2026 Outer Critics Circle Award Nominations To Be Announced by The Pitt Stars Isa Briones and Sepideh Moafi

The 2026 Outer Critics Circle Awards, celebrating the 2025-26 Broadway and off-Broadway season of theater, has found its nomination hosts. At 10:00 a.m. on April 21, Isa Briones and Sepideh Moafi will take the day off from the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center's emergency room (aka The Pitt) to announce the nominees. The nominations announcement event will be held at the Museum of Broadway and livestreamed by BroadwayWorld.com.

Nominees, past winners and members will be celebrated at a cocktail reception on April 27 at West Bank Cafe. Winners of the 2026 Outer Critics Circle Awards will be announced on May 11, followed by an awards ceremony held on May 21 at the MMAC Theater.

Briones currently stars as Connie Francis in Just In Time on Broadway, which marks her return to the stage after making her Broadway debut as Eurydice in Hadestown in 2024. Her additional TV and stage credits include Dr. Trinity Santos on HBO Max’s The Pitt, the Disney+ series Goosebumps, the Paramount+ series Star Trek: Picard, FX’s American Crime Story: Versace, the Hamilton national tour, Musical Theatre West’s production of Grease and East West Players’ Next to Normal, for which she won an L.A. Ovation Award.

Moafi stars as Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi on season two of The Pitt. As previously announced, she will also star in the 2026 off-Broadway production of New Born from May 8 to June 8 opposite Marianna Gailus and Hugh Jackman. Other TV and film credits include Black Bird, Class of ’09, The L Word: Generation Q and The Killing of Two Lovers. Moafi’s stage career consists of performances off-Broadway and at renowned venues around the world, including Lincoln Center Theater, David Geffen Hall with the New York Philharmonic, Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco and The John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Last year, Maybe Happy Ending won for Outstanding New Broadway Musical and John Proctor is the Villain won Outstanding New Broadway Play. Drag: The Musical took home the prize for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical and Liberation followed suit in the Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play category. Cats: The Jellicle Ball, currently enjoying a fabulous Broadway run at the Broadhurst Theatre, won for Outstanding Revival of a Musical and Vanya won Outstanding Revival of a Play.