The winners of the 2025 Outer Critics Circle Awards were announced via press release this morning (Monday, May 12) at 10:00. This year’s awards were presented in 27 competitive categories, with gender-free acting honors and separate awards for Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. Founded during the 1949-50 Broadway season by respected theater journalist John Gassner, the Outer Critics Circle, the official organization of writers on NYC theater for out-of-town newspapers and national publications, is an association of members affiliated with more than ninety newspapers, magazines, broadcast stations, and online news organizations in America and abroad.
Leading with the most OCC awards of the 2024-25 season is Maybe Happy Ending with four, followed by Boop! The Musical and Stranger Things: The First Shadow with three each.
And the 2025 Outer Critics Circle Awards winners are:
Outstanding New Broadway Play
John Proctor Is the Villain
Outstanding New Broadway Musical
Maybe Happy Ending
Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical
Drag: The Musical
Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play
Liberation
John Gassner Award (new American play preferably by a new playwright)
George Clooney and Grant Heslov, Good Night, and Good Luck
Outstanding Revival of a Musical
Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Outstanding Revival of a Play
Vanya
Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play
Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California
Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play
Francis Jue, Yellow Face
Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical
Jasmine Amy Rogers, Boop! The Musical
Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical
Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat
Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical
Nick Adams, Drag: The Musical
Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical
Andre De Shields, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Play
Adam Driver, Hold On to Me Darling
Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play
Michael Rishawn, Table 17
Outstanding Solo Performance
Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending
Outstanding Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending
Outstanding Orchestrations (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber, Just in Time
Outstanding Direction of a Musical
Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending
Outstanding Direction of a Play
Danya Taymor, John Proctor Is the Villain
Outstanding Choreography
Jerry Mitchell, Boop! the Musical
Outstanding Scenic Design
Miriam Buether, Jamie Harrison, and Chris Fisher, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Outstanding Costume Design
Gregg Barnes, Boop! The Musical
Outstanding Lighting Design
Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Outstanding Sound Design
Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Outstanding Video/Projections
David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian Gray.
As was previously announced, there was also a Special Award recognizing Patrick Hoffman, the recently retired curator of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, in honor of over three decades of service to the theater community, during which time he ensured the preservation of more than 1,200 productions.
Congratulations to all!
The recipients will be celebrated at an Outer Critics Circle Awards ceremony on Thursday, May 22, 2025, at the Bruno Walter Auditorium, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, 111 Amsterdam Avenue, NYC.
