Frontmezzjunkies reports: Outer Critics Circle Award Winners 2025
By Ross
This morning, the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), of which I am a proud voting member, announced the winners of the 2025 Outer Critics Circle Awards, and I couldn’t be more proud to join in with a huge standing ovation, congratulating all the winners and the nominees. It was a fantastic season, and many of the winners were my personal favorites. Yeah, I’m talking about you: John Proctor Is the Villain, Maybe Happy Ending, Liberation, Vanya, and both Laura Donnelly for The Hills of California and Jak Malone for Operation Mincemeat.
It was such a grand season, and I was thrilled to be able to be a part of it. See below the list of the **winners** and nominees. Click on the highlighted titles for a quick link to my review.
Now maybe I’ll write more about my reactions tomorrow, but I’m currently relaxing in a small beach town far from the maddening crowds, and the electricity keeps shutting off and luckily, back on again (although earlier today it was off for a good 12 hours – the last one was only about 10 minutes) so I’m going to post this while I still can. Looking forward to the other award announcements, and what the next theatrical season has in store for us all. Enjoy!
Outstanding New Broadway Play
Cult of Love
The Hills of California
**John Proctor Is the Villain**
Purpose
Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Outstanding New Broadway Musical
Boop! The Musical
Death Becomes Her
**Maybe Happy Ending**
Operation Mincemeat
Real Women Have Curves
Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical
The Big Gay Jamboree
**Drag: The Musical**
We Live in Cairo
Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play
The Antiquities
Grangeville
Here There Are Blueberries
**Liberation**
Table 17
John Gassner Award (new American play, preferably by a new playwright)
Amy Berryman, Walden
**George Clooney and Grant Heslov, Good Night, and Good Luck**
Marin Ireland, Pre-Existing Condition
Lia Romeo, Still
Emil Weinstein, Becoming Eve
Outstanding Revival of a Musical
**Cats: The Jellicle Ball**
Floyd Collins
Gypsy
Once Upon a Mattress
Sunset Boulevard
Outstanding Revival of a Play
Beckett Briefs: From the Cradle to the Grave
Glengarry Glen Ross
Romeo + Juliet
**Vanya**
Yellow Face
Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play
Kit Connor, Romeo + Juliet
**Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California**
Mia Farrow, The Roommate
Jon Michael Hill, Purpose
Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play
Kieran Culkin, Glengarry Glen Ross
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Purpose
**Francis Jue, Yellow Face**
Mare Winningham, Cult of Love
Kara Young, Purpose
Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical
Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending
Jeremy Jordan, Floyd Collins
Audra McDonald, Gypsy
**Jasmine Amy Rogers, Boop! The Musical**
Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Boulevard
Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her
Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical
Danny Burstein, Gypsy
**Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat**
Michele Pawk, Just In Time
Christopher Sieber, Death Becomes Her
Michael Urie, Once Upon a Mattress
Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical
**Nick Adams, Drag: The Musical**
Marla Mindelle, The Big Gay Jamboree
Nkeki Obi-Melekwe, Safety Not Guaranteed
Alaska Thunderfuck, Drag: The Musical
Taylor Trensch, Safety Not Guaranteed
Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical
Ali Louis Bourzgui, We Live in Cairo
Paris Nix, The Big Gay Jamboree
Eddie Korbich, Drag: The Musical
J. Elaine Marcos, Drag: The Musical
**André De Shields, Cats: The Jellicle Ball**
Henry Stram, Three Houses
Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Play
Caroline Aaron, Conversations with Mother
F. Murray Abraham, Beckett Briefs: From the Cradle to the Grave
Jayne Atkinson, Still
**Adam Driver, Hold On to Me Darling**
Anthony Edwards, The Counter
Paul Sparks, Grangeville
Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play
Betsy Aidem, Liberation
Sean Bell, The Beacon
**Michael Rishawn, Table 17 **
Richard Schiff, Becoming Eve
Frank Wood, Hold On to Me Darling
Outstanding Solo Performance
David Greenspan, I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan
Khawla Ibraheem, A Knock on the Roof
Sam Kissajukian, 300 Paintings
Andrew Scott, Vanya
**Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray**
Outstanding Book of a Musical
**Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending**
David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts, Operation Mincemeat
Daniel Lazour and Patrick Lazour, We Live in Cairo
Bob Martin, Boop! The Musical
Marco Pennette, Death Becomes Her
Outstanding Score
**Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending**
David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts, Operation Mincemeat
David Foster and Susan Birkenhead, Boop! The Musical
Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez, Real Women Have Curves
Julia Mattison and Noel Carey, Death Becomes Her
Outstanding Orchestrations
Will Aronson, Maybe Happy Ending
Doug Besterman, Death Becomes Her
Joseph Joubert and Daryl Waters, Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Daniel Lazour and Michael Starobin, We Live in Cairo
**Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber, Just In Time**
Outstanding Direction of a Musical
**Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending**
Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her
Robert Hastie, Operation Mincemeat
Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Jerry Mitchell, Boop! The Musical
Outstanding Direction of a Play
Trip Cullman, Cult of Love
Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Sam Mendes, The Hills of California
Phylicia Rashad, Purpose
**Danya Taymor, John Proctor Is the Villain**
Outstanding Choreography
Jenny Arnold, Operation Mincemeat
Warren Carlyle, Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her
Shannon Lewis, Just In Time
**Jerry Mitchell, Boop! The Musical**
Outstanding Scenic Design
**Miriam Buether, Jamie Harrison, and Chris Fisher, Stranger Things: The First Shadow **
Rachel Hauck, Swept Away
Rob Howell, The Hills of California
Dane Laffrey, Maybe Happy Ending
Derek McLane, Death Becomes Her
Outstanding Costume Design
**Gregg Barnes, Boop! The Musical**
Wilberth Gonzalez and Paloma Young, Real Women Have Curves
Rob Howell, The Hills of California
Qween Jean, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Paul Tazewell, Death Becomes Her
Outstanding Lighting Design
Kevin Adams, Swept Away
Natasha Chivers, The Hills of California
**Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow**
Ben Stanton, Maybe Happy Ending
Justin Townsend, Death Becomes Her
Outstanding Sound Design
**Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow**
Adam Fisher, Sunset Boulevard
Peter Hylenski, Death Becomes Her
Peter Hylenski, Maybe Happy Ending
John Shivers, Swept Away
Outstanding Video/Projections
59, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom, Sunset Boulevard
**David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian Gray**
Hana S. Kim, Redwood
Finn Ross, Boop! The Musical
Special Awards
Patrick Hoffman, the recently retired curator of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, in honor of over three decades of service to the theater community, during which time he ensured the preservation of over 1,200 productions.
Note on Eligibility:
The following productions were considered in previous seasons, with only new elements eligible during this cycle: Buena Vista Social Club; Dead Outlaw; English; Hold On to Me Darling; Job; and Oh, Mary!. The following productions were not eligible for awards this season: All In: Comedy About Love and Ben Platt: Live at the Palace.
Tally of Awards
4 – Maybe Happy Ending
3 – Boop! The Musical; Stranger Things: The First Shadow
2 – Cats: The Jellicle Ball; Drag: The Musical; John Proctor Is the Villain; The Picture of Dorian Gray
1 – Liberation; Good Night, and Good Luck; The Hills of California; Hold On to Me Darling; Just In Time; Operation Mincemeat; Table 17; Vanya; Yellow Face
