Lorna Courtney

Lorna Annetta Courtney, born October 12, 1998, is an American stage actress who grew up in the South Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens, New York. She began singing at a young age, participating in gospel choirs as a means of overcoming shyness. Courtney pursued formal training at LaGuardia High School, a public performing arts institution where she studied opera, before earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theatre from the University of Michigan. She completed her degree in three years by taking additional courses at Washtenaw Community College during the summers, and during that period also worked at a youth center near the university.

Following her graduation, Courtney made her Broadway debut in Dear Evan Hansen, the musical by Pasek and Paul, joining the cast in May 2019 as an understudy for the roles of Alana Beck and Zoe Murphy. She subsequently joined the Broadway production of West Side Story, where she played Rosalia and understudied the role of Maria. Her run with that production ended on March 12, 2020, when New York theaters were ordered to close by Governor Andrew Cuomo in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She also appeared on Broadway in the play Julie.

In May 2022, Courtney was cast in the title role of Juliet in & Juliet, a jukebox musical reimagining of the Shakespeare play featuring pop songs by Max Martin, in which Juliet does not die. The production marked her first professional leading role. Before its Broadway transfer, the show played a pre-Broadway engagement at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, running from June 22 to August 14, 2022. The musical moved to the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, where Courtney made her Broadway debut in the role on November 17, 2022. As part of the original Broadway cast recording, she recorded a duet of "Since U Been Gone" with the song's original recording artist, Kelly Clarkson. At the 76th Tony Awards, Courtney received a nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her work in & Juliet.

Courtney is scheduled to play Veronica Sawyer in an Off-Broadway revival of Heathers: The Musical at New World Stages, announced in May 2025, for a limited run from June through September of that year. She is also set to make her international debut in the world premiere of The Greatest Showman: The Musical, playing Anne Wheeler at the Bristol Hippodrome beginning in March 2026.