Congratulations to the Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department alumni, faculty, and former students who have been nominated for BroadwayWorld.com‘s 2017 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards, which honor Chicago-area theatre productions that opened between October 1, 2016, and September 30, 2017. The nominees were announced November 10. The winners will be chosen by BroadwayWorld readers through online voting. For more information and to vote, click here. Voting runs through December 31, and the winners will be announced in early January of 2018. Columbia College alumni, former students, and faculty were nominated for 2017 BroadwayWorld Chicago awards in the following categories:

Acting:

Best Actress in a Play (Resident Equity Theatre): Alum Caroline Neff  ’07, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Acting, for Uncle Vanya (Goodman Theatre).

Best Actress in a Play (Resident Non-Equity Theatre): Alum Anna Rose Ii-Epstein ’07, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s acting program, for The Kid Thing (Nothing Without a Company); former student Michaela Petro for The Night Season (Strawdog Theatre).

Best Actress in a Musical or Revue (Resident Equity): Alum Hannah Starr ’14, a graduate of the Acting BA program, for Fun Home (Victory Gardens Theatre); former student Bethany Thomas for Marry Me a Little (Porchlight Music Theatre).

Best Actor in a Play (Resident Non-Equity): Faculty member Scott Olson for 42 Stories (City Lit Theatre).

Direction:

Best Direction of a Play (Resident Non-Equity): Alumni Jake Fruend ’13, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s Theatre Directing program, for The Kid Thing (Nothing Without a Company) and Kevin Wiczer ’05, a graduate of the Acting BA program, for Cubicle (Theatre Nebula); former student Gus Menary for Ideation (Jackalope Theatre); faculty member Terry McCabe for London Assurance (City Lit Theatre).

Choreography:

Best Choreography (Resident Non-Equity): Alum Joseph Kuchey ’13, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Musical Theatre, for Hairspray (Windy City Performs); former students Jon Martinez for Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Pride Films and Plays), Kevin Bellie for Bullets Over Broadway (NightBlue), and Dina DiCostanzo for Sweet Charity (Up and Coming Theatre).

Musical Direction:

Best Musical Direction (Resident Non-Equity): Faculty member Jermaine Hill for Ragtime (Griffin Theatre).

Design:

Best Scenic Design (Resident Equity): Alum and faculty member Grant Sabin ’05, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s Theatre Design Program, for Her America (Greenhouse Theatre Center).

Best Lighting Design (Resident Equity): Alum Jesse Klug ’05, a graduate of the Theatre Design Program, for Honeymoon in Vegas (Marriott Theatre).

Best Lighting Design (Resident Non-Equity): Alum Claire Sangster ’12, a graduate of the BA Program in Theatre Design, for By the Bog of Cats (The Artistic Home).

Also:

Congratulations to alumnus Jeffrey Levin ’10, a graduate of the Columbia College Chicago Music Department‘s BA Program in Music with a Composition Concentration, nominated for Best Sound Design (Resident Equity) for two shows: Greenhouse Theatre Center’s Machinal and The Circumference of a Squirrel.

Also:

Congratulations to Columbia College alumnus Michael Allen Harris ’11, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s Acting program, whose play Punk, produced by The New Colony, was nominated for Best New Work (Resident). Kudos also to the Columbia College Theatre Department alums and former students in the cast of Mercury Theatre’s Hair (alum Mallory Maedke ’14, a graduate of the BFA Program in Musical Theatre Performance), whose ensemble was nominated for Best Ensemble of a Musical (Equity), and Refuge Theatre Project’s High Fidelity (alum Darren Patin ’17, a Musical Theatre Performance BFA program graduate), Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre’s A New Brain (student Tyler Symonè), and Griffin Theatre’s Ragtime (students Juwon Tyrel Perry and Alanna Lovely), whose ensembles were nominated for Best Ensemble of a Musical (Non-Equity).