And then some of our readers told us differently. Scores of them, in fact.

Members of the Chicago acting community came out in droves to weigh in. Many complained the change allowed for non-Equity producers—some of whom have been in business for years and yet have made no inroads into paying their actors health insurance, let alone a living wage—to be afforded the same prestige as the ones who do. (The prize for Chicago’s Equity plays is also called the Jeff Award, meaning there’s now less distinction between the two.) If the non-Equity theaters aren’t willing to come up with the money to play at our level, the pro-union crowd argued, why should they get the same kind of prestige?

Despite the passionate words of several storefront artists who defended the quality and ethic of the city’s non-Equity theater scene, this season’s recently announced nominees for the Non-Equity Jeff Award reveal that those on the keep-it-citation side had a point. The three companies with the most nominations this year—Bailiwick Repertory, Circle Theatre and Lifeline Theatre—have been in operation for more than two decades yet operate outside the rules and salary agreements of Equity. (Both Bailiwick and Lifeline have adopted, and later dropped, Equity contracts before; Bailiwick will try it again starting this summer.)

Bumping these companies’ Jeff status up to the shinier-sounding “award” certainly gives them no incentive to pay the labor more any time soon. To be fair, just about every non-union show in town is also nonprofit, meaning money is tighter and harder to come by. But, disturbingly, this growing trend of looking the other way where labor is concerned is now bleeding into the world of commercial producers. This week, Shout! the Mod Musical becomes the second Broadway in Chicago presentation in less than a year to charge a top ticket price of $49.50 or more without employing union actors.

It certainly will feel strange if this time next year we have to include actors from a Broadway in Chicago venture alongside our shout-outs to overlooked Jeff contenders from the storefront scene.

Speaking of: Our sympathies are extended to director Jonathan Berry, who took the budding Steep Theatre to a thrilling new level of danger and professionalism last year with his production of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Bertolt Brecht’s scary Hitler allegory set in gangland Chicago. Justifiably the talk of the town last summer, Steep’s staging somehow only earned one nomination, for best production. This means Berry, his tough-talking ensemble, the terrific 1940s costumes by Alison Siple (an otherwise much-nominated designer who probably reached a career high with the show) and, most embarrassingly, brilliant Yosh Hayashi in the title role were all overlooked. (In addition to giving the best non-Equity leading performance last season, Hayashi was also the best part of Lifeline’s The Island of Dr. Moreau in a raving supporting turn. Moreau snagged the most nominations this year—nine—with most of the creative contributors earning noms. Everybody but, um, Hayashi.)

It’s still a mystery to us how BackStage Theatre’s How I Learned to Drive wasn’t even Jeff recommended, making it ineligible for nominations. This play, which was in no particular need of revival, suddenly seemed very important to revive, thanks to the tough, sophisticated leading performance of Brenda Barrie (as an incest survivor) and the static-and-oldies sound design of Nick Keenan (the year’s most prolific sound designer, who somehow wasn’t nominated for a thing). Meanwhile, Bohemian Theatre Ensemble’s Songs for a New World, the only non-Equity musical that could possibly rival Bailiwick’s justly showered Jerry Springer—The Opera, was also not recommended, and hence ineligible.

Lastly, the Hypocrites’ dashing, punk reimagining of Miss Julie proved too daring for the Jeff committee. This means no love for director Sean Graney, the breathtaking lights of Jared Moore, fierce antihero Gregory Hardigan or leading lady Stacy Stoltz, the actor who proves once again she’s made out of Jeff Teflon.