Theater News

Cynthia Erivo, Danny Burstein, Steve Martin, and More Win 2016 Outer Critics Circle Awards

”She Loves Me” leads the list with the most honors.

Cynthia Erivo is the winner of a 2016 Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance in Broadway's The Color Purple.
Cynthia Erivo is the winner of a 2016 Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance in Broadway's The Color Purple.
(© Matthew Murphy)

The winners of the 2016 Outer Critics Circle Awards have been announced.

Heading the list with the most wins is Roundabout Theater Company's revival of She Loves Me, which received four honors out of eight nominations. It was followed by Roundabout's revival of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day’s Journey Into Night, which earns three trophies, including two for performers Jessica Lange and Michael Shannon. Dear Evan Hansen, Bright Star, and American Psycho received two awards each.

Please note that the musical Shuffle Along will be considered for the Outer Critics Awards in the 2016-2017 season.

The full list of winners is as follows. Winners are denoted with an asterisk. Hyperlinked shows are currently running.

OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY PLAY
Eclipsed by Danai Gurira
The Father by Florian Zeller, translated by Christopher Hampton
* The Humans by Stephen Karam
King Charles III by Mike Bartlett
Thérèse Raquin by Helen Edmundson, based upon the novel by Émile Zola

OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY MUSICAL
American Psycho
* Bright Star
On Your Feet!
Tuck Everlasting
Waitress

OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY PLAY
* The Christians by Lucas Hnath
Familiar by Danai Gurira
Gloria by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Hold On to Me Darling by Kenneth Lonergan
The Legend of Georgia McBride by Matthew Lopez

OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL
Cagney
Daddy Long Legs
* Dear Evan Hansen
Lazarus
Southern Comfort

OUTSTANDING BOOK OF A MUSICAL
(Broadway or off-Broadway)
David Bowie and Enda Walsh, Lazarus
John Caird, Daddy Long Legs
Alexander Dinelaris, On Your Feet!
* Steven Levenson, Dear Evan Hansen
Steve Martin, Bright Star

OUTSTANDING NEW SCORE
(Broadway or off-Broadway)
Sara Bareilles, Waitress
Paul Gordon, Daddy Long Legs
* Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, Bright Star
Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Dear Evan Hansen
Duncan Sheik, American Psycho

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A PLAY
(Broadway or off-Broadway)
Blackbird
The Crucible
Fool for Love
* Long Day’s Journey Into Night
A View From the Bridge

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
(Broadway or off-Broadway)
The Color Purple
Dames at Sea
Fiddler on the Roof
* She Loves Me
Spring Awakening

JOHN GASSNER AWARD
(Presented for an American play, preferably by a new playwright)
Boy by Anna Ziegler
I and You by Lauren Gunderson
Ironbound by Martyna Majok
* The Royale by Marco Ramirez
Ugly Lies the Bone by Lindsey Ferrentino

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR OF A PLAY
Evan Cabnet, Gloria
Mike Donahue, The Legend of Georgia McBride
Rupert Goold, King Charles III
Joe Mantello, The Humans
* Ivo van Hove, A View From the Bridge

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR OF A MUSICAL
* Michael Arden, Spring Awakening
Walter Bobbie, Bright Star
Scott Ellis, She Loves Me
Rupert Goold, American Psycho
Michael Greif, Dear Evan Hansen

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHER
Joshua Bergasse, Cagney
Spencer Liff, Spring Awakening
Josh Rhodes, Bright Star
Randy Skinner, Dames at Sea
* Sergio Trujillo, On Your Feet!

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A PLAY
Reed Birney, The Humans
Gabriel Byrne, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
* Frank Langella, The Father
Mark Strong, A View From the Bridge
Ben Whishaw, The Crucible

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Jayne Houdyshell, The Humans
* Jessica Lange, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Lupita Nyong'o, Eclipsed
Nicola Walker, A View From the Bridge
Michelle Williams, Blackbird

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Alex Brightman, School of Rock
* Danny Burstein, Fiddler on the Roof
Robert Creighton, Cagney
Ben Platt, Dear Evan Hansen
Benjamin Walker, American Psycho

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Laura Benanti, She Loves Me
Carmen Cusack, Bright Star
* Cynthia Erivo, The Color Purple
Jessie Mueller, Waitress
Ana Villafañe, On Your Feet!

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY
Sanjit De Silva, Dry Powder
Matt McGrath, The Legend of Georgia McBride
Jim Norton, The Crucible
Robert Sella, Sylvia
* Michael Shannon, Long Day’s Journey Into Night

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY
(tie)
* Pascale Armand, Eclipsed
Zainab Jah, Eclipsed
* Judith Light, Thérèse Raquin
Saycon Sengbloh, Eclipsed
Myra Lucretia Taylor, Familiar

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Nicholas Barasch, She Loves Me
Roger Bart, Disaster!
Michael Esper, Lazarus
* Christopher Fitzgerald, Waitress
Terrence Mann, Tuck Everlasting

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
Andrea Burns, On Your Feet!
Sophia Anne Caruso, Lazarus
* Jane Krakowski, She Loves Me
Hélene Yorke, American Psycho

OUTSTANDING SOLO PERFORMANCE
Mike Birbiglia in Thank God for Jokes
Kathleen Chalfant in Rose
Anne Hathaway in Grounded
* James Lecesne in The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey
Daphne Rubin-Vega in Empanada Loca

OUTSTANDING SCENIC DESIGN
(Play or Musical)
Beowulf Boritt, Thérèse Raquin
David Korins, Misery
Mimi Lien, John
* David Rockwell, She Loves Me
Walt Spangler, Tuck Everlasting

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN
(Play or Musical)
ESosa, On Your Feet!
Jane Greenwood, Bright Star
Katrina Lindsay, American Psycho
* Jeff Mahshie, She Loves Me
Tom Scutt, King Charles III

OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN
(Play or Musical)
Donald Holder, She Loves Me
Natasha Katz, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Kenneth Posner, On Your Feet!
Ben Stanton, Spring Awakening
* Justin Townsend, American Psycho

OUTSTANDING PROJECTION DESIGN
(Play or Musical)
Lucy Mackinnon, Spring Awakening
Peter Nigrini, Dear Evan Hansen
Peter Nigrini, Grounded
* Finn Ross, American Psycho
Tal Yarden, Lazarus

Featured In This Story

American Psycho

Closed: June 5, 2016

Waitress

Closed: January 5, 2020

Eclipsed

Closed: June 19, 2016

Bright Star

Closed: June 26, 2016

The Humans

Closed: January 15, 2017