Awards season is officially underway. Following the April 22 reveal of nominees for the 2024 Drama League Awards, nominations have been revealed for this year's Outer Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best of Broadway and Off-Broadway.
Off-Broadway musical Dead Outlaw leads with nine total nominations, the most of any show, including nods for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical; Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway musical for both Jeb Brown and Andrew Durand; 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 for Penna, Dean Sharenow, and Yazbek; and Direction of a Musical for Cromer.
MCC's The Connector and Stereophonic (currently playing on Broadway following a world premiere run Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons) also fared well with seven nominations each, including Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical and New Broadway Play, respectively.
The Outer Critics Circle's membership includes writers working for more than 90 newspapers, magazines, broadcast stations, and online news organizations worldwide. David Gordon leads the group as president, with a board of directors that also includes Richard Ridge, Joseph Cervelli, Patrick Hoffman, David Roberts, Cynthia Allen, Harry Haun, Dan Rubins, Janice Simpson, and Doug Strassler.
Not considered for these nominations were Off-Broadway's Here We Are, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, and Walk on Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice, none of which invited nominators to performances. Suffs was deemed eligible in Broadway categories after it was ruled at least 50% different from its earlier Off-Broadway staging, and Illinoise was considered for Off-Broadway categories due to the timing of its (still upcoming) Broadway debut.
Winners will be announced May 13 with an awards ceremony to follow May 23. Details on the ceremony are to be announced.
See the full list of nominees below:
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
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
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
Outstanding Revival of a Play
An Enemy of the People
Appropriate
Doubt: A Parable
Mary Jane
Philadelphia, Here I Come!
Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch
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
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
Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical
Roger Bart, Back to the Future
Justin Guarini, Once Upon a One More Time
Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, Spamalot
Kecia Lewis, Hell's Kitchen
Bebe Neuwirth, Cabaret
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 Stage - 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