Outer Critics Circle announces nominations for its 2023 Awards for Broadway and Off-Broadway

In a press release this morning at 10:00, the Outer Critics Circle – founded during the 1949-1950 Broadway season by theater journalist John Gassner as the official organization of writers on NYC theater for out-of-town publications, now representing more than 90 newspapers, magazines, broadcast stations, online news organizations, and national publications – announced its 72^nd Annual Awards nominations honoring achievements in the 2022-2023 Broadway and Off-Broadway season, with April 23 as the cut-off date for nominators to have attended shows, and winners to be revealed on Monday, May 15. For the first time this year, the OCC Board, after many years of discussion, has voted to remove gender-based acting categories, and to include separate awards for Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, previously nominated in the same category.

The Broadway productions considered in full during this cycle (in order of opening) are Macbeth, The Kite Runner, Into the Woods, Leopoldstadt, 1776, Death of a Salesman, The Piano Lesson, Topdog/Underdog, Walking with Ghosts, Almost Famous, Kimberly Akimbo, Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man & the Pool, & Juliet, A Christmas Carol, KPOP, A Beautiful Noise, Ohio State Murders, Some Like It Hot, The Collaboration, Pictures from Home, A Doll’s House, Parade, Bob Fosse’s Dancin’, Bad Cinderella, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Life of Pi, Shucked, Fat Ham, Camelot, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, The Thanksgiving Play, Prima Facie, Good Night, Oscar, Summer, 1976, New York, New York, and The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window. Only new elements of Cost of Living, Kimberly Akimbo, Ain’t No Mo’, Between Riverside and Crazy, and Kinky Boots were considered.

This year’s most-nominated Broadway musical is New York, New York, with twelve, followed by Some Like It Hot with ten; the leading Broadway play is Leopoldstadt with six. The most-nominated Off-Broadway musical and play are Merrily We Roll Along and Downstate, each with six. Additionally, fight director B.H. Barry is being honored with a Special Achievement Award, in recognition of his six-decade career and his work in the current revival of Camelot.

And the 2023 Outer Critics Circle Awards nominations are:

Outstanding New Broadway Musical: & Juliet; A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical; New York, New York; Shucked; Some Like It Hot

Outstanding New Broadway Play: Good Night, Oscar; Leopoldstadt; Life of Pi; Peter Pan Goes Wrong; Summer, 1976

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical: The Bedwetter; Between the Lines; The Harder They Come; Only Gold; Without You

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play: Becomes a Woman; A Case for the Existence of God; Chester Bailey; Downstate; Letters from Max, a ritual

John Gassner Award for New American Play (Preferably by a New Playwright):  Dark Disabled Stories by Ryan J. Haddad; Epiphany by Brian Watkins; Fat Ham by James Ijames; Wolf Play by Hansol Jung; You Will Get Sick by Noah Diaz

Outstanding Revival of a Play (Broadway or Off-Broadway): Death of a Salesman;  Endgame; Ohio State Murders; Topdog/Underdog; Wedding Band

Outstanding Revival of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway): A Man of No Importance; Into the Woods; Merrily We Roll Along; Parade; Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical: Micaela Diamond – Parade; J. Harrison Ghee – Some Like It Hot; Caroline Innerbichler – Shucked; Colton Ryan – New York, New York; Anna Uzele – New York, New York

Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical: Kevin Del Aguila – Some Like It Hot; Julia Lester – Into the Woods; Alex Newell – Shucked; NaTasha Yvette Williams – Some Like It Hot; Betsy Wolfe – & Juliet

Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play: Hiran Abeysekera – Life of Pi;  Jessica Chastain – A Doll’s House; Corey Hawkins – Topdog/Underdog; Sean Hayes – Good Night, Oscar; Audra McDonald – Ohio State Murders

Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play: Danielle Brooks – The Piano Lesson; Sharon D Clarke – Death of a Salesman; Michael Potts – The Piano Lesson; Brandon Uranowitz – Leopoldstadt; David Zayas – Cost of Living

Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Play: Ephraim Birney – Chester Bailey; Brittany Bradford – Wedding Band; Marylouise Burke – Epiphany; Bill Irwin – Endgame; Emma Pfitzer Price – Becomes a Woman

Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play: Veanne Cox – Wedding Band; Glenn Davis – Downstate; Todd Freeman – Downstate; Francis Guinan – Downstate;  Susanna Guzman – Downstate

Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical: Nicholas Barasch – The Butcher Boy; Callum Francis – Kinky Boots; Jonathan Groff – Merrily We Roll Along; Natey Jones – The Harder They Come; Marla Mindelle – Titanique

Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical: Vicki Lewis – Between the Lines; Lindsay Mendez – Merrily We Roll Along; Daniel Radcliffe – Merrily We Roll Along; A.J. Shively – A Man of No Importance; Mare Winningham – A Man of No Importance

Outstanding Solo Performance: Mike Birbiglia – The Old Man & the Pool; Jodie Comer – Prima Facie; Jefferson Mays – A Christmas Carol; Sam Morrison – Sugar Daddy; Anthony Rapp – Without You

Outstanding New Score: Kate Anderson and Elyssa Samsel – Between the Lines; Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally – Shucked; John Kander and Lin-Manuel Miranda – New York, New York; Adam Schlesinger and Sarah Silverman – The Bedwetter; Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman – Some Like It Hot

Outstanding Book of a Musical: Tye Blue, Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli – Titanique; Robert Horn – Shucked; Matthew López and Amber Ruffin – Some Like it Hot; Suzan-Lori Parks – The Harder They Come; David West Read – & Juliet

Outstanding Scenic Design (Play or Musical): Jason Ardizzone-West – Wedding Band; John Lee Beatty – Epiphany; Beowulf Boritt – New York, New York; Mimi Lien – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street; Simon Scullion – Peter Pan Goes Wrong

Outstanding Costume Design (Play or Musical): Dede Ayite – Topdog/Underdog;  Gregg Barnes – Some Like it Hot; Brigitte Reiffenstuel – Leopoldstadt; Paloma Young – & Juliet; Donna Zakowska – New York, New York

Outstanding Lighting Design (Play or Musical): Neil Austin – Leopoldstadt; Ken Billington – New York, New York; Ken Elliott and Ben Stanton – A Christmas Carol; Natasha Katz – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street; Tim Lutkin – Life of Pi

Outstanding Sound Design (Play or Musical): John Gromada – Jasper; Kai Harada – New York, New York; Daniel Kluger – Epiphany; André Pluess – Good Night, Oscar; Joshua D. Reid – A Christmas Carol

Outstanding Video or Projection Design (Play or Musical): Christopher Ash and Beowulf Boritt – New York, New York; Andrzej Goulding – Life of Pi; Lucy Mackinnon – A Christmas Carol; Isaac Madge – Leopoldstadt; Sven Ortel – Parade

Outstanding Orchestrations: Bryan Carter and Charlie Rosen – Some Like It Hot; Sam Davis and Daryl Waters – New York, New York; Jason Howland – Shucked; Bill Sherman – & Juliet; Jonathan Tunick – Merrily We Roll Along

Outstanding Director of a Musical: Michael Arden – Parade; Maria Friedman – Merrily We Roll Along; Casey Nicholaw – Some Like It Hot; Jack O’Brien – Shucked; Susan Stroman – New York, New York

Outstanding Choreography: Andy Blankenbuehler – Only Gold; Edgar Godineaux – The Harder They Come; Casey Nicholaw – Some Like It Hot; Susan Stroman – New York, New York; Jennifer Weber – & Juliet

Outstanding Director of a Play: Kenny Leon – Topdog/Underdog; Pam MacKinnon – Downstate; Patrick Marber – Leopoldstadt; Adam Meggido – Peter Pan Goes Wrong; Max Webster – Life of Pi

Special Achievement Award: To B.H. Barry, one of the world’s foremost fight directors.

Our congratulations to all the nominees for the recognition of their outstanding contributions to NYC theater.

The Outer Critics Circle Awards will be presented on Thursday, May 25, 2023, at the Bruno Walter Auditorium, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, 65^th Street and Columbus Avenue, NYC.