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:

Buena Vista Leads Chita Rivera Noms

Buena Vista Social Club
leads nominations for the Chita Rivera Awards.
Credit: Matthew Murphy

Buena Vista Social Club leads the Chita Rivera Awards nominations for outstanding dancing and choreography on stage and in film with citations for choreography, ensemble, and five of its dancers. The nominations were announced on April 29 and the awards will be presented on May 19 at NYU Skirball. 

The Awarding Committee consists of Sylviane Gold, chair, Gary Chryst, Robert LaFosse, Donna McKechnie, Wendy Perron, Stephanie Pope, and Lee Roy Reams.

Broadway Nominating Committee: Melinda Atwood, Caitlin Carter, Gary Chryst, Don Correia, Sandy Duncan, Peter Filichia, Dr. Louis Galli, Sylviane Gold, Jonathan Herzog, Robert La Fosse, Joe Lanteri, Donna McKechnie, Michael Milton, Mary Beth O’Connor, Wendy Perron, Stephanie Pope, Lee Roy Reams, Desmond Richardson, Andy Sandberg, and Randy Skinner

Film Nominating Committee: Chair: Jonathan C. Herzog, Steven Caras, Wilhelmina Frankfurt, Mary Beth O’Connor, and Andy Sandberg.

A complete list of the nominees follows:

B'way/Off-B'way Reviews: Stranger Things: The First Shadow; Real Women Have Curves; Becoming Eve

Louis McCartney in
Stranger Things: The First Shadow.
Credit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

If you’ve been waiting for the must-see production of the Broadway season to justify plunking down your hard-earned bucks, wait no more. Stranger Things: The First Shadow, now at the Marquis after an Olivier-winning run in London, is the most spectacular, fun show on the Main Stem in many years and will scare the crap out of you. A working knowledge of the cult-status Netflix series upon which it is based is not necessary. The plot takes place before the streaming TV show begins and Kate Trefry’s intricate script stands on its own. (The original story is credited to Trefry, a writer and co-executive producer for the series; the Duffer Brothers who created the show and directed many of its episodes; and Jack Thorne, author of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, another London and Broadway smash based on a successful fantasy/sci-fi franchise.) 

Stephen Daldry and his co-director Justin Martin have staged the complex, absorbing story like a film with smoothly flowing scenes imparting vital information and thrills. But the real stars are the other-worldly special effects and illusions created by Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher, which rival anything you’ll see on Broadway including a horrifying invasion from another dimension. My theatergoing companion called this specific effect the new and better chandelier from Phantom of the Opera or the helicopter from Miss Saigon. I’m not going to list the more nerve-rattling and spine-shaking moments so as not to spoil your fun, but suffice it to say, look out for crashing battleships, monsters with no faces, and be prepared to scream if you’re afraid of spiders.

Louis McCartney in
Stranger Things: The First Shadow.
Credit: Matthew Murphy and 
Evan Zimmerman

Loyal viewers of the show will recognize the basic narrative template. (Full disclosure: in preparation for reviewing Stranger Things, I attempted to binge the series in a few weeks, but I only got through the first two seasons and half of the third.) The seemingly humdrum little town of Hawkins, Indiana is beset with weird occurrences. In the series, it started with the disappearance of a young boy. In the play, pets turn up dead. Gradually, we discover that a dark, ominous parallel universe is bleeding into the bucolic hamlet and a newly arrived, introverted teen holds the key to the mystery. The series commences in Reagan’s 1980s America and, in each season, whatever calamity rises up is defeated by a gang of plucky, outsider adolescents with a few token grown-ups helping out. The play skips back a generation to 1959 and the familiar adults are now the adventurous teens. Both timelines are dominated by the menacing Dr. Brenner who heads a shadowy Deep State lab which is mixed up in every cuckoo conspiracy besetting Hawkins.

Norm Lewis to Announce DD Noms; Debra Messing, Titus Burgess to Host

Norm Lewis

Tony and Drama Desk nominee Norm Lewis (Porgy and Bess), currently starring in an Off-Broadway revival of Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, will announce the nominees for the 2024-25 Drama Desk Awards on NY-1 News on Wed. April 30 at 12:50PM with NY-1 anchor Rocco Vertuccio. The Tony nominations will be announced the next day on May 1. The DD awards will be presented on June 1 at NYU Skirball in a ceremony hosted by Debra Messing (Will and Grace, Shit. Meet. Fan.) and Titus Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Oh, Mary!).

Unlike the Tonys, the Drama Desks consider on, Off and Off-Off-Broadway productions in each of its multiple categories. (The Outer Critics Awards also combine on and Off, but not in all categories. They have separate categories for Best Play, Musical and performers.) Note: The nominees for the Chita Rivera Awards will be announced on April 29.

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. 

Debra Messing and Titus Burgess
will host the Drama Desk Awards.

The 69th Annual Drama Desk Awards are Executive Produced by Staci Levine and Jessica R. Jenen. For the first time, 100% of net proceeds from the Drama Desk Awards benefits the Entertainment Community Fund. Charles Wright and David Barbour are the co-Presidents of the Drama Desk.

As has been the case, all performance categories will be gender-free. The updated gender-free categories are: Outstanding Leading Performance in a Play, Outstanding Leading Performance in a Musical, Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play, and Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical. 

Each of these categories will have twice as many nominees as the former gendered categories and voters will cast two votes for each category. These categories will also have two winners each. If there is a tie, there may be more than two winners in a category. These rules were changed with the 2023 Awards. Additional details will be announced shortly.