Lucille Lortel Awards Move to Gender-Neutral Performance Categories

The Lucille Lortel Awards, honoring outstanding achievement off-Broadway, have removed gender disctinctions from their performance categories. The actor and actress categories for both musicals and plays will instead be known as Outstanding Lead Performer and Outstanding Supporting Performer. In addition, the newly created category of Outstanding Ensemble will be presented for the first time. The 37th Annual Lortel Awards will take place on May 1, 2022, at 7:00PM. The season cutoff will be March 31, 2022. Nominations will be announced in early April 2022.

“Off-Broadway has always sought to be a shining example of diversity and inclusivity,” said Casey York, President of the Off-Broadway League, in a statement. "We want this to be a way for us to truly recognize the many talented performers in our community.”

The Lortel Awards join a trend that includes the Gotham Awards, which announced in August it would create gender neutral performance categories.

This year's Lucille Lortel Awards were presented on May 7 as a pre-taped special celebrating all those who create off-Broadway excellence.