Death Is Alive with OCC Noms

Cole Escola and Conrad Ricamora
at the Museum of Broadway
announcing the OCC nominations.
The bag is by Louis Vitton.

Death Becomes Her, the Broadway musical based on the 1992 film comedy about a pair of death-defying duelling divas, topped the list for the Outer Critic Circle Awards with 12 nominations. The nominees were announced by Cole Escola and Conrad Ricamora of Oh, Mary! on April 25 at the Museum of Broadway. Both performers received nominations for Oh, Mary! last season during its Off-Broadway run and Escola won two. Maybe Happy Ending came in second with 9 nominations and Stranger Things: The First Shadow received the most nominations for a play with 7. 

There were also some surprising snubs. The star-heavy revival of Othello with Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, Smash, The Last Five Years, and Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends were skunked with no nominations. The winners, voted on by the OCC, a group of critics, reporters, and editors writing for national media, will be announced on May 12 and the awards will be presented in a ceremony at the Lincoln Center NY Public Library for the Performing Arts on May 22. 

The Outer Critics Awards honor both on and Off-Broadway productions, some in separate categories and some together. Two seasons ago, the OCC eliminated gender considerations in its performing categories.

This year's ceremony marks the 75th anniversary of the organization's founding, when the first-ever awards were presented to T.S. Elliot's The Cocktail Party (Play), Gian Carlo Menotti's The Consul, and performers Sheila Guyse (Lost in the Stars) and Daniel Reed (Come Back, Little Sheba). The Outer Critics Circle will commemorate the milestone this spring, with a special 75th Anniversary Cocktail Reception to honor this year’s nominees, past winners, and its members. The reception will be held this Monday, April 28, at West Bank Café.

Jennifer Simard and Christoper Seiber
received OCC noms for Death Becomes Her,
the OCC's most nominated show.
Credit: Evan Zimmerman and Matthew Murphy

Led by its current President David Gordon, the OCC Board of Directors and Nominating Committee also includes Vice President Richard Ridge, Recording Secretary Joseph Cervelli, Corresponding Secretary Patrick Hoffman, Treasurer David Roberts, Cynthia Allen, Harry Haun, Dan Rubins, Janice Simpson and Doug Strassler. Simon Saltzman is President Emeritus & Board Member (Non-nominating) and Stanley L. Cohen serves as Financial Consultant & Board Member (Non-nominating). Lauren Yarger serves as the Outer Critics Circle Awards ceremony executive producer.

2025 OUTER CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD NOMINATIONS

 
Outstanding New Broadway Play
Cult of Love
The Hills of California
John Proctor Is the Villain
Purpose
Stranger Things: The First Shadow
 
Outstanding New Broadway Musical
Boop! The Musical
Death Becomes Her
Maybe Happy Ending
Operation Mincemeat
Real Women Have Curves
 

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical
The Big Gay Jamboree
Drag: The Musical
We Live in Cairo
 
Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play
The Antiquities
Grangeville
Here There Are Blueberries
Liberation
Table 17
 
John Gassner Award (new American play preferably by a new playwright)
Amy Berryman, Walden
George Clooney and Grant Heslov, Good Night, and Good Luck
Marin Ireland, Pre-Existing Condition
Lia Romeo, Still
Emil Weinstein, Becoming Eve
 
Outstanding Revival of a Musical
Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Floyd Collins
Gypsy
Once Upon a Mattress
Sunset Boulevard
 
Outstanding Revival of a Play
Beckett Briefs: From the Cradle to the Grave
Glengarry Glen Ross
Romeo + Juliet
Vanya
Yellow Face
 
Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play
Kit Connor, Romeo + Juliet
Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California
Mia Farrow, The Roommate
Jon Michael Hill, Purpose
Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
 
Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play
Kieran Culkin, Glengarry Glen Ross
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Purpose
Francis Jue, Yellow Face
Mare Winningham, Cult of Love
Kara Young, Purpose
 
Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical
Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending
Jeremy Jordan, Floyd Collins
Audra McDonald, Gypsy
Jasmine Amy Rogers, Boop! The Musical
Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Boulevard
Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her

Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical
Danny Burstein, Gypsy
Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat
Michele Pawk, Just in Time
Christopher Sieber, Death Becomes Her
Michael Urie, Once Upon a Mattress
 
Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical
Nick Adams, Drag: The Musical
Marla Mindelle, The Big Gay Jamboree
Nkeki Obi-Melekwe, Safety Not Guaranteed
Alaska Thunderfuck, Drag: The Musical
Taylor Trensch, Safety Not Guaranteed
 
Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical
Ali Louis Bourzgui, We Live in Cairo
Paris Nix, The Big Gay Jamboree
Eddie Korbich, Drag: The Musical
J. Elaine Marcos, Drag: The Musical
Andre De Shields, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Henry Stram, Three Houses
 
Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Play
Caroline Aaron, Conversations with Mother
F. Murray Abraham, Beckett Briefs: From the Cradle to the Grave
Jayne Atkinson, Still
Adam Driver, Hold On to Me Darling
Anthony Edwards, The Counter
Paul Sparks, Grangeville
 
Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play
Betsy Aidem, Liberation
Sean Bell, The Beacon
Michael Rishawn, Table 17
Richard Schiff, Becoming Eve
Frank Wood, Hold On to Me Darling
 
Outstanding Solo Performance
David Greenspan, I'm Assuming You Know David Greenspan
Khawla Ibraheem, A Knock on the Roof
Sam Kissajukian, 300 Paintings
Andrew Scott, Vanya
Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray
 
Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending
David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts, Operation Mincemeat
Daniel Lazour and Patrick Lazour, We Live in Cairo
Bob Martin, Boop! The Musical
Marco Pennette, Death Becomes Her
 
Outstanding Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending
David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts, Operation Mincemeat
David Foster and Susan Birkenhead, Boop! The Musical
Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez, Real Women Have Curves
Julia Mattison and Noel Carey, Death Becomes Her
 
Outstanding Orchestrations (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Will Aronson, Maybe Happy Ending
Doug Besterman, Death Becomes Her
Joseph Joubert and Daryl Waters, Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Daniel Lazour and Michael Starobin, We Live in Cairo
Andrew Resnick, Just in Time
 
Outstanding Direction of a Musical
Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending
Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her
Robert Hastie, Operation Mincemeat
Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Jerry Mitchell, Boop! The Musical
 
Outstanding Direction of a Play
Trip Cullman, Cult of Love
Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Sam Mendes, The Hills of California
Phylicia Rashad, Purpose
Danya Taymor, John Proctor Is the Villain

Outstanding Choreography
Jenny Arnold, Operation Mincemeat
Warren Carlyle, Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her
Shannon Lewis, Just in Time
Jerry Mitchell, Boop! the Musical
 
Outstanding Scenic Design
Miriam Buether, Jamie Harrison, and Chris Fisher, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Rachel Hauck, Swept Away
Rob Howell, The Hills of California
Dane Laffrey, Maybe Happy Ending
Derek McLane, Death Becomes Her

Outstanding Costume Design
Gregg Barnes, Boop! The Musical
Wilberth Gonzalez and Paloma Young, Real Women Have Curves
Rob Howell, The Hills of California
Qween Jean, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Paul Tazewell, Death Becomes Her
 
Outstanding Lighting Design
Kevin Adams, Swept Away
Natasha Chivers, The Hills of California
Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Ben Stanton, Maybe Happy Ending
Justin Townsend, Death Becomes Her
 
Outstanding Sound Design
Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Adam Fisher, Sunset Boulevard
Peter Hylenski, Death Becomes Her
Peter Hylenski, Maybe Happy Ending
John Shivers, Swept Away
 
Outstanding Video/Projections
59, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom, Sunset Boulevard
David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Hana S. Kim, Redwood
Finn Ross, Boop! The Musical


Special Awards
Patrick Hoffman, the recently retired curator of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, in honor of over three decades of service to the theater community, during which time he ensured the preservation of over 1,200 productions.