Theater News

Matthew Broderick and More Take Home 2017 Obie Awards

Lea DeLaria returned as host of this year’s ceremony.

Matthew Broderick is a 2017 Obie Award winner.
Matthew Broderick is a 2017 Obie Award winner.
(© Tricia Baron)

The American Theatre Wing and the Village Voice have announced the recipients of the 62nd Annual Obie Awards. The event was held at Webster Hall on May 22, in a ceremony hosted by Lea DeLaria.

The full list of winners is as follows:

Best New American Theatre Work ($500 prize each)
Jennifer Kidwell and Scott R. Sheppard, Underground Railroad Game (Ars Nova)
J.T. Rogers, Oslo (Lincoln Center Theater)

Playwriting
Christopher Chen, Caught (the Play Company at La MaMa)
Lynn Nottage, Sweat (the Public Theater)

Musical Theater
Itamar Moses (book) and David Yazbek (music & lyrics), The Band’s Visit (Atlantic Theater Company)

Directing
Arin Arbus, The Skin of Our Teeth (Theatre for a New Audience)
Lileana Blain-Cruz, Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World (Signature
Theatre Company)
David Cromer, The Band’s Visit (Atlantic Theater Company)
Jack Cummings III, Picnic (Transport Group)
Rebecca Taichman, Indecent (Vineyard Theatre)

Ensemble
Bartlett Sher (director) and the cast of Oslo (Lincoln Center Theater): Michael Aronov, Anthony Azizi, Adam Dannheisser, Jennifer Ehle, Daniel Jenkins, Dariush Kashani, Jeb Kreager, Jefferson Mays, Christopher
McHale, Daniel Oreskes, Angela Pierce, Henny Russell, Joseph Siravo, T. Ryder Smith

Lila Neugebauer (director) and the cast of The Wolves (the Playwrights Realm): Kate Arrington, Mia Barron, Brenna Coates, Jenna Dioguardi, Samia Finnerty, Midori Francis, Lizzy Jutila, Sarah Mezzanotte, Tedra Millan, Lauren Patten, Susannah Perkins

Performance
Matthew Broderick, Evening at the Talk House (the New Group) and Shining City
(Irish Repertory Theatre)
Bobby Cannavale, The Hairy Ape (Park Avenue Armory)
Kevin Geer, Sustained Excellence [in memoriam]
Kecia Lewis, Marie and Rosetta (Atlantic Theater Company) and The Skin of Our
Teeth
(Theatre for a New Audience)
Heather MacRae, Come Back, Little Sheba (Transport Group)
Amy Ryan, Love, Love, Love (Roundabout Theatre Company)
Pete Simpson, Sustained Excellence
Michael Urie, Homos, or Everyone in America (Labyrinth Theater Company)

Design
Riccardo Hernandez, Sustained Excellence of Set Design
Dane Laffrey, Sustained Excellence of Set and Costume Design
Jared Mezzocchi, Projection Design, Vietgone (Manhattan Theatre Club)
Ryan Rumery, Sustained Excellence of Sound Design
Scott Zielinski, Sustained Excellence of Lighting Design

Special Citations
Anna Deavere Smith, Notes From the Field (Second Stage Theater)
Taylor Mac, A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (St. Ann’s Warehouse)

Obie Grants ($4,000 prize each)
Irish Repertory Theatre
Pearl Theatre Company
The Playwrights Realm

The Ross Wetzsteon Award ($3,000 prize)
Theatre for a New Audience

Lifetime Achievement Award
Paula Vogel

The Obie Award judge’s panel for this season included Michael Feingold, Obie- and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar, Entertainment Weekly theater critic Melissa Rose Bernardo, Obie-winning actor-singer Darius de Haas, Village Voice theater critic Miriam Felton-Dansky, Obie-winning actor Daphne Rubin-Vega, and Obie-winning actor J. Smith Cameron.

Featured In This Story

Indecent

Closed: August 6, 2017

Sweat

Closed: June 25, 2017