Originally begun during the 1949–1950 season, the Outer Critics Circle Awards, now in its 71st year, are presented annually for outstanding achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. The awards, decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national and digital publications, and other media outlets outside of NYC, are given in 27 competitive categories, including the John Gassner Award, recognizing an American play, preferably by a new playwright. There are also Special Achievement Awards and Outer Critics Circle Commendations being presented this year.
The Broadway productions eligible for OCC consideration in the 2021-22 season are Pass Over, Six, Lackawanna Blues, Chicken & Biscuits, Thoughts of a Colored Man, The Lehman Trilogy, Caroline, or Change, Diana, Trouble in Mind, Clyde’s, Mrs. Doubtfire, Company, Flying Over Sunset, Skeleton Crew, MJ the Musical, The Music Man, Plaza Suite, Paradise Square, Take Me Out, Birthday Candles, The Little Prince, American Buffalo, The Minutes, How I Learned to Drive, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, Funny Girl, The Skin of Our Teeth, Mr. Saturday Night, and POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive.
After consideration by OCC in previous seasons, only new elements of the following productions were eligible for awards: Girl from the North Country; Is This A Room; Dana H.; Hangmen; and A Strange Loop. By mutual agreement with the production, owing to Covid-19-related delays, the Broadway revival of Macbeth will be considered during the 2022-2023 season. The following return engagements were not eligible for awards: Springsteen on Broadway; Waitress; David Byrne’s American Utopia; Freestyle Love Supreme; Slave Play; and Beetlejuice.
Leading the 2021-22 nominations are Broadway’s The Lehman Trilogy with nine, followed by Off-Broadway musicals Harmony and Kimberly Akimbo with eight each, and the Broadway productions of MJ the Musical and Paradise Square, each with seven.
The nominations and special recipients for the 2021-22 Outer Critics Circle Awards are:
Outstanding New Broadway Play: Birthday Candles; Clyde’s; Skeleton Crew; The Lehman Trilogy; and The Minutes
Outstanding New Broadway Musical: MJ the Musical; Mr. Saturday Night; Mrs. Doubtfire; Paradise Square; and Six
Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play: Morning Sun; On Sugarland; Prayer for the French Republic; Sanctuary City; and The Chinese Lady
Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical: Black No More; Harmony; Intimate Apparel; Kimberly Akimbo; and Little Girl Blue
Outstanding Revival of a Play: for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf; How I Learned to Drive; Take Me Out; A Touch of the Poet; and Trouble in Mind
Outstanding Revival of a Musical: Assassins; Caroline, or Change; Company; The Music Man; and The Streets of New York
Outstanding Actor in a Play: Patrick J. Adams, Take Me Out; Simon Russell Beale, The Lehman Trilogy; Adam Godley, The Lehman Trilogy; Adrian Lester, The Lehman Trilogy; and Sam Rockwell, American Buffalo
Outstanding Actress in a Play: Betsy Aidem, Prayer for the French Republic; Stephanie Berry, On Sugarland; Edie Falco, Morning Sun; LaChanze, Trouble in Mind; and Debra Messing, Birthday Candles
Outstanding Actor in a Musical: Justin Cooley, Kimberly Akimbo; Myles Frost, MJ the Musical; Rob McClure, Mrs. Doubtfire; Jaquel Spivey, A Strange Loop; and Chip Zien, Harmony
Outstanding Actress in a Musical: Kearstin Piper Brown, Intimate Apparel; Victoria Clark, Kimberly Akimbo; Sharon D Clarke, Caroline, or Change; Carmen Cusack, Flying Over Sunset; and Joaquina Kalukango, Paradise Square
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play: Chuck Cooper, Trouble in Mind; Brandon J. Dirden, Skeleton Crew; Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Take Me Out; Michael Oberholtzer, Take Me Out; and Austin Pendleton, The Minutes
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play: Chanté Adams, Skeleton Crew; Uzo Aduba, Clyde’s; Francis Benhamou, Prayer for the French Republic; Phylicia Rashad, Skeleton Crew; Nancy Robinette, Prayer for the French Republic
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical: Quentin Earl Darrington, MJ the Musical; Matt Doyle, Company; Steven Pasquale, Assassins; A.J. Shively, Paradise Square; and Will Swenson, Assassins
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical: Shoshana Bean, Mr. Saturday Night; Jenn Colella, Suffs; Judy Kuhn, Assassins; Patti LuPone, Company; and Bonnie Milligan, Kimberly Akimbo
Outstanding Solo Performance: Alex Edelman, Just for Us; Jenn Murray, A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing; Arturo Luís Soria, Ni Mi Madre; and Kristina Wong, Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord
Outstanding Direction of a Play: Camille A. Brown, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf; Scott Ellis, Take Me Out; Sam Mendes, The Lehman Trilogy; Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Skeleton Crew; and Anna D. Shapiro, The Minutes
Outstanding Direction of a Musical: Warren Carlyle, Harmony; Moisés Kaufman, Paradise Square; Jessica Stone, Kimberly Akimbo; Christopher Wheeldon, MJ the Musical; and Jerry Zaks, Mrs. Doubtfire
Outstanding Choreography: Camille A. Brown, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf; Warren Carlyle, Harmony; Warren Carlyle, The Music Man; Bill T. Jones, Alex Sanchez, Garrett Coleman, and Jason Oremus, Paradise Square; Christopher Wheeldon and Rich + Tone Talauega, MJ the Musical
Outstanding Book of a Musical: Billy Crystal, Lowell Ganz, and Babaloo Mandel, Mr. Saturday Night; Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell, Mrs. Doubtfire; David Lindsay-Abaire, Kimberly Akimbo; Lynn Nottage, Intimate Apparel; and Bruce Sussman, Harmony
Outstanding New Score: Jason Howland, Nathan Tysen, and Masi Asare, Paradise Square; Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick, Mrs. Doubtfire; Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman, Harmony; Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, Six; and Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire, Kimberly Akimbo
Outstanding Orchestrations: John Clancy, Kimberly Akimbo; David Holcenberg and Jason Michael Webb, MJ the Musical; Greg Jarrett, Assassins; Jason Howland, Paradise Square; and Doug Walter, Harmony
Outstanding Scenic Design: Beowulf Boritt, Flying Over Sunset; Es Devlin, The Lehman Trilogy; Scott Pask, American Buffalo; Adam Rigg, The Skin of Our Teeth; and David Zinn, The Minutes
Outstanding Costume Design: Jane Greenwood, Plaza Suite; Santo Loquasto, The Music Man; Gabriella Slade, Six; Emilio Sosa, Trouble in Mind; and Catherine Zuber, Mrs. Doubtfire
Outstanding Lighting Design: Jon Clark, The Lehman Trilogy; Natasha Katz, MJ the Musical; Bradley King, Flying Over Sunset; Brian MacDevitt, The Minutes; and Jen Schreiver, Lackawanna Blues
Outstanding Projection Design: 59 Productions and Benjamin Pearcy, Flying Over Sunset; Stefania Bulbarella and Alex Basco Koch, Space Dogs; Shawn Duan, Letters of Suresh; Luke Halls, The Lehman Trilogy; and Jeff Sugg, Mr. Saturday Night
Outstanding Sound Design: Nick Powell and Dominic Bilkey, The Lehman Trilogy; André Pluess, The Minutes; Ben and Max Ringham, Blindness; Dan Moses Schreier, Harmony; and Matt Stine, Assassins
John Gassner Award: Cullud Wattah by Erika Dickerson-Despenza; English by Sanaz Toossi; Selling Kabul by Sylvia Khoury; Tambo and Bones by Dave Harris; and Thoughts of a Colored Man by Keenan Scott II
Special Achievement Awards: Johanna Day, David Morse, Mary-Louise Parker, and Ruben Santiago-Hudson for reprising their outstanding performances in How I Learned to Drive and Lackawanna Blues two decades later. All had been eligible in previous seasons.
Outer Critics Circle Commendations: The Standbys, Understudies, and Swings of the theatrical community who step up to perform, often on hours’ notice, to keep their shows running; To the Covid Safety Supervisors, Managers, and Compliance Officers who put themselves in harm’s way eight times a week to keep the curtains up.
Winners in the competitive awards categories will be announced on Monday, May 16, in the OCC’s return to a live in-person ceremony after the 2020 virtual honors. It will be followed by an event honoring the award recipients on Thursday, May 26, at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.