Thursday, April 27, 2023

2023 Outer Critics Circle Nominations Announced

Broadway musical New York, New York leads the pack with twelve nominations, followed by Some Like It Hot with ten nods. Downstate and Leopoldstadt lead the plays, with six nominations each.


Distinguished fight director B.H. Barry will be presented with a Special Achievement Award, in recognition of a six-decade career


Nominees for the 2023 John Gassner Award for New American Play are

Noah Diaz, Ryan J. Haddad, James Ijames, Hansol Jung, and Brian Watkins


(NEW YORK, NY – Wednesday, April 26, 2022) The Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of writers on New York theatre for out-of-town newspapers and national publications, are pleased to announce the nominees for the 72nd Annual Outer Critics Circle Awards, honoring the 2022-2023 Broadway and Off-Broadway season.


Leading the pack with the most honors of the season is the Broadway musical New York, New York, with twelve nominations, followed by Some Like It Hot with ten nods, and Shucked with seven. The most recognized plays of the season are the Off-Broadway production of Downstate and the Broadway production of Leopoldstadt with six nominations each.


Nominees for the annual John Gassner Award — for a new American play, preferably by a new playwright — are Noah Diaz for You Will Get Sick, Ryan J. Haddad for Dark Disabled Stories, James Ijames for Fat Ham, Hansol Jung for Wolf Play, and Brian Watkins for Epiphany.


A Special Achievement Award will be presented to B.H. Barry, one of the world's foremost fight directors, in recognition of a distinguished six-decade career capped off with Camelot at Lincoln Center Theater.


As previously announced, this is the first season with newly reconstructed acting categories, which have removed gender specifications, and been expanded to separately include off-Broadway performers. In the previous configuration, actors in Broadway and off-Broadway productions had been nominated together in the same category.


Winners of the 72nd Annual Outer Critics Circle Awards will be announced on Tuesday, May 16, and the awards ceremony will take place on Thursday, May 25 in the Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center’s New York Public Library for The Performing Arts (111 Amsterdam Avenue, NYC).


Founded during the 1949-50 Broadway season by respected theater journalist John Gassner, The Outer Critics Circle is an esteemed association with members affiliated with more than ninety newspapers, magazines, broadcast stations, and online news organizations, in America and abroad. Led by its current president David Gordon, the OCC Board of Directors also includes Vice President Richard Ridge, Recording Secretary Joseph Cervelli, Corresponding Secretary Patrick Hoffman, Treasurer David Roberts, Harry Haun, Cynthia Allen, Janice Simpson and Doug Strassler. Simon Saltzman is President Emeritus & Board Member (Non-nominating) and Stanley L. Cohen serves as Financial Consultant & Board Member (Non-nominating).


2023 OUTER CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD NOMINATIONS


Outstanding New Broadway Musical

& Juliet

A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical

New York, New York

Shucked

Some Like It Hot


Outstanding New Broadway Play

Good Night, Oscar

Leopoldstadt

Life of Pi

Peter Pan Goes Wrong

Summer, 1976


Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical

The Bedwetter

Between the Lines

The Harder They Come

Only Gold

Without You


Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play

Becomes a Woman

A Case for the Existence of God

Chester Bailey

Downstate

Letters from Max, a ritual


John Gassner Award for New American Play (Preferably by a New Playwright)

Dark Disabled Stories by Ryan J. Haddad

Epiphany by Brian Watkins

Fat Ham by James Ijames

Wolf Play by Hansol Jung

You Will Get Sick by Noah Diaz


Outstanding Revival of a Play (Broadway or Off-Broadway)

Death of a Salesman

Endgame

Ohio State Murders

Topdog/Underdog

Wedding Band


Outstanding Revival of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway)

A Man of No Importance

Into the Woods

Merrily We Roll Along

Parade

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street


Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical

Micaela Diamond – Parade

J. Harrison Ghee – Some Like It Hot

Caroline Innerbichler – Shucked

Colton Ryan – New York, New York

Anna Uzele – New York, New York


Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical

Kevin Del Aguila – Some Like It Hot

Julia Lester – Into the Woods

Alex Newell – Shucked

NaTasha Yvette Williams – Some Like It Hot

Betsy Wolfe - & Juliet


Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play

Hiran Abeysekera – Life of Pi

Jessica Chastain – A Doll's House

Corey Hawkins – Topdog/Underdog

Sean Hayes – Good Night, Oscar

Audra McDonald – Ohio State Murders


Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play

Danielle Brooks – The Piano Lesson

Sharon D Clarke – Death of a Salesman

Michael Potts – The Piano Lesson

Brandon Uranowitz – Leopoldstadt

David Zayas – Cost of Living


Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Play

Ephraim Birney – Chester Bailey

Brittany Bradford – Wedding Band

Marylouise Burke - Epiphany

Bill Irwin – Endgame

Emma Pfitzer Price – Becomes a Woman


Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play

Veanne Cox – Wedding Band

Glenn Davis – Downstate

K. Todd Freeman – Downstate

Francis Guinan - Downstate

Susanna Guzman - Downstate


Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical

Nicholas Barasch – The Butcher Boy

Callum Francis – Kinky Boots

Jonathan Groff – Merrily We Roll Along

Natey Jones – The Harder They Come

Marla Mindelle – Titanique


Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical

Vicki Lewis – Between the Lines

Lindsay Mendez – Merrily We Roll Along

Daniel Radcliffe – Merrily We Roll Along

A.J. Shively – A Man of No Importance

Mare Winningham – A Man of No Importance


Outstanding Solo Performance

Mike Birbiglia – The Old Man & the Pool

Jodie Comer – Prima Facie

Jefferson Mays – A Christmas Carol

Sam Morrison – Sugar Daddy

Anthony Rapp – Without You


Outstanding New Score

Kate Anderson and Elyssa Samsel – Between the Lines

Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally – Shucked

John Kander and Lin-Manuel Miranda – New York, New York

Adam Schlesinger and Sarah Silverman – The Bedwetter

Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman – Some Like It Hot


Outstanding Book of a Musical

Tye Blue, Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli - Titanique

Robert Horn – Shucked

Matthew López and Amber Ruffin – Some Like it Hot

Suzan-Lori Parks – The Harder They Come

David West Read - & Juliet


Outstanding Scenic Design (Play or Musical)

Jason Ardizzone-West – Wedding Band

John Lee Beatty - Epiphany

Beowulf Boritt – New York, New York

Mimi Lien – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Simon Scullion – Peter Pan Goes Wrong


Outstanding Costume Design (Play or Musical)

Dede Ayite – Topdog/Underdog

Gregg Barnes – Some Like it Hot

Brigitte Reiffenstuel – Leopoldstadt

Paloma Young - & Juliet

Donna Zakowska – New York, New York


Outstanding Lighting Design (Play or Musical)

Neil Austin – Leopoldstadt

Ken Billington – New York, New York

Ken Elliott and Ben Stanton – A Christmas Carol

Natasha Katz – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Tim Lutkin – Life of Pi


Outstanding Sound Design (Play or Musical)

John Gromada - Jasper

Kai Harada – New York, New York

Daniel Kluger – Epiphany

André Pluess – Good Night, Oscar

Joshua D. Reid – A Christmas Carol


Outstanding Video or Projection Design (Play or Musical)

Christopher Ash and Beowulf Boritt – New York, New York

Andrzej Goulding – Life of Pi

Lucy Mackinnon – A Christmas Carol

Isaac Madge - Leopoldstadt

Sven Ortel – Parade


Outstanding Orchestrations

Bryan Carter and Charlie Rosen – Some Like It Hot

Sam Davis and Daryl Waters – New York, New York

Jason Howland – Shucked

Bill Sherman - & Juliet

Jonathan Tunick – Merrily We Roll Along


Outstanding Director of a Musical

Michael Arden – Parade

Maria Friedman – Merrily We Roll Along

Casey Nicholaw – Some Like It Hot

Jack O'Brien – Shucked

Susan Stroman – New York, New York


Outstanding Choreography

Andy Blankenbuehler – Only Gold

Edgar Godineaux – The Harder They Come

Casey Nicholaw – Some Like It Hot

Susan Stroman – New York, New York

Jennifer Weber - & Juliet


Outstanding Director of a Play

Kenny Leon – Topdog/Underdog

Pam MacKinnon – Downstate

Patrick Marber - Leopoldstadt

Adam Meggido – Peter Pan Goes Wrong

Max Webster – Life of Pi


Special Achievement Award

To B.H. Barry, one of the world's foremost fight directors, in recognition of a distinguished six-decade career capped off with Camelot at Lincoln Center Theater.

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Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

Copyright

All material is copyright 2008- 2024 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

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Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Reviewing Policy

I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

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