2019 Outer Critics Circle Award Winners Announced

The Outer Critics Circle Awards have been announced this morning and Hadestown rises up from Hell to be this year’s big winner, taking home 6 awards, including Outstanding New Broadway Musical, Outstanding New Score, and André De Shields and Amber Gray for Outstanding Featured Actors!

The Ferryman scores Outstanding New Broadway Play, alongside The Public Theater‘s White Noise winning Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play and Girl from the North Country winning Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical. Other shows with multiple awards included All My Sons, The Cher Show, King Kong, and Tootsie. King Kong also took home a special achievement award for its puppetry team.

Jenn Colella, Tina Fey, Hamish Linklater, Lindsay Mendez, and Lily Rabe will serve as gala award presenters at the upcoming 69th Annual Outer Critics Circle Awards ceremony on Thursday, May 23rd at 3:00 PM at the legendary Sardi’s Restaurant.

OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY PLAY: The Ferryman 

OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY MUSICAL: Hadestown 

OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY PLAY: White Noise 

OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL: Girl from the North Country 

OUTSTANDING BOOK OF A MUSICAL (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Robert Horn – Tootsie 

OUTSTANDING NEW SCORE (THE MARJORIE GUNNER AWARD) (Broadway or Off-Broadway): Anaïs Mitchell – Hadestown 

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Fiddler on the Roof (in Yiddish)

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A PLAY (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
All My Sons 

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR OF A PLAY (THE Lucille Lortel AWARD)
Sam Mendes – The Ferryman 

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR OF A MUSICAL
Rachel Chavkin – Hadestown 

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHER
Warren Carlyle – Kiss Me, Kate 

OUTSTANDING SCENIC DESIGN (Play or Musical)
David Korins – Beetlejuice 

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN (Play or Musical)
Bob Mackie – The Cher Show 

OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN (Play or Musical)
Bradley King – Hadestown 

OUTSTANDING PROJECTION DESIGN (Play or Musical)
Peter England – King Kong 

OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN (Play or Musical)
Peter Hylenski – King Kong 

OUTSTANDING ORCHESTRATIONS
Daniel Kluger – Oklahoma! 

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A PLAY: Bryan Cranston – Network 

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A PLAY: Elaine May – The Waverly Gallery 

Stephanie J. Block and the cast of The Cher Show. Photo by Joan Marcus.

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL: Santino Fontana – Tootsie 

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL: Stephanie J. Block – The Cher Show 

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY: Benjamin Walker – All My Sons

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY: Celia Keenan-Bolger – To Kill a Mockingbird 

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL: André De Shields – Hadestown 

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL: Amber Gray – Hadestown 

OUTSTANDING SOLO PERFORMANCE: Mike Birbiglia – The New One 

John Gassner PLAYWRITING AWARD (Presented for an American play, preferably by a new playwright):Jeremy Kareken & David Murrell, and Gordon Farrell – The Lifespan of a Fact 

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SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

The Executive Committee voted and decided upon the presentation of Special Achievement Awards to:

The Puppetry Team That Created and Operates King Kong

This award recognizes 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, J?van Dansberry, Casey Garvin, Gabriel Hyman, Marty Lawson, Roberto Olvera, Khadija Tariyan, Lauren Yalango-Grant, David Yijae, Christopher Hampton Grant, Jena VanEslander, Scott Webber, Warren Yang, James Retter Duncan, Jonathan MacMillan, and Leigh-Ann Vizer.
• 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

This award is in recognition of 50 years of producing new musicals, as well as classics from the past.