The Outer Critics Circle Award Nominations 2019 Announced

Nominations were announced this morning for the 69th annual Outer Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best theater on, off- and off-off-Broadway in the 2018-2019 season. Presented by Julie Halston and Michael Urie at the Algonquin Hotel in Manhattan, the list was varied and eclectic, with Hadestown leading the slate of nominees with 12 nominations, followed by Tootsie with 10 and Oklahoma! with six. I’m thrilled that one of my favorites of the season, Lewiston/Clarkston got some love, as did The Public’s White Noise, NYTW’s The House That Will Not Stand, Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, The Ferryman, Bonnie Milligan in Head Over Heels, Ali Stroker and Damon Daunno inOklahoma!, Stephanie J. Block inThe Cher Show and Celia Keenan-Bolger in To Kill a Mockingbird. They all made me so happy to be a voting member of OCC.

The Outer Critics Circle, an association of members affiliated with more than 90 newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, internet and theater publications in America and abroad including frontmezzjunkies.com, will announce the winners on May 13, with a gala awards dinner set for May 23 at Sardi’s Restaurant, Times Square.

A full list of nominations can be found below:

OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY PLAY
The Ferryman
Ink
Network
To Kill a Mockingbird
What the Constitution Means to Me

OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY MUSICAL
Be More Chill
Hadestown
Head Over Heels
The Prom
Tootsie

OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY PLAY
Fairview
The House That Will Not Stand
Lewiston/Clarkston
The Light
White Noise

OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL
The Beast in the Jungle
Black Light
Girl from the North Country
The Hello Girls
Midnight at the Never Get

OUTSTANDING BOOK OF A MUSICAL (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Robert Horn, Tootsie
Conor McPherson, Girl from the North Country
Peter Mills and Cara Reichel, The Hello Girls
Anaïs Mitchell, Hadestown
Jeff Whitty and James Magruder, Head Over Heels

OUTSTANDING NEW SCORE (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin, The Prom
Joe Iconis, Be More Chill
Peter Mills, The Hello Girls
Anaïs Mitchell, Hadestown
David Yazbek, Tootsie

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A PLAY (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
All My Sons
By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
Juno and the Paycock
Our Lady of 121st Street
The Waverly Gallery

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Carmen Jones
Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish
Kiss Me, Kate
Oklahoma!
Smokey Joe’s Cafe

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A PLAY
McKinley Belcher III, The Light
Bryan Cranston, Network
Daveed Diggs, White Noise
Bill Irwin, On Beckett
Jeremy Pope, Choir Boy

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Glenn Close, Mother of the Maid
Edie Falco, The True
Glenda Jackson, King Lear
Mandi Masden, The Light
Elaine May, The Waverly Gallery

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Brooks Ashmanskas, The Prom
Reeve Carney, Hadestown
Damon Daunno, Oklahoma!
Santino Fontana, Tootsie
Steven Skybell, Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Stephanie J. Block, The Cher Show
Kelli O’Hara, Kiss Me, Kate
Beth Leavel, The Prom
Anika Noni Rose, Carmen Jones
Mare Winningham, Girl from the North Country

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY
Bertie Carvel, Ink
John Clay III, Choir Boy
Hugh Dancy, Apologia
John Procaccino, Downstairs
Benjamin Walker, All My Sons

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Joan Allen, The Waverly Gallery
Stephanie Berry, Sugar in Our Wounds
Fionnula Flanagan, The Ferryman
Harriett D. Foy, The House That Will Not Stand
Celia Keenan-Bolger, To Kill a Mockingbird

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
John Behlmann, Tootsie
André De Shields, Hadestown
Reg Rogers, Tootsie
George Salazar, Be More Chill
Ephraim Sykes, Ain’t Too Proud

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Amber Gray, Hadestown
Leslie Kritzer, Beetlejuice
Bonnie Milligan, Head Over Heels
Sarah Stiles, Tootsie
Ali Stroker, Oklahoma!

OUTSTANDING SOLO PERFORMANCE
Mike Birbiglia, The New One
Maddie Corman, Accidentally Brave
Jake Gyllenhaal, A Life
Carey Mulligan, Girls & Boys
Renée Taylor, My Life on a Diet

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR OF A PLAY
Rupert Goold, Ink
Sam Mendes, The Ferryman
Jack O’Brien, All My Sons
Bartlett Sher, To Kill a Mockingbird
Logan Vaughn, The Light

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR OF A MUSICAL
Rachel Chavkin, Hadestown
Scott Ellis, Tootsie
Daniel Fish, Oklahoma!
Joel Grey, Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish
Cara Reichel, The Hello Girls

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHER
Warren Carlyle, Kiss Me, Kate
Christopher Gattelli, The Cher Show
Denis Jones, Tootsie
David Neumann, Hadestown
Sergio Trujillo, Ain’t Too Proud

OUTSTANDING SCENIC DESIGN (Play or Musical) 
Beowulf Boritt, Bernhardt/Hamlet
Bunny Christie, Ink
Rachel Hauck, Hadestown
Rob Howell, The Ferryman
David Korins, Beetlejuice

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN (Play or Musical) 
Rob Howell, The Ferryman
Bob Mackie, The Cher Show
William Ivey Long, Beetlejuice
William Ivey Long, Tootsie
Arianne Phillips, Head Over Heels

OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN (Play or Musical)
Neil Austin, Ink
Stacey Derosier, Lewiston/Clarkston
Bradley King, Hadestown
Jason Lyons, Sugar in Our Wounds
Peter Mumford, King Kong

OUTSTANDING PROJECTION DESIGN (Play or Musical) 
Peter England, King Kong
Alex Basco Koch, Be More Chill
Peter Nigrini, Beetlejuice
Jeff Sugg, All My Sons
Tal Yarden, Network

OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN (Play or Musical)
John Gromada, All My Sons
Peter Hylenski, King Kong
Drew Levy, Oklahoma!
Eric Sleichim, Network
Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz, Hadestown

OUTSTANDING ORCHESTRATIONS
Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose, Hadestown
Simon Hale, Girl from the North Country
Joseph Joubert, Carmen Jones
Daniel Kluger, Oklahoma!
Harold Wheeler, Ain’t Too Proud

JOHN GASSNER AWARD
(Presented for an American play, preferably by a new playwright)
Jeremy O. Harris, Slave Play
Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell and Gordon Farrell, The Lifespan of a Fact
Donja R. Love, Sugar in Our Wounds
Ming Peiffer, Usual Girls
Charly Evon Simpson, Behind the Sheet

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

The puppetry team that created and operates the title character in King Kong, recognizing the artistry and technical achievement that brings a 2,000-pound gorilla to life:

• puppet designer and builder Sonny Tilders and the Creature Technology Company
• scenic designer Peter England, who collaborated on the aesthetics of the puppet
• aerial and movement director Gavin Robins
• the members of the King’s Company, who move Kong on stage: Mike Baerga, Rhaamell Burke-Missouri, Jōvan Dansberry, Casey Garvin, Gabriel Hyman, Marty Lawson, Roberto Olvera, Khadija Tariyan, Lauren Yalango-Grant and David Yijae
• Kong’s voodoo operators, who control his facial expressions: Jon Hoche, Danny Miller and Jacob Williams

The York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director; Evans Haile, Executive Director)

• in recognition of 50 years of producing new musicals, as well as classics from the past

PRODUCTIONS WITH MULTIPLE NOMINATIONS (click on the name to read my review)
Hadestown—12
Tootsie—10
Oklahoma!—6
All My Sons—5
The Ferryman—5
Ink—5
Be More Chill—4
Beetlejuice—4
Girl from the North Country—4
Head Over Heels—4
The Hello Girls—4
The Light—4
Network—4
The Prom—4
Ain’t Too Proud—3
Carmen Jones—3
The Cher Show—3
Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish—3
King Kong—3 (plus a special achievement award)
Kiss Me, Kate—3
To Kill a Mockingbird—3
Sugar in Our Wounds—3
The Waverly Gallery—3
The House That Will Not Stand—2
Choir Boy—2
Lewiston/Clarkston—2
White Noise—2

Special Notes:

• This season’s production of The Boys in the Band was not eligible for Outer Critics Circle Awards because the production did not accommodate the nominators due to limited ticket availability and the limited run of the show.
• Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song was considered by the Outer Critics Circle for its off-Broadway run during the 2017-2018 season, and only new elements were considered for its Broadway transfer.
• Per the petitioning of its producers, the Broadway production of Hadestown was considered in all musical-related categories due to substantial changes to its book, score and production from its off-Broadway premiere.