago Sun-Times critic Hedy Weiss gave the production a “Highly Recommended” rating, saying that Mack’s “terrific voice is matched with formidable acting skills.” The Chicago Tribune‘s Chris Jones praised Mack for her “killer performance,” calling her ” a terrific young singer who is very adept at capturing the phenomenon of the regular girl who is just mercurial enough to want to be popular, and just smart enough not to be able to pull that off.” Time Out Chicago said: “The cast is fantastic across the board, starting with Courtney Mack. . . . Mack, especially, is someone Chicago audiences should keep an eye on.”

Also at the Joseph Jefferson (“Jeff”) Awards ceremony on June 6, the award for Ensemble was presented to the cast of Steep Theatre‘s production of Posh, including Columbia alum Michael Kurowski (BFA ’16), also a graduate of the Musical Theatre Performance BFA program, and Theatre faculty member Kendra Thulin.

The Non-Equity Jeff Awards, the top prize in Chicago’s lively non-Equity theatre scene, celebrate excellence in Chicago theatres not under a union contract. This year’s Non-Equity Jeffs recognized productions that opened between April 1, 2015, and March 31, 2016.