Outer Critics Circle, the organization of writers and commentators covering New York theater for out-of-town newspapers, national publications and other media beyond Broadway, announced today (April 23, 2019) its nominees for the 2018-19 season. Broadway’s “Tootsie” star Julie Halston along with “Torch Song” sensation Michael Urie presided over the (11AM) announcement ceremony in the Oak Room at New York’s renowned Algonquin Hotel (59 W 44th Street).

Based on a recommendation by the OCC Executive Committee, Special Achievement Awards will be given to The Puppetry Team That Created and Operates King Kong recognizing the artistry and technical achievement that brings a 2,000-pound gorilla to life and to The York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director and Evans Haile, Executive Director) in recognition of 50 years of producing new musicals, as well as classics from the past.

Celebrating its 69th season of bestowing awards of excellence in the field of theatre, the Outer Critics Circle is an association with members affiliated with more than ninety newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, internet, and theatre publications in America and abroad.

The winners will be announced on Monday, May 13th. The annual Gala Awards Dinner and presentation of awards to the winners will be held on Thursday, May 23rd (3 PM) at the legendary Sardi’s Restaurant.

PLEASE NOTE: This season’s early 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 the limited ticket availability and limited run of the show. “Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song” was considered by the OCC for its off-Broadway run during the 2017-2018 season, and only new elements considered for its Broadway transfer. Per the petitioning of its producers, the Broadway production of “Hadestown” was considered in all musical-related categories due

Outer Critics Circle 2018-2019 Award Nominations

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 Café”

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: The Life and Times of the Temptations”

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: The Life and Times of the Temptations”

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 “The Life and Times of the Temptations”

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”

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

The Puppetry Team That Created and Operates 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

PLEASE NOTE:

This season’s early 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 the limited ticket availability and limited run of the show.

Harvey Fierstein’s “Torch Song” was considered by the OCC for its off-Broadway run during the 2017-2018 season, and only new elements 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.