The Outer Critics Circle Awards winners have been announced, with Maybe Happy Ending sweeping with four awards, including that for Outstanding New Broadway Musical. Other honored musicals included Boop! The Musical, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”, Drag: The Musical, Just in Time, and Operation Mincemeat. Congrats to all nominees and winners, who will be honored at the awards ceremony on May 22 at Lincoln Center’s New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
See the full list of 2025 nominees and winners below:
Outstanding New Broadway Play
John Proctor is the Villain
Cult of Love
The Hills of California
Purpose
Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Outstanding New Broadway Musical
Maybe Happy Ending
Boop! The Musical
Death Becomes Her
Operation Mincemeat
Real Women Have Curves
Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical
Drag: The Musical
The Big Gay Jamboree
We Live In Cairo
Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play
Liberation
The Antiquities
Grangeville
Here There Are Blueberries
Table 17
John Gassner Award (new American play preferably by a new playwright)
George Clooney and Grant Heslov, Good Night, And Good Luck
Amy Berryman, Walden
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 Blvd.
Outstanding Revival of a Play
Vanya
Beckett Briefs: From the Cradle to the Grave
Glengarry Glen Ross
Romeo + Juliet
Yellow Face
Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play
Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California
Kit Connor, Romeo + Juliet
Mia Farrow, The Roommate
Jon Michael Hill, Purpose
Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play
Francis Jue, Yellow Face
Kieran Culkin, Glengarry Glen Ross
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Purpose
Mare Winningham, Cult of Love
Kara Young, Purpose
Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical
Jasmine Amy Rogers, Boop! The Musical
Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending
Jeremy Jordan, Floyd Collins
Audra McDonald, Gypsy
Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Blvd.
Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her
Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical
Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat
Danny Burstein, Gypsy
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
Andre De Shields, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”
Ali Louis Bourzgui, We Live In Cairo
Paris Nix, The Big Gay Jamboree
Eddie Korbich, Drag: The Musical
J. Elaine Marcos, Drag: The Musical
Henry Stram, Three Houses
Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Play
Adam Driver, Hold On To Me Darling
Caroline Aaron, Conversations with Mother
F. Murray Abraham, Beckett Briefs: From the Cradle to the Grave
Jayne Atkinson, Still
Anthony Edwards, The Counter
Paul Sparks, Grangeville
Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play
Michael Rishawn, Table 17
Betsy Aidem, Liberation
Sean Bell, The Beacon
Richard Schiff, Becoming Eve
Frank Wood, Hold On To Me Darling
Outstanding Solo Performance
Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray
David Greenspan, I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan
Khawla Ibraheem, A Knock on the Roof
Sam Kissajukian, 300 Paintings
Andrew Scott, Vanya
Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
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 (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
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 (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Andrew Resnick, Just in Time
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
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
Danya Taymor, John Proctor is the Villain
Trip Cullman, Cult of Love
Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Sam Mendes, The Hills of California
Phylicia Rashad, Purpose
Outstanding Choreography
Jerry Mitchell, Boop! The Musical
Jenny Arnold, Operation Mincemeat
Warren Carlyle, Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her
Shannon Lewis, Just in Time
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
Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Kevin Adams, Swept Away
Natasha Chivers, The Hills of California
Ben Stanton, Maybe Happy Ending
Justin Townsend, Death Becomes Her
Outstanding Sound Design
Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Adam Fisher, Sunset Blvd.
Peter Hylenski, Death Becomes Her
Peter Hylenski, Maybe Happy Ending
John Shivers, Swept Away
Outstanding Video/Projections
David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian Gray
59, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom, Sunset Blvd.
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.
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