Hadestown Tops Outer Critics Award Winners

Amber Gray and the Broadway cast of Hadestown credit Matthew Murphy

Outer Critics Circle

2018-2019 Awards

Winners are in bold with *

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 (THE MARJORIE GUNNER AWARD)

(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 121^st 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

(THE LUCILLE LORTEL AWARD)

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 PLAYWRITING 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 Kongrecognizing 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, David Yijae, Christopher Hampton Grant, Jena VanEslander, Scott Webber, Warren Yang, James Retter Duncan, Jonathan MacMillan, and Leigh-Ann Vizer.

 * 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

Broadway Theater Review: Hadestown

Amber Gray and the Broadway cast of Hadestown credit Matthew Murphy

Commentary here:
http://www.audreyrusso.com/Lauren_Yarger_0519_intro.mp3

Hadestown
Book, Music and Lyrics by Anaïs Mitchell, developed with Rachel Chavkin
Choreographed by David Neumann
Directed by Rachel Chavkin
Walter Kerr Theatre

Following two intertwining love stories — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone — Hadestown invites audiences on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back. Anaïs Mitchell’s (music, lyrics & book) beguiling melodies and Rachel Chavkin’s (director) poetic imagination pit industry against nature, doubt against faith, and fear against love. Performed by a vibrant ensemble of actors, dancers, and singers, Hadestown delivers a deeply resonant and defiantly hopeful theatrical experience.

The cast is led by Reeve Carney as Orpheus, Eva Noblezada as Eurydice, Amber Gray as Persephone, Patrick Page as Hades, and André De Shields as Hermes. The cast also features Jewelle Blackman, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, and Kay Trinidad as the Fates. The Workers Chorus is played by Afra Hines, Timothy Hughes, John Krause, Kimberly Marable, and Ahmad Simmons. The full cast also includes swings Malcolm Armwood, T. Oliver Reid, Jessie Shelton, and Khaila Wilcoxon.

The creative team for Broadway features Rachel Hauck (scenic design), Michael Krass (costume design), Bradley King (lighting design), Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz (sound design), David Neumann (choreography), Liam Robinson (music direction and vocal arrangements), Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose (arrangements and orchestrations), and Ken Cerniglia (dramaturgy). Production stage manager is Beverly Jenkins and casting is by Stewart/Whitley.

Broadway Theater Review: Tootsie

Commentary here:

http://www.audreyrusso.com/Lauren_Yarger_0519_intro.mp3

Tootsie
Music and Lyrics by David Yazbek
Book by Robert Horn
Choreographed by Denis Jones
Directed by Scott Ellis

TOOTSIE tells the story of a talented but difficult actor who struggles to find work until one show-stopping act of desperation lands him the role of a lifetime – as the star of a new Broadway musical.

The company is led by Tony Award nominee Santino Fontana as Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels, Lilli Cooper as Julie Nichols, Tony Award nominee Sarah Stiles as Sandy Lester, John Behlmann as Max Van Horn, Andy Grotelueschen as Jeff Slater, Julie Halston as Rita Marshall, Tony Award winner MICHAEL Mcgrath as Stan Fields, and Tony Award nominee Reg Rogers as Ron Carlisle.

The design team for TOOTSIE includes scenic designer David Rockwell, costume designer William Ivey Long, lighting designer Donald Holder, sound designer Brian Ronan, hair and wig design by Paul Huntley, and make-up design by Angelina Avallone.

Broadway Theater Review: Ink

Bertie Carvel, Bill Buell, JOhnny Lee Miller, Robert Stanton, Eden Marryschool. Photo: Joan Marcus

Commentary here:
http://www.audreyrusso.com/Lauren_Yarger_0519_intro.mp3

INK

By James Graham

Directed by Robert Goold

Friedman Theatre

Manhattan Theatre Club’s American premiere of INK, written by Olivier Award winner James Graham (Labour of Love, Privacy, Finding Neverland) and directed by two-time Olivier Award winner, Tony and BAFTA Award nominee and Almeida Theatre Artistic Director Rupert Goold(King Charles III).

Two-time Olivier Award winner Bertie Carvel (Matilda) reprises his Olivier Award-winning performance as Rupert Murdoch and Olivier Award winner Jonny Lee Miller (“Elementary,” Frankenstein) plays the editor of The Sun, Larry Lamb.

It’s 1969 London.  The brash young Rupert Murdoch purchases a struggling paper, The Sun, and sets out to make it a must-read smash which will destroy - and ultimately horrify - the competition. He brings on rogue editor Larry Lamb who in turn recruits an unlikely team of underdog reporters. Together, they will go to any lengths for success and the race for the most ink is on! Inspired by real events and a recent hit in London’s West End, James Graham’s electrifying new play comes to Broadway in the exhilarating Almeida Theatre production, directed by Rupert Goold. In its London run, The Guardian called it “riveting,” and Time Out hailed it as “an incredibly brilliant stunner.”

Joining Olivier Award winners Bertie Carvel and Jonny Lee Miller are David Wilson Barnes (The Lieutenant of Inishmore), Bill Buell (The History Boys), Andrew Durand (Head Over Heels), Eden Marryshow (Broadway Debut),Colin McPhillamy (The Ferryman), Erin Neufer (Broadway Debut), Kevin Pariseau (Legally Blonde), Rana Roy(Broadway Debut), Michael Siberry (Junk), Robert Stanton (Saint Joan), and Tara Summers (The Hard Problem). 

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Broadway Theater Review: Beetljuice

Commentary here:
http://www.audreyrusso.com/Lauren_Yarger_0519_intro.mp3

Beetlejuice
Music by Eddie Perfect
Book by Scott Browan and Anthony King
Choreography by Connor Gallagher
Directed by Alex Timbers

BEETLEJUICE, directed by Alex Timbers, with an original score by Eddie Perfect, a book byScott Brown & Anthony King, music supervision, orchestrations and incidental music by Kris Kukul, and choreography by Connor Gallagher.

BEETLEJUICE stars Alex Brightman, Sophia Anne Caruso, Kerry Butler, Rob McClure, Adam Dannheisser, and Leslie Kritzer, with Jill Abramovitz, Kelvin Moon Loh, Danny Rutigliano, and Dana Steingold, in a cast of 25 that includes Tessa Alves, Gilbert L. Bailey II, Will Blum, Johnny Brantley III, Ryan Breslin, Natalie Charle Ellis, Brooke Engen, Abe Goldfarb, Eric Anthony Johnson, Elliott Mattox, Mateo Melendez, Sean Montgomery, Ramone Owens, Presley Ryan and Kim Sava.



It’s showtime, folks! The ghost-with-the-most comes to the stage in this edgy and irreverent musical comedy based on Tim Burton’s dearly beloved film.BEETLEJUICE tells the story of Lydia Deetz, a strange and unusual teenager obsessed with the whole “being dead thing.” Lucky for Lydia, her new house is haunted by a recently deceased couple and Beetlejuice, a delightful demon with a real zest for life. When Lydia calls on Beetlejuice to scare away anyone with a pulse, this double-crossing specter shows his true stripes, unleashing a (Nether)world of pandemonium, and the biggest sandworm Broadway has ever seen.

BEETLEJUICE features scenic design by David Korins, costume design by William Ivey Long, lighting design by Kenneth Posner, sound design by Peter Hylenski, projection design by Peter Nigrini, puppet design by Michael Curry, special effects design by Jeremy Chernick, illusions by Michael Weber, hair & wig design by Charles G. LaPointe and make-up design by Joe Dulude.