Outer Critics Circle Awards 2023 nominations announced ahead of ceremony

The Outer Critics Circle has announced nominations for its 72nd annual Outer Critics Circle Awards 2023, honouring Broadway and Off-Broadway shows in the 2022 to 2023 season.

The Outer Critics Circle is the official organisation of writers on New York theatre for out-of-town US newspapers and national publications.

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Leading the nominees is Broadway musical New York, New York, with twelve nominations, followed by Some Like It Hot with ten nominations.

The most recognised plays of the season include the Off-Broadway production of Downstate and the Broadway production of Leopoldstadt , both with six nominations each.

Nominated shows that originated in London and transferred to Broadway or Off-Broadway include Prima Facie, & Juliet, Leopoldstadt, Merrily We Roll Along, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, Death of a Salesman, and Life of Pi.

Performers that wowed audiences in London and are now doing the same in New York, and have been nominated, include Jodie Comer and Hiran Abeysekera.

The winners will be revealed on 16 May 2023, and the awards ceremony will take place on 25 May 2023 at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center’s New York Public Library for The Performing Arts.

This is the first year the Outer Critics Circle has introduced gender neutral acting categories, and the eligibility cut-off date for nominators to attend a show was 23 April 2023.

The nominations come a day after the Drama League revealed the nominations for their Drama League Awards 2023.

2023 Outer Critics Circle Awards – Nominations

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
K. 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, in recognition of a distinguished six-decade career capped off with Camelot at Lincoln Center Theater.

Notes

Only new elements of Cost of Living, Kimberly Akimbo, Ain’t No Mo’, Between Riverside and Crazy, and Kinky Boots were considered.
The Broadway productions considered in full during this cycle are (in order of opening) 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.

SHOWS WITH MULTIPLE NOMINATIONS
12 – New York, New York
10 – Some Like It Hot
7 – Shucked
6 – Downstate
6 – Merrily We Roll Along
6 – Leopoldstadt
6 – & Juliet
5 – Life of Pi
4 – A Christmas Carol
4 – The Harder They Come
4 – Topdog/Underdog
4 – Parade
4 – Epiphany
4 – Wedding Band
3 – Good Night, Oscar
3 – Peter Pan Goes Wrong
3 – Between the Lines
3 – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
2 – Only Gold
2 – Becomes a Woman
2 – Into the Woods
2 – Chester Bailey
2 – Titanique
2 – The Bedwetter

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