The Outer Critics Circle Nominations Wrestle With a Strange Theater Season

For the first time in years, I attended the announcement of the Outer Critics Circle nominations, which The Algonquin Hotel graciously hosted in its Blue Bar yesterday morning. I wanted to show my support since it's kind of a strange year for the OCC because two of Broadway's biggest shows aren't in the running for its awards.

The first is Hamilton. Since we (I've been a Circle member for several years now) recognize shows both on and off Broadway, we named Hamilton the Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical of the 2014-2015 season when it debuted at the Public Theater last year. And that means the show (which just won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama Monday) can't be considered again this season under our double-jeopardy rules.

 

The other show sitting out this year is Shuffle Along, or as it's more formally being called Shuffle Along, Or the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed. This new meta-musical, written and directed by George C. Wolfe, choreographed by Savion Glover and featuring an all-star cast lead by Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Billy Porter, is still being worked on in previews. So the show's producers sent a message saying it wouldn't be ready in time for our nominators to see.

Luckily, it's been a bustling year on and off Broadway and so there were plenty of other worthy productions to consider and reward. The much-lauded revival of She Loves Me and the opening-tomorrow new musical American Psycho lead the list with eight nominations each. 

The revival of Eugene O'Neill's semi-autobiographical Long Day's Journey into Night and Eclipsed, Danai Gurira's affecting drama about women struggling to survive during Liberia's civil wars, scored with five nods each. In fact, four of the five nominees for Featured Actress in a Play come from plays written by Gurira.

You may not agree with all the choices (I wish that Guards at the Taj, Rajiv Joseph's superb meditation on beauty and friendship; and Southern Comfort, the sweet musical about a community of transgender people, had gotten more love) but I think you're likely to admit that all the nominees are deserving.

The winners will be announced May 9. Between now and then, I've got a few more shows to see and a lot of hard decisions to make. Take a look at the full list of nominees below and try to figure out which you'd choose as the best:

OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY PLAY

Eclipsed

The Father

The Humans

King Charles III

Thérèse Raquin

OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY MUSICAL

American Psycho the Musical

Bright Star

On Your Feet!

Tuck Everlasting the Musical

Waitress

OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY PLAY

The Christians

Familiar

Gloria

Hold On to Me Darling

The Legend of Georgia McBride

OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL

Cagney

Daddy Long Legs

Dear Evan Hansen

Lazarus

Southern Comfort

OUTSTANDING BOOK OF A MUSICAL

(Broadway or Off-Broadway)

Bright Star

Daddy Long Legs

Dear Evan Hansen

Lazarus

On Your Feet!

OUTSTANDING NEW SCORE

(Broadway or Off-Broadway)

American Psycho the Musical

Bright Star

Daddy Long Legs

Dear Evan Hansen

Waitress

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A PLAY

(Broadway or Off-Broadway)

Blackbird

The Crucible

Fool for Love

Long Day’s Journey Into Night

A View From the Bridge

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL

(Broadway or Off-Broadway)

The Color Purple the Musical

Dames at Sea

Fiddler on the Roof

She Loves Me

Spring Awakening

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR OF A PLAY

Evan Cabnet     Gloria

Mike Donahue     The Legend of Georgia McBride

Rupert Goold     King Charles III

Joe Mantello     The Humans

Ivo van Hove     A View From the Bridge

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR OF A MUSICAL

Michael Arden     Spring Awakening

Walter Bobbie     Bright Star

Scott Ellis     She Loves Me

Rupert Goold     American Psycho the Musical

Michael Greif     Dear Evan Hansen

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHER

Joshua Bergasse   Cagney

Spencer Liff     Spring Awakening

Josh Rhodes     Bright Star

Randy Skinner     Dames at Sea

Sergio Trujillo     On Your Feet!

OUTSTANDING SET DESIGN

(Play or Musical)

Beowulf Boritt     Thérèse Raquin

David Korins     Misery

Mimi Lien     John

David Rockwell     She Loves Me

Walt Spangler     Tuck Everlasting the Musical

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN

(Play or Musical)

ESosa     On Your Feet!

Jane Greenwood     Bright Star

Katrina Lindsay     American Psycho the Musical

Jeff Mahshie     She Loves Me

Tom Scutt     King Charles III

OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN

(Play or Musical)
Donald Holder     She Loves Me

Natasha Katz     Long Day’s Journey Into Night

Kenneth Posner     On Your Feet!

Ben Stanton     Spring Awakening

Justin Townsend     American Psycho the Musical

OUTSTANDING PROJECTION DESIGN [a new category!]

(Play or Musical)
Lucy MacKinnon     Spring Awakening

Peter Nigrini     Grounded

Peter Nigrini     Dear Evan Hansen

Finn Ross     American Psycho the Musical

Tal Yarden     Lazarus

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A PLAY

Reed Birney    The Humans

Gabriel Byrne     Long Day’s Journey Into Night

Frank Langella     The Father

Mark Strong     A View From the Bridge

Ben Whishaw     The Crucible

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A PLAY

Jayne Houdyshell     The Humans

Jessica Lange     Long Day’s Journey Into Night

Lupita Nyong’o     Eclipsed

Nicola Walker     A View From the Bridge

Michelle Williams     Blackbird

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

Alex Brightman     School of Rock the Musical

Danny Burstein     Fiddler on the Roof

Robert Creighton     Cagney

Ben Platt     Dear Evan Hansen

Benjamin Walker     American Psycho the Musical

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Laura Benanti     She Loves Me

Carmen Cusack    Bright Star

Cynthia Erivo     The Color Purple the Musical

Jessie Mueller     Waitress

Ana Villafañe     On Your Feet!

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY

Sanjit De Silva     Dry Powder

Matt McGrath     The Legend of Georgia McBride

Jim Norton     The Crucible

Robert Sella     Sylvia

Michael Shannon     Long Day’s Journey Into Night

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY

Pascale Armand     Eclipsed

Zainab Jah     Eclipsed

Judith Light     Thérèse Raquin

Saycon Sengbloh     Eclipsed

Myra Lucretia Taylor     Familiar      

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

Nicholas Barasch     She Loves Me

Roger Bart     Disaster!

Michael Esper     Lazarus

Christopher Fitzgerald     Waitress

Terrence Mann     Tuck Everlasting the Musical

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Danielle Brooks     The Color Purple the Musical

Andrea Burns     On Your Feet!

Sophia Anne Caruso     Lazarus

Jane Krakowski     She Loves Me  

Heléne Yorke     American Psycho the Musical 

OUTSTANDING SOLO PERFORMANCE

Mike Birbiglia    Thank God For Jokes

Kathleen Chalfant     Rose

Anne Hathaway     Grounded    

James Lecesne     The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey

Daphne Rubin-Vega     Empanada Loca

JOHN GASSNER AWARD

(Presented for an American play, preferably by a new playwright)

Lindsey Ferrentino     Ugly Lies the Bone

Lauren Gunderson     I and You

Martyna Majok     Ironbound

Marco Ramirez     The Royale

Anna Ziegler     Boy

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

James Houghton     Signature Theatre Company