The 2024 Outer Critics Circle Award Nominations are Announced

Trent Saunders, Andrew Durand, and Eddie Cooper in Audible Theater’s World Premiere of Dead Outlaw at the Minetta Lane Theatre. Photo by Matthew Murphy (2024).

The New York Theatre Report: The 2024 Outer Critics Circle Award Nominations are Announced

Following the reveal of the nominees for the Drama League Awards, the Outer Critics Circle has announced their nominations for the OCC Awards, honoring the best of Broadway and Off-Broadway.

Leading with the most nominations of the year, Dead Outlaw garnered 9, including nods for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical; Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway musical for both Jeb Brown and Andrew Durant; Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway musical for both Julia Knitel and Thom Sesma; Book of a Musical for Itamar Moses; Score for David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna; Orchestrations of Penna, Dean Sharenow, and Yazbek; and Direction of a Musical for David Cromer.

MCC’s The Connector came in with 7 nods, as did Stereophonic, a new play that is currently playing on Broadway after transferring from the Off-Broadway house, Playwrights Horizons. Winners will be announced on May 13th with an awards ceremony to follow on May 23rd.

See the full list of nominees below:

Tom Pecinka and Sarah Pidgeon in Stereophonic on Broadway. Photo by Julieta Cervantes.

Outstanding New Broadway Play
Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, Jocelyn Bioh
Mother Play: A Play in Five Evictions, Paula Vogel
Patriots, Peter Morgan
Stereophonic, David Adjmi
The Shark Is Broken, Joseph Nixon and Ian Shaw

Outstanding New Broadway Musical
Days of Wine and Roses
Suffs
The Great Gatsby
The Outsiders
Water for Elephants

Jared Machado, Kenya Browne, and Olly Sholotan in ATC’s Buena Vista Social Club. Photo by Ahron R. Foster.

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical
Buena Vista Social Club
Dead Outlaw
Illinoise
Teeth
The Connector

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play
Dig, Theresa Rebeck
King of the Jews, Leslie Epstein
King James, Rajiv Joseph
Primary Trust, Eboni Booth
Swing State, Rebecca Gilman

Peter Friedman and Sydney Lemmon in JOB at SoHo Playhouse. Photo by Emilio Madrid

John Gassner Award (new American play preferably by a new playwright)
Job, Max Wolf Friedlich
Manahatta, Mary Kathryn Nagle
Oh, Mary!, Cole Escola
The Apiary, Kate Douglas
Wet Brain, John J. Caswell Jr.

Outstanding Revival of a Musical
Cabaret
Here Lies Love
I Can Get It for You Wholesale
Monty Python’s Spamalot
The Who’s Tommy

Natalie Gold, Alyssa Emily Marvin, Michael Esper, Sarah Paulson, and Corey Stoll in 2ST’s Appropriate. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Outstanding Revival of a Play
An Enemy of the People
Appropriate
Doubt: A Parable
Mary Jane
Philadelphia, Here I Come!
Purlie Victorious

Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play
Jessica Lange, Mother Play
Rachel McAdams, Mary Jane
Sarah Paulson, Appropriate
Jeremy Strong, An Enemy of the People
Michael Stuhlbarg, Patriots

Kara Young, Heather Alicia Simms, Leslie Odom, Jr., Vanessa Bell Calloway, Billy Eugene Jones, and Noah Robbins in PURLIE VICTORIOUS – Photo by Marc J. Franklin.

Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play
Billy Eugene Jones, Purlie Victorious
Celia Keenan-Bolger, Mother Play
Alex Moffat, The Cottage
Jim Parsons, Mother Play
Sarah Pidgeon, Stereophonic
Kara Young, Purlie Victorious

Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical
Ali Louis Bourzgui, The Who’s Tommy
Brian d’Arcy James, Days of Wine and Roses
Casey Likes, Back to the Future
Kelli O’Hara, Days of Wine and Roses
Maryann Plunkett, The Notebook

Brian d’Arcy James and Kelli O’Hara in Broadway’s Days of Wine and Roses. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical
Roger Bart, Back to the Future
Justin Guarini, Once Upon a One More Time
Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, Monty Python’s Spamalot
Kecia Lewis, Hell’s Kitchen
Bebe Neuwirth, Cabaret

Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer (center) and the cast of SPAMALOT. Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman, 2023.

Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical
Jeb Brown, Dead Outlaw
Andrew Durand, Dead Outlaw
Alyse Alan Louis, Teeth
Ben Levi Ross, The Connector
Ricky Ubeda, Illinoise

Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical
Ben Cook, Illinoise
Hannah Cruz, The Connector
Julia Knitel, Dead Outlaw
Judy Kuhn, I Can Get It for You Wholesale
Jessica Molaskey, The Connector
Thom Sesma, Dead Outlaw

Conrad Ricamora and Cole Escola in Oh, Mary! Photo by Emilio Madrid.

Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Play
Cole Escola, Oh, Mary!
Mary Beth Fisher, Swing State
William Jackson Harper, Primary Trust
Marie Mullen, The Saviour
Paul Sparks, Waiting for Godot

Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play
Gus Birney, Our Class
April Matthis, Primary Trust
Conrad Ricamora, Oh, Mary!
Jay O. Sanders, Primary Trust
Bubba Weiler, Swing State

Patrick Page in All The Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented The Villain. Photo by Julieta Cervantes.

Outstanding Solo Performance
Eddie Izzard, Hamlet
Patrick Page, All the Devils Are Here
Mona Pirnot, I Love You So Much I Could Die
Robert Montano, Small
John Rubenstein, Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground

Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Justin Peck and Jackie Sibblies Drury, Illinoise
Anna K. Jacobs and Michael R. Jackson, Teeth
Itamar Moses, Dead Outlaw
Jonathan Marc Sherman, The Connector
Shaina Taub, Suffs

Jenn Colella as Carrie Chapman Catt and the Company of Broadway’s Suffs. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Outstanding Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Jason Robert Brown, The Connector
Will Butler, Stereophonic
Adam Guettel, Days of Wine and Roses
David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna, Dead Outlaw
Shaina Taub, Suffs

Outstanding Orchestrations (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Timo Andres, Illinoise
Adam Guettel and Jamie Lawrence, Days of Wine and Roses
Marco Paguia, Buena Vista Social Club
Michael Starobin, Suffs
Erik Della Penna, Dean Sharenow, and David Yazbek; Dead Outlaw

Mary Beth Fisher and Bubba Weiler in Rebecca Gilman’s Swing State. Photos by Liz Lauren. Taken at the Goodman Theater (2022)

Outstanding Direction of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
David Cromer, Dead Outlaw
Michael Greif, Days of Wine and Roses
Daisy Prince, The Connector
Leigh Silverman, Suffs
Jessica Stone, Water for Elephants

Outstanding Direction of a Play (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Knud Adams, Primary Trust
Daniel Aukin, Stereophonic
Robert Falls, Swing State
Kenny Leon, Purlie Victorious
Lila Neugebauer, Appropriate

Paul Alexander Nolan (center, arms outstretched) with the cast of WATER FOR ELEPHANTS at the Imperial Theatre. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Outstanding Choreography (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Jesse Robb and Shana Carroll, Water for Elephants
Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman, The Outsiders
Lorin Latarro, The Who’s Tommy
Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, Buena Vista Social Club
Justin Peck, Illinoise

Outstanding Scenic Design (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Paul Tate dePoo III, The Cottage
Paul Tate dePoo III, The Great Gatsby
Dots, Appropriate
David Korins, Here Lies Love
David Zinn, Stereophonic

Alyse Alan Louis (center) and the cast of Playwrights Horizons’ Teeth. Photo by Chelcie Parry.

Outstanding Costume Design (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Dede Ayite, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
Enver Chakartash, Stereophonic
Enver Chakartash, Teeth
Linda Cho, The Great Gatsby
Sydney Maresca, The Cottage

Outstanding Lighting Design (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Bradley King, Water for Elephants
Brian MacDevitt, The Outsiders
Justin Townsend, Here Lies Love
Tim Lutkin and Hugh Vanstone, Back to the Future
Amanda Zieve, The Who’s Tommy

Sophia Anne Caruso, Laurie Metcalf, Eamon Patrick O’Connell, Tatiana Maslany, Alyssa Emily Marvin, Paul Sparks, and Millicent Simmonds in Broadway’s Grey House. Photo by MurphyMade, 2023.

Outstanding Sound Design (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Tom Gibbons, Grey House
Gareth Owen, Back to the Future
Gareth Owen, The Who’s Tommy
Ryan Rumery, Stereophonic
M.L. Dogg and Cody Spencer, Here Lies Love

Outstanding Video/Projections (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
David Bengali, Water for Elephants
Paul Tate dePoo III, The Great Gatsby
Peter Nigrini, The Who’s Tommy
Finn Ross, Back to the Future
Ash J. Woodward, Patriots

(Center) Ali Louis Bourzgui (Tommy) and the ensemble of The Who’s Tommy on Broadway. Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

Productions With Multiple Nominations:

Dead Outlaw – 9

The Connector – 7

Stereophonic – 7

Days of Wine and Roses – 6

Illinoise – 6

The Who’s Tommy – 6

Back to the Future – 5

Suffs – 5

Primary Trust – 5

Water for Elephants – 5

Appropriate – 4

The Great Gatsby – 4

Here Lies Love – 4

Mother Play – 4

Purlie Victorious – 4

Swing State – 4

Teeth – 4

Buena Vista Social Club – 3

Oh, Mary! – 3

Patriots – 3

The Cottage – 3

The Outsiders – 3

Cabaret – 2

An Enemy of the People – 2

I Can Get It for You Wholesale – 2

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding – 2

Mary Jane – 2

Monty Python’s Spamalot – 2

The Cottage
Laura Bell Bundy and Eric McCormack in Broadway’s The Cottage. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Broadway Productions Considered in Full
Grey House, Once Upon a One More Time, The Cottage, Back to the Future, The Shark Is Broken, Purlie Victorious, Melissa Etheridge: My Window, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, Gutenberg! The Musical!, I Need That, Monty Python’s Spamalot, How to Dance in Ohio, Appropriate, Days of Wine and Roses, Doubt, The Notebook, An Enemy of the People, Water for Elephants, The Who’s Tommy, The Outsiders, Lempicka, The Wiz, Suffs, Stereophonic, Hell’s Kitchen, Cabaret, The Heart of Rock and Roll, Patriots, Uncle Vanya, The Great Gatsby, Mother Play
 
Only New Elements of the Following Productions Were Considered
Just for Us, Here Lies Love, Merrily We Roll Along, Harmony, Prayer for the French Republic, Mary Jane
 
Additional Eligibility Considerations
Due to its Broadway timeline, Illinoise was viewed during its Park Avenue Armory run and considered in off-Broadway categories, where applicable.

The cast of MCC’s The Connector. Photo by Joan Marcus.


 

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