We are very pleased to announce the nominees and special honorees for the 10th Annual Off Broadway Alliance Awards!
Awards will be presented in seven competitive categories: Best New Musical, Best New Play, Best Musical Revival, Best Play Revival, Best Unique Theatrical Experience, Best Solo Performance, and Best Family Show. The winners will be announced live at 11AM on Tuesday, May 19th on the OBA’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/offbroadwayalliance. Due to the shutdown, the awards ceremony will take place this fall (date and location TBD).
In addition to the competitive awards, Legend of Off Broadway Awards will be presented to Gretchen Cryer, Woodie King, Jr., Eric Krebs and Barbara Zinn Krieger for their extraordinary contributions over many years. Mark Blum, Wynn Handman and Julia Miles will be posthumously honored with induction into the Off Broadway Hall of Fame. Last but not least, the Friend of Off Broadway Award will be presented to The Drama Bookshop for their continued dedication to Off Broadway.
Please read on for a complete list of nominations and honorees! Congratulations to all on a beautiful season of Off Broadway theatre.
Best New Play
Ain’t No Mo’ / By Jordan E. Cooper / Produced by The Public Theater
Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven / By Stephen Adly Guirgus / Produced by Atlantic Theater Company and LAByrinth Theater
Life Sucks / By Aaron Posner / Produced by Wheelhouse Theater
Make Believe / By Bess Wohl / Produced by Second Stage Theater
The Confession of Lily Dare / By Charles Busch / Produced by Primary Stages and Jamie DeRoy
Best Play Revival
for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf / By Ntozake Shange / Produced by The Public Theater
Much Ado About Nothing / By William Shakespeare / Produced by The Public Theater
The Woman in Black / Adapted by Stephen Mallatratt from the novel by Susan Hill / Presented by the McKittrick Hotel
Timon of Athens / By William Shakespeare / Produced by Theatre for a New Audience and Shakespeare Theater Company
Best New Musical
A Strange Loop / Book, Music & Lyrics by Michael R Jackson / Produced by Playwrights Horizons and Page 73
Cambodian Rock Band / By Lauren Yee / Songs by Dengue Fever / Produced by Signature Theatre Company
Emojiland / Book, Music, and Lyrics by Keith Harrison and Laura Schein / Produced by Arborhouse Productions and Visceral Entertainment
Romeo & Bernadette: A Musical Tale of Verona and Brooklyn / Book & Lyrics by Mark Saltzman / Produced by Amas Musical Theatre and Eric Krebs
Sing Street / Book by Enda Walsh, Music & Lyrics by John Carney and Gary Clark / Produced by New York Theatre Workshop
The Secret Life of Bees / Book by Lynn Nottage / Music by Duncan Sheik /Lyrics by Susan Birkenhead / Produced by the Atlantic Theater Company
Best Musical Revival
Baby / Book by Sybille Pearson / Music by David Shire / Lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. / Produced by Out of the Box Theatrics
Enter Laughing / Book by Joseph Stein, Music & Lyrics by Stan Daniels / Produced by The York Theater Company
Little Shop of Horrors / Book & Lyrics by Howard Ashman / Music by Alan Menken / Produced by Robert Ahrens, Hunter Arnold, Mickey Liddell, Curt Cronin, John Joseph, and Tom Kirdahy
Rock of Ages / Book by Chris D’Arienzo / Produced by S2BN Entertainment
The Unsinkable Molly Brown / Music and lyrics by Meredith Willson / Book and new lyrics by Dick Scanlan / Based on the original book by Richard Morris / Music adaptation by Michael Rafter / Produced by Transport Group
Best Unique Theatrical Experience
Dana H. / By Lucas Hnath / Produced by Vineyard Theatre, Goodman Theatre, and Center Theatre Group
Midsummer: A Banquet / By William Shakespeare / Adapted by Zach Morris and Victoria Rae Sook / Produced by Food of Love Productions and Third Rail Projects
Novenas for a Lost Hospital / By Cusi Cram / Produced by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
Katsura Sunshine’s Rakugo / Created and Performed by Katsura Sunshine / Produced by Joe Trentacosta, Yoshitaka Tanaka, Yumi Shinozaki, and Marie Fukuda
Best Solo Performance
Kathleen Chalfant in A Woman of the World / By Rebecca Gilman / Produced by The Acting Company and 59E59 Theaters
Keith Hamilton Cobb in American Moor / By Keith Hamilton Cobb / Produced by Evangeline Morphos, Frederick M Zollo, Red Bull Theater, Elizabeth I McCann, and Tom Shea
Harvey Fierstein in Bella Bella / By Harvey Fierstein / Produced by Manhattan Theatre Club
Ken Jennings in Gospel of John / Conceived by Ken Jennings / Produced by The Sheen Center for Thought and Culture
Bill Posley in The Day I Became Black / Created and written by Bill Posley / Produced by Kristen Boulé
Aedín Moloney in Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom / Adaptation by Aedín Moloney and Colum McCann / Produced by Irish Repertory Theatre
Best Family Show
Dog Man: The Musical / Music by Brad Alexander / Books and Lyrics by Kevin DelAguila / Based on the series by Dav Pilkey / Produced by TheatreWorks USA
Paddington Gets in a Jam / Created by Jonathan Rockefeller / Written by Doug Kmiotek / Based on the series by Michael Bond / Produced by Rockefeller Productions
She Persisted, The Musical / Script & Lyrics by Adam Tobin / Music by Deborah Wicks La Puma / Adapted from the Book by Chelsea Clinton / Produced by Atlantic Theater Company
Taste the Clouds / Created by Hit the Lights! Theater Co. / Based on the book “Taste the Clouds” by Rita Marshall / Produced by New York Children’s Theatre
The Big One-Oh! / Music by Doug Besterman / Lyrics by Dean Pitchford / Book by Timothy Allen McDonald / Based on the Novel by Dean Pitchford / Produced by Atlantic Theater Company
Legends of Off Broadway
Honoring sustained achievement Off Broadway
Gretchen Cryer: Off-Broadway Playwright, lyricist, and actress, co-author of I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road
Woodie King, Jr.: Founding director of the New Federal Theatre in New York City and Off Broadway producer and director
Eric Krebs: Off Broadway producer and founder and director of the Off-Broadway’s John Houseman Theater Center and Douglas Fairbanks Theater.
Barbara Zinn Krieger: Founder of New York City Children’s Theater and Executive Director and Founder of Vineyard Theatre.
Off Broadway Hall of Fame
A posthumous award honoring a lifetime of extraordinary contributions to Off Broadway
Mark Blum: An actor whose Off Broadway career spanned over five decades and 26 productions
Wynn Handman: Off Broadway Director and teacher and Co-Founder and Artistic Director of The American Place Theatre
Julia Miles: Trailblazing Founder of the Women’s Project Theater
Friend of Off Broadway Award
Honoring persons or organizations for their steadfast support of the Off Broadway community over many years
The Drama Bookshop