Parsing the Outer Critics Circle Nominations

There's no question that the Tonys are the Oscars, or most desired awards, of the theater world but there are other coveted prizes too. Yesterday, the Outer Critics Circle, of which I'm a proud member, announced our nominations for the best work of the 2016-2017 season. And it's been such a strong year that even if your favorites got slighted (as a couple of mine did) few, if any, of the choices are likely to make you wonder what-were-they-thinking.

The OCC recognizes both off-Broadway and Broadway shows and since there were so many transfers from the former to the latter this year, some of the biggest Broadway titles weren't even considered for this year's OCC awards because they'd already been honored for their earlier runs. Among them were Dear Evan Hansen and Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, both acknowledged frontrunners for the Tony for Best Musical.

Still, there are plenty of other new musicals to take their places on the ballot and Anastasia (with music by Lynne Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty and a book by Terrence McNally) has emerged as the biggest contender with 13 nominations, the most for any show.

Anastasia is up for Outstanding Broadway Musical against Come from Away, Groundhog Day and, surprisingly to me, Holiday Inn. Which means that the recently-opened Amélie, Bandstand, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and War Paint, all failed to make the cut.

But the competition may be the most fierce in the category of Outstanding New Broadway Play, with the contenders being A Doll's House, Part 2, Indecent, Oslo and Sweat.

The acting categories are mainly dominated by big names (Nathan Lane, Bette Midler, Patti LuPone, Kevin Kline, Christine Ebersole and David Hyde Pierce twice) but I was particularly pleased to see that the lovely young actress Katrina Lenk has won two much-deserved nominations for her performances as a featured actress in the off-Broadway musical The Band's Visit and in the play Indecent. She's got tough competition in both categories but win or lose, she's a talent worth cheering.

This year's categories also include two new additions for Sound Design and Orchestrations, both of which the Tony Awards just announced they'll also be adding to their roster next year. 

The OCC winners will be announced May 15, which will give me just barely enough time to see all the nominated productions before I have to cast my votes. In the meantime, here's the full list of the nominees in case you want to do the same: 

OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY PLAY
A Doll’s House, Part 2
Indecent
Oslo
Sweat

OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY MUSICAL
Anastasia
A Bronx Tale
Come From Away
Groundhog Day
Holiday Inn

OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY PLAY
If I Forget
Incognito
A Life
Linda
Love, Love, Love

OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL
The Band’s Visit
Hadestown
Himself and Nora
Kid Victory
Spamilton

OUTSTANDING BOOK OF A MUSICAL (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Terrence McNally     Anastasia
Itamar Moses     The Band’s Visit
Chazz Palminteri     A Bronx Tale
Danny Rubin     Groundhog Day
Irene Sankoff & David Hein     Come From Away

OUTSTANDING NEW SCORE (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Stephen Flaherty & Lynn Ahrens     Anastasia
Alan Menken & Glenn Slater     A Bronx Tale
Tim Minchin     Groundhog Day
Irene Sankoff & David Hein     Come From Away
David Yazbek     The Band’s Visit

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A PLAY (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
The Front Page
Jitney
The Little Foxes
Othello
The Price

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Finian’s Rainbow
Hello, Dolly!
Miss Saigon
Sunset Boulevard
Sweeney Todd

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR OF A PLAY
Lila Neugebauer     The Wolves
Jack O’Brien     The Front Page
Daniel Sullivan     The Little Foxes
Rebecca Taichman     Indecent
Kate Whoriskey     Sweat

 OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR OF A MUSICAL
Christopher Ashley     Come From Away
David Cromer     The Band’s Visit
Darko Tresnjak     Anastasia
Matthew Warchus     Groundhog Day
Jerry Zaks     Hello, Dolly!

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHER
Andy Blankenbuehler     Bandstand
Warren Carlyle     Hello, Dolly!
*Savion Glover     Shuffle Along 
Kelly Devine     Come From Away
Denis Jones     Holiday Inn

*from last season since the show wasn't ready to be seen by the 2015-2016 nominators

OUTSTANDING SET DESIGN (Play or Musical)
Alexander Dodge     Anastasia
Nigel Hook     The Play That Goes Wrong
Mimi Lien     Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Scott Pask     The Little Foxes
Douglas W. Schmidt     The Front Page

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN (Play or Musical)
Linda Cho     Anastasia
Susan Hilferty     Present Laughter
Santo Loquasto     Hello, Dolly!
*Ann Roth     Shuffle Along
Catherine Zuber     War Paint

*from last season since the show wasn't ready to be seen by the 2015-2016 nominators

OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN (Play or Musical)
Christopher Akerlind     Indecent
Donald Holder     Anastasia
Natasha Katz     Hello, Dolly!
Bradley King     Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Kenneth Posner     War Paint

OUTSTANDING PROJECTION DESIGN (Play or Musical)
Duncan McLean     Privacy
Jared Mezzocchi     Vietgone
Benjamin Pearcy for 59 Productions     Oslo
Aaron Rhyne     Anastasia
Tal Yarden     Indecent

OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN (Play or Musical)
Gareth Fry & Pete Malkin     The Encounter
Gareth Owen     Come From Away
Nicholas Pope     Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Matt Stine     Sweeney Todd
Nevin Steinberg     Bandstand

OUTSTANDING ORCHESTRATIONS
Doug Besterman     Anastasia
Larry Blank     Holiday Inn
Bill Elliott & Greg Anthony Rassen     Bandstand
Larry Hochman     Hello, Dolly!
Jamshied Sharifi     The Band’s Visit

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A PLAY
Daniel Craig     Othello
Michael Emerson     Wakey, Wakey
Kevin Kline     Present Laughter
David Oyelowo     Othello
David Hyde Pierce     A Life

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Janie Dee     Linda
Sally Field     The Glass Menagerie
Allison Janney     Six Degrees of Separation
Laura Linney     The Little Foxes
Laurie Metcalf     A Doll’s House, Part 2

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Christian Borle     Falsettos
Nick Cordero     A Bronx Tale
Andy Karl     Groundhog Day
David Hyde Pierce     Hello, Dolly!
Tony Shalhoub     The Band’s Visit

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Christy Altomare     Anastasia
Christine Ebersole     War Paint
Katrina Lenk     The Band’s Visit
Patti LuPone     War Paint
Bette Midler     Hello, Dolly!

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY
Michael Aronov     Oslo
Danny DeVito     The Price
Nathan Lane     The Front Page
Richard Thomas     The Little Foxes
Richard Topol     Indecent

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Johanna Day     Sweat
Jayne Houdyshell     A Doll’s House, Part 2
Katrina Lenk     Indecent
Nana Mensah     Man From Nebraska
Cynthia Nixon     The Little Foxes

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
John Bolton     Anastasia
Jeffry Denman     Kid Victory
Gavin Creel     Hello, Dolly!
Shuler Hensley     Sweet Charity
Andrew Rannells     Falsettos

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Kate Baldwin     Hello, Dolly!
Stephanie J. Block     Falsettos
Jenn Colella     Come From Away
Caroline O’Connor     Anastasia  
Mary Beth Peil     Anastasia

OUTSTANDING SOLO PERFORMANCE
Ed Dixon     Georgie: My Adventures with George Rose
Marin Ireland     On the Exhale
Sarah Jones     Sell / Buy / Date
Judith Light     All the Ways to Say I Love You
Simon McBurney     The Encounter

JOHN GASSNER AWARD
(Presented for an American play, preferably by a new playwright)
Jaclyn Backhaus     Men on Boats
Sarah DeLappe     The Wolves
Paola Lázaro     Tell Hector I Miss Him
Qui Nguyen     Vietgone
Bess Wohl     Small Mouth Sounds