Hadestown Leads Winners of 2019 Outer Critics Circle Awards

Winners are here for the 69th annual Outer Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best theater on, off- and off-off-Broadway in the 2018-2019 season. Leading the slate of winners is Hadestown with six awards including Outstanding New Broadway Musical. Other top prizes went to Girl from the North Country as Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical, The Ferryman as Outstanding New Broadway Play and White Noise as Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play. The prize for Outstanding Revival of a Musical went to the Yiddish-language production of Fiddler on the Roof, with the award for Outstanding Revival of a Play going to All My Sons.

The Outer Critics Circle is an association of members affiliated with more than 90 newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, internet and theater publications in America and abroad. Winners will be honored at a gala awards dinner set for May 23 at Sardi's Restaurant. Jenn Colella, Tina Fey, Montego Glover, Hamish Linklater, Lindsay Mendez and Lily Rabe will co-host.

Special Notes:

• This season's production of The Boys in the Band was not eligible for Outer Critics Circle Awards because the production did not accommodate nominators due to limited ticket availability and the limited run of the show.
• Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song was considered by the Outer Critics Circle for its off-Broadway run during the 2017-2018 season, and only new elements were considered for its Broadway transfer.
• Per the petitioning of its producers, the Broadway production of Hadestown was considered in all musical-related categories due to substantial changes to its book, score and production from its off-Broadway premiere.

A full list of winners can be found below in bold and preceded by an asterisk.

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 (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 121st 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 Cafe

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

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

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR OF A PLAY
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

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

JOHN GASSNER 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 puppetry team that created and operates the title character in King Kong, recognizing 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 onstage: 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

Productions with Multiple Wins
Hadestown—6
All My Sons—2
The Cher Show—2
The Ferryman—2
King Kong—2 (plus a special award)
Tootsie—2