2004 Outer Critics Noms Out; Wicked Takes 10

The hit musical Wicked swept the 2004 Outer Critics Circle Award nominations, picking up a total of 10 nods including Outstanding Broadway Musical. Wicked was way ahead of the pack of nominated shows--Fiddler on the Roof was the next highest nominee, with six mentions including Outstanding Revival of a Musical.

Outer Critics Circle is an organization of writers covering Broadway for out-of-town newspapers, national publications and other media. The winners of the 54th annual award ceremony will be announced on Monday, May 3 and toasted at a special reception at Sardi's on Thursday, May 27.

Some notes on this year's nominees:

- Two hits from early in the season--Avenue Q and Golda's Balcony--were ineligible as they had been nominated for last year's awards based on off-Broadway runs. The Outer Critics nominators did, however, honor Avenue Q with a special achievement award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance and Puppet Artistry.

- Other productions of the 2003-2004 Broadway season deemed ineligible in the Broadway categories were Prymate, the new Mark Medoff play that opens on May 5 at the Longacre Theatre, and Frozen, which opens May 4 at the Circle in the Square. Frozen was, however, eligible as an off-Broadway show based on its just-finished run at MCC Theater. Prymate will be eligible for consideration for next year's awards.

- The Roundabout Theatre Company/Deaf West Theatre revival of Big River, one of the better reviewed musicals of the season, was completely snubbed by nominators.

Here are this year's nominees:

OUTSTANDING BROADWAY PLAY
Anna in the Tropics
I Am My Own Wife
Match
Sixteen Wounded

OUTSTANDING BROADWAY MUSICAL
Bombay Dreams
Caroline, or Change
The Boy from Oz
Wicked

OUTSTANDING OFF-BROADWAY PLAY
The Beard of Avon
Bug
Frozen
Intimate Apparel
Well

OUTSTANDING OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL
Fame on 42nd Street
Johnny Guitar
The Thing About Men

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A PLAY
A Raisin in the Sun
Henry IV
Jumpers
Sly Fox
The Caretaker

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
Assassins
Fiddler on the Roof
Little Shop of Horrors
Wonderful Town

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A PLAY
Simon Russell Beale, Jumpers
Kevin Kline, Henry IV
Frank Langella, Match
Brían F. O'Byrne, Frozen
Richard Thomas, The Stendhal Syndrome

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Eileen Atkins, The Retreat From Moscow
Viola Davis, Intimate Apparel
Swoosie Kurtz, Frozen
Zilah Mendoza, Living Out
Phylicia Rashad, A Raisin in the Sun

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY
René Auberjonois, Sly Fox
Ned Beatty, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Teagle F. Bougere, A Raisin in the Sun
Aidan Gillen, The Caretaker
Omar Metwally, Sixteen Wounded

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Julie Halston, Twentieth Century
Jayne Houdyshell, Well
Margo Martindale, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Jan Maxwell, Sixteen Wounded
Audra McDonald, A Raisin in the Sun

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Gregg Edelman, Wonderful Town
Hunter Foster, Little Shop of Horrors
Hugh Jackman, The Boy from Oz
Alfred Molina, Fiddler on the Roof
Euan Morton, Taboo

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Kerry Butler, Little Shop of Horrors
Kristin Chenoweth, Wicked
Idina Menzel, Wicked
Donna Murphy, Wonderful Town
Tonya Pinkins, Caroline, or Change

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
John Cariani, Fiddler on the Roof
Michael Cerveris, Assassins
Mitchel David Federan, The Boy from Oz
Sriram Ganesan, Bombay Dreams
Joel Grey, Wicked

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Ayesha Dharker, Bombay Dreams
Randy Graff, Fiddler on the Roof
Isabel Keating, The Boy from Oz
Carole Shelley, Wicked
Karen Ziemba, Never Gonna Dance

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A PLAY
Doug Hughes, Frozen
Moisés Kaufman, I Am My Own Wife
Jack O'Brien, Henry IV
Daniel Sullivan, Intimate Apparel

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
David Leveaux, Fiddler on the Roof
Joe Mantello, Wicked
Kathleen Marshall, Wonderful Town
George C. Wolfe, Caroline, or Change

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY
Wayne Cilento, Wicked
Kathleen Marshall, Wonderful Town
Joey McKneely, The Boy from Oz
Jerry Mitchell, Never Gonna Dance
Anthony Van Laast and Farah Kahn, Bombay Dreams

OUTSTANDING SET DESIGN
John Lee Beatty, Twentieth Century
Ralph Funicello, Henry IV
Eugene Lee, Wicked
Vicki Mortimer, Jumpers

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN
Jess Goldstein, Henry IV
Susan Hilferty, Wicked
Mike Nicholls and Bobby Pearce, Taboo
Catherine Zuber, Intimate Apparel

OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN
Jules Fisher & Peggy Eisenhauer, Assassins
David Lander, I Am My Own Wife
Brian MacDevitt, Fiddler on the Roof
Kenneth Posner, Wicked

OUTSTANDING SOLO PERFORMANCE
Sarah Jones, Bridge & Tunnel
Jefferson Mays, I Am My Own Wife
Martin Moran, The Tricky Part
Angelica Torn, Edge

JOHN GASSNER AWARD
Presented for an American play, preferably by a new playwright
Nilo Cruz, Anna in the Tropics
Tracy Letts, Bug
Lynn Nottage, Intimate Apparel
Tristine Skyler, The Moonlight Room

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Outstanding Ensemble Performance and Puppet Artistry - Avenue Q

Productions with three or more nominations:
Wicked - 10
Fiddler on the Roof - 6
Henry IV - 5
Intimate Apparel - 5
The Boy from Oz - 5
Wonderful Town - 5
A Raisin in the Sun - 4
Bombay Dreams - 4
Frozen - 4
I Am My Own Wife - 4
Assassins - 3
Caroline, or Change - 3
Jumpers - 3
Little Shop of Horrors - 3
Sixteen Wounded - 3