Outer Critics Circle Sets Plans for 70th Annual Awards

We now know what is going to happen with this year's Outer Critics Circle Awards. The OCCs, which honor Broadway, off and off-off-Broadway, is scrapping competition. In lieu of traditional nominees with one winner in each category, the 70th Annual Outer Critics Circle Awards will celebrate up to five honorees in each of its 26 categories as well as four recipients of the John Gassner Award, which honors works by new American playwrights and offers a monetary prize. Honorees will be announced on May 11.

“The Outer Critics Circle has thought long and hard about a way to honor the nearly 200 productions that opened this year, while also respecting those shows that were canceled, postponed or forced to close shortly after opening," said OCC President David Gordon. "This format allows us to celebrate the truncated theater season and our 70th anniversary by creating a sense of communal joy at a time when we all need it most."

With an eligibility cutoff of March 6, nearly 150 off-Broadway productions will be considered for the honors, in addition to eligible Broadway productions, which include Betrayal, A Christmas Carol, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Grand Horizons, The Great Society, The Height of the Storm, The Inheritance, Jagged Little Pill, The Lightning Thief, Linda Vista, Moulin Rouge!, My Name Is Lucy Barton, The Rose Tattoo, A Soldier's Play, The Sound Inside, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical and West Side Story. Only new elements will be considered for the following Broadway productions, which were eligible in previous seasons: Girl From the North Country, Sea Wall/A Life and Slave Play.

The OCC is an association of members affiliated with more than 90 newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, Internet and theater publications in America and abroad. 

The OCC will also make a donation to The Actors' Fund for emergency relief efforts.