NYDCC Awards Purpose, Maybe Happy Ending, Scott, Liberation Cast

Helen J. Shen and Darren Criss in
Maybe Happy Ending,
Best Musical winner from the NYDCC.
Credit: Matthew Murphy and 
Evan Zimmerman

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Purpose and Will Aronson and Hue Park's Maybe Happy Ending were voted Best Play and Best Musical of the 2024-25 season by The New York Drama Critics Circle on May 5. Purpose had won the Pulitzer Prize and the American Theater Critics Association's Steinberg Award earlier the same day. The 89th meeting of the Circle took place at the offices of Time Out New York and lasted three and a half hours. The group introduced two new categories this year with Best Individual Performance going to Andrew Scott for Vanya and Best Ensemble to the cast of Liberation. Special citations were awarded to Cole Escola, performer and playwright for Oh, Mary!, Cats: The Jellicle Ball, and to David Greenspan for Lifetime Achievement. (There are rumors this production of Cats will transfer to Broadway next season, but nothing has been confirmed.) The awards will be presented on May 15 in a private ceremony at 54 Below. The Best Play prize includes a $2,500 check from the Lucille Lortel Foundation.

The New York Drama Critics’ Circle comprises 23 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines, wire services and websites based in the New York metropolitan area. The New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, which has been awarded every year since 1936 to the best new play of the season is the nation's second-oldest playwriting award, after the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Adam Feldman of Time Out New York serves as President, Zach Stewart of Theatermania is Vice-President, and Helen Shaw of The New Yorker is treasurer.

In addition to Feldman, Stewart and Shaw, the members of the New York Drama Critics' Circle are David Barbour, David Cote, Joe Dziemianowicz, Greg Evans, Rhoda Feng, David Finkle, Elysa Gardner, Robert Hofler, Sara Holdren, Charles Isherwood, Chris Jones, Soraya Nadia McDonald, Jackson McHenry, Johnny Oleksinski, Brittani Samuel, Frank Scheck, David Sheward, Tim Teeman, Elisabeth Vincentelli and Matt Windman. Emeritus members include Melissa Rose Bernardo, Brian Scott Lipton, Michael Sommers, Steven Suskin and Linda Winer. Four members (Cote, Evans, Holdren, and McDonald) voted by proxy and one member (Windman) attended via Zoom. All other voting members were present.

Purpose Wins Pulitzer

LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Jon Michael Hill,
Glenn Davis and Alana Arenas 
in Purpose.
Credit: Marc J. Franklin

Purpose, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' drama about a prominent African-American family, has won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The runners-up were Oh, Mary! by Cole Escola and The Ally by Itamar Moses. The Pulitzer jury for drama consisted of playwright David Henry Hwang, chairman, Tanya Barfield, Rebecca Gilman, Helen Shaw, and Jose Luis Valenzuela. 

Sara Horden, theater critic for New York Magazine, was a runner-up for the Pulitzer for Criticism. James by Percival Everett, a reinterpretation of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, won for Fiction. Several of Donald Trump's favorite publications including the New York Times, Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal also won (sarcastic).

B'way/Off-B'way Reviews: Just in Time; Floyd Collins; All the World's a Stage

Jonathan Groff in Just in Time.
Credit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

The 2024-25 Broadway season closes out with a pair of wildly divergent musicals featuring stunning star turns by two of the musical theater’s brightest stars. Jonathan Groff is a true triple threat, singing, dancing, and acting his ass off as the tragically short-lived legendary crooner Bobby Darin in Just in Time while Jeremy Jordan goes to the opposite extreme, delivering an inspiring vocal and dramatic performance as a Kentucky cave explorer trapped in one position underground in Lincoln Center Theater’s revival of Floyd Collins. While Groff and Jordan are flawless, their shows vary in intent and execution. Just in Time is pure entertainment while Floyd Collins is muddled in its messaging.

Christine Cornish, Jonathan Groff,
and Julia Grondin in Just in Time.
Credit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

The creatives behind Just in Time could have built the show following a familiar blueprint. Bobby Darin was a magnetic pop superstar who briefly challenged Sinatra and Presley as king of all media. He was a teen-idol recording and movie star in his 20s, but his weak heart lead to an early death at 37. Warren Leight and Isaac Oliver’s book is somewhat melodramatic, but focuses on celebrating Darin’s phenomenal talent, largely with humor. Their clever format stages Darin’s meteoric rise and tragic fall as a floor show (Ted Chapin is credited with the original concept). Set designer Derek McLane has exquisitely refitted the Circle in the Square as a glamorous 1950s nightclub complete with cabaret-style tables. Director Alex Timbers and choreographer Shannon Lewis have staged the proceedings with speed and ingenuity. Scenes of Darin’s chaotic show-biz and personal life are interspersed with spectacular numbers he made famous such as the title tune from Bells Are Ringing, “Mack the Knife,” “Splish Splash” and “Dream Lover,” beautifully orchestrated by Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber. 

In order for this gimmick to work, you need a supremely gifted star and Groff is it. He grabs the audience from his first breathtaking entrance, emerging from beneath McLane’s gorgeous bandstand on an elevator. He is introduced not as Darin, but in his own person. Then he jokes about the setting (“I love playing the basement of Wicked”), explains the premise, and then seamlessly launches into the first exuberant number, establishing this will be a fun evening, not a dark dirge. Groff is amazing, soulfully and energetically putting across song after song, executing Lewis’ razzle-dazzle dance steps and delivering a fully-realized portrait of the charming, brash, arrogant, yet lovable Darin.

Theater World Award Winners Announced

Louis McCartney, seen here at
the Outer Critics Circle's
75th Anniversary party,
is among this year's
Theater World Award winners.

The winners of the 79th annual Theater World Awards for outstanding performers making their Broadway or Off-Broadway debut have been announced. The awards will be presented on June 2 at the Hard Rock Cafe Times Square in a ceremony hosted by theater critic Peter Filichia. Here is a list of the winners:

Alana Arenas, Purpose
Kit Connor, Romeo & Juliet
Patsy Ferran, A Streetcar Named Desire
Tom Francis, Sunset Boulevard
Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat
Paul Mescal, A Streetcar Named Desire
Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Marjan Neshat, English
Jasmine Amy Rogers, Boop!
Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Boulevard
Helen J. Shen, Maybe Happy Ending
Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray

In addition, Tony winner Leslie Uggams will receive the 12th annual John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater, Shailene Woodley (Cult of Love) will receive the 16th annual Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater, and George Clooney will receive a special TWA for his Broadway debut as performer and playwright for Good Night, and Good Luck.

The Theatre World Award honorees are chosen by the Theatre World Awards Committee which is comprised of Linda Armstrong (Amsterdam News), David Cote (The Observer), Joe Dziemianowicz (New York Theatre Guide), Peter Filichia (Broadway Radio), David Finkle (New York Stage Review), Elysa Gardner (The New York Sun), Harry Haun (Observer.com), Cary Wong (The Interested Bystander), and Frank Scheck (New York Stage Review/ The Hollywood Reporter).

Class Is Head of the Class at Lortels

The cast of Our Class

Our Class, Tadeusz Slobodzianek's epic play about a 1941 massacre of Jews in a Polish village as seen through the eyes of 10 classmates, was the big winner at the Lortel Awards, winning four. The play which was produced at BAM last season and revived at CSC this season, won for Outstanding Revival, Ensemble, Director, and Scenic Design. The 40th annual awards for excellence in Off-Broadway theater named for the legendary producer Lucille Lortel were presented on May 4 at NYU Skirball. Presenters included Kandi Burruss, Lea DeLaria, Jay Ellis, Stephanie Nur, J. Harrison Ghee, Ilana Glazer, Maya Hawke, and Alaska Thunderfuck.

Here There Are Blueberries, another play dealing with the Holocaust, was named Outstanding Play and Three Houses won for Outstanding Musical. Kara Young and Michael Rickshawn of Table 17 were named Outstanding Lead and Featured Performers in a Play. Sarin Monae West of Medea: Re-Versed and Paris Nix of The Big Gay Jamboree won for Outstanding Lead and Featured Performers in a Musical.

A list of winners followed:

Tonys Spread the Wealth

Sarah Paulson and Wendall Pierce
announced the Tony noms on
CBS Mornings.

The Tony Awards spread the wealth with Buena Vista Social Club, Death Becomes Her and Maybe Happy Ending sharing the top spot among nominees with ten each. All three are nominated for Best Musical, along with Dead Outlaw and Operation: Mincemeat. The first six nominations were announced by Sarah Paulson and Wendall Pierce on CBS Mornings and then the raced down to the Sofitel Hotel to read the rest of the nominees on the Tony Awards' YouTube channel. The Tonys will be presented on June 8 at Radio City Music Hall on CBS in a ceremony hosted by Cynthia Erivo. CBS and Pluto TV will present The Tony Awards: Act One, a pre-show of live, exclusive content leading into the 78th Annual Tony Awards. John Proctor Is the Villain and The Hills of California garnered the most Tony nominations among plays with seven each.

Othello with Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, Redwood, Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends, and The Last 5 Years were totally overlooked. Smash, one of my favorites, only received two nominations. Boop! which was the top favorite of the Drama Desk with 11 nominations, only got 3 from the Tonys. I was also surprised that Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin were not nominated for the spectacular direction of Stranger Things: The First Shadow. 

Audra McDonald made Tony history with her 11th nomination, this time for Gypsy. This make her the most nominated actress in Tony history. Asian-American performers also made Tony history with five nominations, the most ever. They are Darren Criss (Maybe Happy Ending); Daniel Dae Kim and Francis Jue (Yellow Face); Conrad Ricamora (Oh, Mary!) and Nicole Scherzinger (Sunset Blvd.). BTW, Yellow Face will be broadcast on PBS' Great Performances on May 18. Great Performance is receiving a Tony Honor this year.

There were 6 nominees among Best Actors,
but only 5 for the Best Actresses.

In an interesting twist, there were six nominees for Leading Actor in a Play and Musical and only five in the equivalent Leading Actress categories. Normally the categories are limited to five, but when there is a tie in the Nominating Committee ballots, a sixth nominee is added. Helen. J Shen of Maybe Happy Ending failed to make the final cut in the Leading Actress category. This was one of the major omissions commented on over social media and the Tony Award's YouTube channel.

Legitimate theatrical productions opening in any of the 41 eligible Broadway theatres during the current season may be considered for Tony nominations. The 2024/2025 eligibility season began April 26, 2024 and ended April 27, 2025. The Tony Awards will be voted in 26 competitive categories by 840 designated Tony voters within the theatre community.

The 2024-2025 Tony Award Nominating Committee consists of: Bob Balaban, Danielle Barlow, Rick Boynton, Brian Harlan Brooks, Dr. Jamie Cacciola-Price, Kevin Cahoon, Adam Chanler-Berat, Tony winner Victoria Clark, Jordan E. Cooper, Dan Foster, Donald P. Gagnon, Ph.D., Deeksha Gaur, Linda Goodrich, Miranda Haymon, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright James Ijames (Fat Ham), Tony winner Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop), Christine Toy Johnson, Rosalie Joseph, Rod Kaats, Michael Korie, Kathy Landau, Andrea Lauer, Zhailon Levingston, Jose Llana, Peter Marks, Jess McLeod, Lisa McNulty, Ira Mont, Jacqueline Diane Moscou, Helen Park, Jessica Paz, Georgina Pazcoguin, Ralph B. Peña, Karen Perry, Nancy Piccione, Jill Rafson, Bill Rauch, T. Oliver Reid, Liam Robinson, Carole Rothman, Susan Sampliner, Dick Scanlan, Florie Seery, Rachel Sheinkin, Devario Simmons, Walt Spangler, Mark Stanley, Susan Soon He Stanton, Sam Strasfeld, Jason Tam, Reginald Van Lee, Alexandria Wailes, Ben Wexler, and David C. Woolard.

A complete list of the nominees follows:

Drama Desk Goes BOOP!

BOOP! received the most DD noms.
Credit: Matthew Murphy and
Evan Zimmerman

BOOP! The Musical, the tuner based on the beloved cartoon character of the 1930s and '40s, has enchanted the members of the Drama Desk Awards Nominating Committee, receiving the most nods of any production this season with 11. Just in Time and Maybe Happy Ending, followed with 9 each. Stranger Things: The First Shadow and The Picture of Dorian Gray got the most nominations among plays with 5 each. The announcement of four of the categories was made by Tony and Drama Desk nominee Norm Lewis, NY-1 On Stage reporter Frank DiLella, and anchor Rocco Vertucci on NY-1's 12:30-1PM block. Nominees for Outstanding Play, Musical, Revival of a Play and Revival of a Musical were read. The awards, which honor on, Off and Off-Off-Broadway, will be presented on June 1 at NYU Skirball in a ceremony hosted by Debra Messing and Titus Burgess. 

Star-heavy vehicles such as Good Night and Good Luck (George Clooney), Othello (Denzel Washington, Jake Gyllenhaal), and Glengarry Glen Ross (Kieran Culkin, Bob Odernkirk, Bill Burr) were ignored and received no DD love. Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends was snubbed in the Outstanding Revue category and only received a nomination for Sound Design of a Musical.

Why isn't Sarah Snook of
The Picture of Dorian Gray in the
DD Solo Performance category?
Credit: Marc Brenner

The Olivier Award-winning Operation Mincemeat was missing from the Outstanding Musical list, but was nominated for Outstanding Book and Lyrics. In another bizarre set of nominations, Sarah Snook of The Picture of Dorian Gray was nominated for the gender-free Leading Performance in a Play category, but not for Solo Performance. Unlike the Tonys, the DDs have a separate category for one-person shows which Dorian Gray undoubtedly is because Snook plays all the roles. True, she is accompanied by an onstage crew of camerapeople and they have some coordinated movement, but they do not act. Snook is a lock for a Tony Best Actress and she probably would have won a DD for Solo Performance. Her DD placement doesn't make sense.

The Drama Desk also has a separate category for Video and Projection Design, but video and projection artists for BOOP!, Maybe Happy Ending and Floyd Collins have been nominated along with set or lighting designers as the Tonys do. Why have a separate category then? In addition, visual effects and illusion designers for Stranger Things are nominated along with the set designer.

I was disappointed Smash only received one nomination, for Brooks Ashmanskas's featured performance, but that's a matter of individual taste. 

The Drama Desks have always been the awards with the broadest scope in New York theater, often nominating lesser-known short-run plays alongside big Broadway productions. This year such off-beat shows as Music City, Blood of the Lamb, The Ask, Redeemed, Fatherland, and Garside's Career are on the DD list.

Buena Vista Social Club, Dead Outlaw, English, Job, and Oh, Mary! were nominated for their Off-Broadway runs and were considered ineligible this year. Dead Outlaw won the DD Outstanding Musical Award in 2024. 

Productions deemed not eligible either because they were considered in their entirety in prior seasons or because they did not invite awards consideration included A Child’s Christmas in Wales, All In: Comedy About Love, Bringer of Doom, Dead Outlaw, English, Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, Invasive Species, Oh, Mary!, On Beckett, and The Dead, 1904. Due to rescheduling factors, Grief Camp and Rheology will be considered in the 2025-2026 season.

The awards will be voted on by members of the Drama Desk, about 100 theatre critics, editors, and reporters. The nominations are determined by the Nominating Committee which consists of Martha Wade Steketee, UrbanExcavations.com, chair; Linda Armstrong (Amsterdam News), Daniel Dinero (TheaterIsEasy), Peter Filichia (Broadway Radio), Kenji Fujishima (freelance: Theatermania), Raven Snook (TDF Stages) and Charles Wright (ex officio). Wright and David Barbour are co-presidents of the Drama Desk. 

A complete list of nominees follows: