Outer Critics Circle nominations: ‘New York, New York’ leads with 12, ‘Leopoldstadt’ has 6

The Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of writers on New York theatre for out-of-town newspapers and national publications, today announced the nominees for the 72nd Annual Outer Critics Circle Awards, honoring the 2022-2023 Broadway and Off-Broadway season.

“New York, New York” received a major backing from this announcement, which coincides with the production’s opening night. The new musical with songs from John Kander, the late Fred Ebb and Lin-Manuel Miranda earned a whopping 12 nominations, the most of any production. “Some Like it Hot” trails just behind it with 10 nominations. The most nominated plays of the season are the Off-Broadway sensation “Downstate” and Broadway epic “Leopoldstadt,” both with six nominations apiece.

This is the first season with newly reconstructed acting categories, which have removed gender specifications, and have been expanded to separately include off-Broadway performers. In the previous configuration, actors in Broadway and off-Broadway productions competed in the same category. Unlike some other groups who have opted for all-gender acting races, the OCC have kept their acting categories at five nomination slots, making them even more competitive.

Winners of the 72nd Annual Outer Critics Circle Awards will be announced on Tuesday, May 16, with an in-person ceremony on Thursday, May 25 in the Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center’s New York Public Library for The Performing Arts.

The full list of Outer Critics Circle nominations is below:

Best New Broadway Musical
“& Juliet”
A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical”
“New York, New York”
“Shucked”
“Some Like It Hot”

Best New Broadway Play
“Good Night, Oscar”
“Leopoldstadt”
“Life of Pi”
“Peter Pan Goes Wrong”
“Summer, 1976”

Best New Off-Broadway Musical
“The Bedwetter”
“Between the Lines”
“The Harder They Come”
“Only Gold”
“Without You”

Best New Off-Broadway Play
“Becomes a Woman”
“A Case for the Existence of God”
“Chester Bailey”
“Downstate”
“Letters from Max, a ritual”

John Gassner Award for New American Play (Preferably by a New Playwright)
“Dark Disabled Stories” by Ryan J. Haddad
“Epiphany” by Brian Watkins
“Fat Ham” by James Ijames
“Wolf Play” by Hansol Jung
“You Will Get Sick” by Noah Diaz

Best Revival of a Play (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
“Death of a Salesman”
“Endgame”
“Ohio State Murders”
“Topdog/Underdog”
“Wedding Band”

Best Revival of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
“A Man of No Importance”
“Into the Woods”
“Merrily We Roll Along”
“Parade”
“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”

Best Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical
Micaela Diamond – “Parade”
J. Harrison Ghee – “Some Like It Hot”
Caroline Innerbichler – “Shucked”
Colton Ryan – “New York, New York”
Anna Uzele – “New York, New York”

Best Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical
Kevin Del Aguila – “Some Like It Hot”
Julia Lester – “Into the Woods”
Alex Newell – “Shucked”
NaTasha Yvette Williams – “Some Like It Hot”
Betsy Wolfe – “& Juliet”

Best Lead Performer in a Broadway Play
Hiran Abeysekera – “Life of Pi”
Jessica Chastain – “A Doll’s House”
Corey Hawkins – “Topdog/Underdog”
Sean Hayes – “Good Night, Oscar”
Audra McDonald – “Ohio State Murders”

Best Featured Performer in a Broadway Play
Danielle Brooks – “The Piano Lesson”
Sharon D Clarke – “Death of a Salesman”
Michael Potts – “The Piano Lesson”
Brandon Uranowitz – “Leopoldstadt”
David Zayas – “Cost of Living”

Best Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Play
Ephraim Birney – “Chester Bailey”
Brittany Bradford – “Wedding Band”
Marylouise Burke – “Epiphany”
Bill Irwin – “Endgame”
Emma Pfitzer Price – “Becomes a Woman”

Best Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play
Veanne Cox – “Wedding Band”
Glenn Davis – “Downstate”
K. Todd Freeman – “Downstate”
Francis Guinan – “Downstate”
Susanna Guzman – “Downstate”

Best Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical
Nicholas Barasch – “The Butcher Boy”
Callum Francis – “Kinky Boots”
Jonathan Groff – “Merrily We Roll Along”
Natey Jones – “The Harder They Come”
Marla Mindelle – “Titanique”

Best Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical
Vicki Lewis – “Between the Lines”
Lindsay Mendez – “Merrily We Roll Along”
Daniel Radcliffe – “Merrily We Roll Along”
A.J. Shively – “A Man of No Importance”
Mare Winningham – “A Man of No Importance”

Best Solo Performance
Mike Birbiglia – “The Old Man & the Pool”
Jodie Comer – “Prima Facie”
Jefferson Mays – “A Christmas Carol”
Sam Morrison – “Sugar Daddy”
Anthony Rapp – “Without You”

Best Director of a Musical
Michael Arden – “Parade”
Maria Friedman – “Merrily We Roll Along”
Casey Nicholaw – “Some Like It Hot”
Jack O’Brien – “Shucked”
Susan Stroman – “New York, New York”

Best Director of a Play
Kenny Leon – “Topdog/Underdog”
Pam MacKinnon – “Downstate”
Patrick Marber – “Leopoldstadt”
Adam Meggido – “Peter Pan Goes Wrong”
Max Webster – “Life of Pi”

Best Choreography
Andy Blankenbuehler – “Only Gold”
Edgar Godineaux – “The Harder They Come”
Casey Nicholaw – “Some Like It Hot”
Susan Stroman – “New York, New York”
Jennifer Weber – “& Juliet”

Best New Score
Kate Anderson and Elyssa Samsel – “Between the Lines”
Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally – “Shucked”
John Kander and Lin-Manuel Miranda – “New York, New York”
Adam Schlesinger and Sarah Silverman – “The Bedwetter”
Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman – “Some Like It Hot”

Best Book of a Musical
Tye Blue, Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli – “Titanique”
Robert Horn – “Shucked”
Matthew López and Amber Ruffin – “Some Like it Hot”
Suzan-Lori Parks – “The Harder They Come”
David West Read – “& Juliet”

Best Orchestrations
Bryan Carter and Charlie Rosen – “Some Like It Hot”
Sam Davis and Daryl Waters – “New York, New York”
Jason Howland – “Shucked”
Bill Sherman – “& Juliet”
Jonathan Tunick – Merrily We Roll Along”

Best Costume Design (Play or Musical)
Dede Ayite – “Topdog/Underdog”
Gregg Barnes – “Some Like it Hot”
Brigitte Reiffenstuel – “Leopoldstadt”
Paloma Young – “& Juliet”
Donna Zakowska – “New York, New York”

Best Lighting Design (Play or Musical)
Neil Austin – “Leopoldstadt”
Ken Billington – “New York, New York”
Ken Elliott and Ben Stanton – “A Christmas Carol”
Natasha Katz – “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
Tim Lutkin – “Life of Pi”

Best Scenic Design (Play or Musical)
Jason Ardizzone-West – “Wedding Band”
John Lee Beatty – “Epiphany”
Beowulf Boritt – “New York, New York”
Mimi Lien – “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
Simon Scullion – “Peter Pan Goes Wrong”

Best Sound Design (Play or Musical)
John Gromada – “Jasper”
Kai Harada – “New York, New York”
Daniel Kluger – “Epiphany”
André Pluess – “Good Night, Oscar”
Joshua D. Reid – “A Christmas Carol”

Best Video or Projection Design (Play or Musical)
Christopher Ash and Beowulf Boritt – “New York, New York”
Andrzej Goulding – “Life of Pi”
Lucy Mackinnon – “A Christmas Carol”
Isaac Madge – “Leopoldstadt”
Sven Ortel – Parade”

Special Achievement Award
To B.H. Barry, one of the world’s foremost fight directors, in recognition of a distinguished six-decade career capped off with Camelot at Lincoln Center Theater.

Only new elements of “Cost of Living,” “Kimberly Akimbo,” “Ain’t No Mo’,” “Between Riverside and Crazy,” and “Kinky Boots” were considered, since those productions were already eligible for their Off-Broadway runs.