Frontmezzjunkies reports: 40TH ANNUAL LUCILLE LORTEL AWARDS RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED
Our Class leads with FOUR awards, including Outstanding Revival and Outstanding Ensemble. Here There Are Blueberries receives TWO awards including Outstanding Play. Three Houses named Outstanding Musical. Vanya awarded Outstanding Solo Show.
The 2025 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway were handed out this evening to recipients in 16 categories, with three honorary awards also bestowed. The Awards were distributed in a ceremony at NYU Skirball hosted by stars of stage and screen: Kandi Burruss (“The Chi,” “Reasonable Doubt”), Lea DeLaria (“Titanique”), Jay Ellis & Stephanie Nur (“Duke & Roya”), J. Harrison Ghee (“Some Like It Hot”), Ilana Glazer (“Good Night, and Good Luck”), Maya Hawke (Signature Theatre’s “Eurydice”), Alaska Thunderfuck(“Drag: The Musical”). The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League and Lucille Lortel Theatre, with additional support provided by TDF.
Special honorees this year included Playwrights’ Sidewalk inductee Alice Childress presented by LaChanze and accepted by Dedrienne McKenzie and Nicara McKenzie, Outstanding Body of Work recipient New Federal Theater represented by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and the Edith Oliver Service to Off-Broadway presented to Carol Fishman by Playwrights Horizons Artistic Director, Adam Greenfied.
NOMINEES & RECIPIENTS OF THE 2025 LUCILLE LORTEL AWARDS
*Please note: all nominees are listed with the award recipient in *BOLD.
Outstanding Play
*Here There Are Blueberries
Produced by New York Theatre Workshop and Tectonic Theater Project
Written by Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich
Liberation
Produced by Roundabout Theatre Company
Written by Bess Wohl
Sumo
Ma-Yi Theater Company and The Public Theater present a La Jolla Playhouse and Ma-Yi Theater Company production
Written by Lisa Sanaye Dring
The Antiquities
Produced by Playwrights Horizons, Vineyard Theatre, Goodman Theatre
Written by Jordan Harrison
We Had a World
Produced by Manhattan Theatre Club
Written by Joshua Harmon
Outstanding Musical
Drag: The Musical
Produced by Tomas Costanza, Scott Prisand, Matthew Weaver, Paolo & Jodie Coppola, Aron & Gabe Alves-Tomko, Nicholas Kaiser, Willette & Manny Klausner, Tristan Schukraft, Janet Billig Rich, Hillary Weaver, Producer Entertainment Group, Jackie Huba, 1145 Ventures, Peter Crawford/Pieter Van Meeuwen, Bruce Robert Harris/Jack W. Batman, Drama Club, Concord Theatricals, Rob Kolson, Sarina Neer, Liesl Wilke, Daitch/Busch, and Liza Minnelli
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Tomas Costanza, Justin Andrew Honard, and Ashley Gordon
Medea: Re-Versed
Produced by Red Bull Theater and Bedlam in a co-production with Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival
Written by Luis Quintero, Adapted from Euripides
The Big Gay Jamboree
Produced by Sue Wagner, John Johnson, Luckychap, Jillian Robbins, Hillary Wyatt, Indian Paintbrush, Runyonland, Ashley Melone And Nick Mills, Ilana Woldenberg, Paul Wachter And Tom Werner, Ld Entertainment, Annapurna Theatre, John Gore Organization, Nederlander Presentations, Madison Wells Live, Jane Bergère, Jana Bezdek And Jen Hoguet, Crooked Letter, Allie Sandler, Lloyd Tichio Productions, Winkler And Smalberg, Jennifer Lahl, Stella La Rue, Meena Harris And Jess Foung, Eastern Standard Time/Josh Altman, Wessex Grove
Book By Marla Mindelle and Jonathan Parks-Ramage, Music and Lyrics by Marla Mindelle and Philip Drennen
*Three Houses
Produced by Signature Theatre Company
Music, Lyrics, and Book by Dave Malloy
We Live in Cairo
Produced by New York Theatre Workshop
Book, Music, and Lyrics by The Lazours
Outstanding Revival
Beckett Briefs: From the Cradle to the Grave
Produced by Irish Repertory Theatre
Written by Samuel Beckett
Ghosts
Produced by Lincoln Center Theater
Written by Henrik Ibsen, with a new version by Mark O’Rowe
Hold on to Me Darling
Produced by Seaview, Sue Wagner, John Johnson, Jillian Robbins, Stella La Rue, Hillary Wyatt, Richard Batchelder, Jane Bergere, Fentybaer, Lamf Protozoa, LD Entertainment, Lucille Lortel Theatre, Madison Wells Live, Oren Michels, Benjamin Nelson, Roth-Manella Productions, Cynthia Stroum, David Thomas Tao, Tom Tuft, Bruce & Peggy Wanta, Karen Brooks, Wessex Grove
Written by Kenneth Lonergan
*Our Class
Produced by MART Foundation and Arlekin Players Theatre, in association with Jadow Productions
Written by Tadeusz Słobodzianek, Adapted by Norman Allen
Wine in the Wilderness
Produced by Classic Stage Company
Written by Alice Childress
Outstanding Solo Show
300 Paintings
Produced by Vineyard Theatre
Written and Performed by Sam Kissajukian
A Knock on the Roof
Produced by New York Theatre Workshop & piece by piece productions, in association with Under the Radar
Written and Performed by Khawla Ibraheem
*Vanya
Produced by Wessex Grove, Gavin Kalin Productions, Kater Gordon, Roast Productions, Aleri Entertainment, Eilene Davidson Productions, Nicole Eisenberg, Grace Street Creative, Jim Kierstead, Lucille Lortel Theatre, Tilted, Tulchin Bartner Productions, Winkler & Smalberg, Executive Producers Sue Wagner, John Johnson, Jillian Robbins
Co-Created by Andrew Scott, Simon Stephens, Sam Yates, and Rosanna Vize, Adapted by Simon Stephens
Performed by Andrew Scott
Outstanding Director
Moisés Kaufman – Here There Are Blueberries
Zhailon Levingston – Table 17
Whitney White – Liberation
Sam Yates – Vanya
Outstanding Choreographer (*TIE*)
*Connor Gallagher – The Big Gay Jamboree
Spencer Liff – Drag: The Musical
Or Schraiber – Our Class
*Lynne Taylor-Corbett – Distant Thunder
Annie Tippe – Three Houses
Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play
Adam Driver – Hold on to Me Darling
Madison Ferris – All of Me
Susannah Flood – Liberation
Lily Rabe – Ghosts
Paul Sparks – Grangeville
Marisa Tomei – Babe
*Kara Young – Table 17
Outstanding Featured Performer in a Play
Betsy Aidem – Liberation
Stephanie Berry – Staff Meal
Ahmad Kamal – Sumo
Julia Lester – All Nighter
*Michael Rishawn – Table 17
Olivia Washington – Wine in the Wilderness
Frank Wood – Hold on to Me Darling
Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical
Marla Mindelle – The Big Gay Jamboree
J.D. Mollison – Three Houses
Mia Pak – Three Houses
Lauren Patten – The Lonely Few
Margo Seibert – Three Houses
Alaska Thunderfuck – Drag: The Musical
*Sarin Monae West – Medea: Re-Versed
Outstanding Featured Performer in a Musical
Jujubee – Drag: The Musical
Eddie Korbich – Drag: The Musical
Jacob Ming-Trent – Medea: Re-Versed
*Paris Nix – The Big Gay Jamboree
Helen J Shen – The Lonely Few
Natalie Walker – The Big Gay Jamboree
Outstanding Ensemble
Here There Are Blueberries
Scott Barrow, Nemuna Ceesay, Kathleen Chalfant, Jonathan Raviv, Erika Rose, Elizabeth Stahlmann, Charlie Thurston, Grant James Varjas
*Our Class
Gus Birney, Andrey Burkovskiy, José Espinosa, Tess Goldwyn, Will Manning, Stephen Ochsner, Alexandra Silber, Richard Topol, Ilia Volok, Elan Zafir
We Live in Cairo
Ali Louis Bourzgui, Drew Elhamalawy, John El-Jor, Nadina Hassan, Michael Khalid Karadsheh, Rotana Tarabzouni
Outstanding Scenic Design
dots – Three Houses
Christopher Ford and Dakota Rose – The Beastiary
Derek McLane – Here There Are Blueberries
*Jan Pappelbaum – Our Class
Matt Saunders – Jordans
Outstanding Costume Design
*Oana Botez – Orlando
Qween Jean – Liberation
Marco Marco – Drag: The Musical
Rodrigo Muñoz – Sally & Tom
Mariko Ohigashi – Sumo
Outstanding Lighting Design
Stacey Derosier – Grangeville
Michael Gottlieb – Beckett Briefs: From the Cradle to the Grave
*Tyler Micoleau – The Antiquities
Ben Stanton – Table 17
Japhy Weideman – Ghosts
Outstanding Sound Design
Nick Kourtides – Travels
*Fabian Obispo – Sumo
Matt Otto – All of Me
Matt Otto – Medea: Re-Versed
Ryan Rumery and Florian Staab – Beckett Briefs: From the Cradle to the Grave
Outstanding Projection Design
*David Bengali – Here There Are Blueberries
David Bengali – We Live in Cairo
Eric Dunlap, Igor Golyak, and Andreea Mincic – Our Class
Hana S. Kim – Sumo
Brian Pacelli – Scarlett Dreams
HONORARY AWARDS
Playwrights’ Sidewalk Inductee
Alice Childress
Outstanding Body of Work
New Federal Theatre
Edith Oliver Service to Off-Broadway
Carol Fishman
RECIPIENTS BY SHOW:
| Our Class | 4 |
| The Big Gay Jamboree | 2 |
| Here There Are Blueberries | 2 |
| Table 17 | 2 |
| The Antiquities | 1 |
| Distant Thunder | 1 |
| Medea: Re-Versed | 1 |
| Orlando | 1 |
| Sumo | 1 |
| Three Houses | 1 |
| Vanya | 1 |
The Off-Broadway League’s Lortel Awards Administration Committee (Jeremy Adams, Alana Canty-Samuel, Tisa Chang, Carol Fishman, George Forbes, Kenneth Naanep, Ralph Peña, Catherine Russell, Michael Sag, Jonathan Whitton, Casey York, and Jeffrey Shubart, Chair) and the Lucille Lortel Theatre (George Forbes, Jeffrey Shubart, Nancy Hurvitz, Alana Canty-Samuel, Maura Le Viness, Karla Liriano, and Rascher Alcasid) produce the Lortel Awards Ceremony. Acclaimed writer/director Michael Heitzman directs the Lortel Awards. Representatives of the Off-Broadway League, the Lucille Lortel Theatre, Actors’ Equity Association, Stage Directors & Choreographers Society, United Scenic Artists, in addition to theatre journalists, academics, and other Off-Broadway professionals, serve on the Voting Committee.
ABOUT THE LUCILLE LORTEL AWARDS
The Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway were created in 1985 by the Off-Broadway League. The Lortel Awards recognize excellence in Off-Broadway by honoring the invaluable contribution of artists to the theatre community. Representatives of the Off-Broadway League, Actors’ Equity Association, Stage Directors & Choreographers Society, United Scenic Artists, the Lucille Lortel Theatre, in addition to theatre journalists, academics, and other Off-Broadway professionals, serve on the Voting Committee. Awards may be given in the following categories: Play, Musical, Solo Show, Revival, Alternative Theatrical Experience, Director, Choreographer, Lead Performer in a Play and Musical, Featured Performer in a Play and Musical, Ensemble, Scenic, Costume, Lighting, Sound, and Projection Design. The following honorary awards may also be given: Lifetime Achievement Award, Body of Work (awarded to an institution), Edith Oliver Service to Off-Broadway Award, and induction onto the Playwrights’ Sidewalk in front of the historic Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York City. For more information, please see www.LortelAwards.org.
