Kudos to the alumni, faculty, and current and former students of the Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department, the Columbia College Chicago Communication Department, the Columbia College Chicago Music Department, and the Columbia College Chicago Cinema and Television Arts Department who have been nominated for 2019 Joseph Jefferson Awards, Chicago’s top theatre award. The Non-Equity “Jeff Awards” honor excellence in Chicago’s non-Equity theatre. The list of this year’s Non-Equity “Jeff Award” nominees, announced April 22, included nominations for alumni and faculty from Columbia College Chicago in the areas of performance, direction, design, playwriting and writing for performance, musical direction, and stage combat and intimacy design — including:

Columbia College alum Joel Reitsma ’08, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s Acting program, for his performance in Birdland (Steep Theatre);

Columbia College Theatre Department faculty member Kendra Thulin for her performance in Linda (Steep Theatre);

Columbia College alum Kenneth D. Johnson ’90 for his performance in Between Riverside and Crazy (Redtwist Theatre);

Former Columbia College Theatre Department Darilyn Burtley for her performance in The Last Session (Refuge Theatre Project).

Columbia College alum Ilesa Duncan ’99, for her direction of Eclipsed (Pegasus Theatre Chicago);

Theatre Department faculty member Jacqueline Penrod, for Eclipsed (Pegasus Theatre Chicago).

Columbia College alum Claire Chrzan ’11, a graduate of Columbia’s Theatre Design program, nominated twice, for Fun Harmless Warmachine (The New Colony) and Yen (Raven Theatre).

Columbia College alum Shannon O’Neill ’07, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Acting, for May the Road Rise Up (Factory Theatre);

Theatre Department faculty member Jermaine Hill, for The Total Bent (Haven Theatre)

Columbia College alum Almanya Narula ’12, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Acting, for Monsieur D’Eon Is a Woman (Trap Door Theatre);

Columbia College Music Department alum and faculty member Petter Wahlbäck ’00, MFA ’08, a graduate of the Music Department’s BA Program in Music Composition and MFA Program in Music Composition for the Screen, for Requiem for a Heavyweight (The Artistic Home).

Columbia College Theatre Department faculty member Rachel Flesher, for her Rigging Design for The Displaced (Haven Theatre Company).

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