2016 Lucille Lortel Award Nominations

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Award season is here and as we’re excited to announce the nominations for the 31st Annual Lucille Lortel Awards, which celebrates Off-Broadway theatre. The ceremony will take place May 1 at the NYU Skirball Center at 7 PM.

The work of some of our Broadway Black favorites are nominated, including: Phylicia Rashad (Head of Passes), Liesl Tommy (Eclipsed), Maurice Hines (Tappin’ Thru Life),  Ito Aghayere (Familiar), Chinasa Ogbuagu (Sojourners), Michael Luwoye (Invisible Thread), Alana Arenas (Head of Passes), and Myra Lucretia Taylor (Familiar).

A special congratulations to Suzan-Lori Parks, who will be inducted onto the Playwrights’ Sidewalk in front of the Lucille Lortel Theatre. Parks became the first Black woman to win a Pulitzer for her 2001 Topdog/Underdog; her first Pulitzer nod came in 2000 for In The Blood. The MacArthur Genius Award winner’s work, Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) – which ran at The Public (October-December 2014) and at Harvard University’s The American Repertory Theater (January-March 2015) – received the 2015 Kennedy Prize for Drama and was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Parks’s work on The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess was honored with the 2012 Tony Award. If that isn’t enough, this embodiment of Black Excellence is currently writing an adaptation of the film The Harder They Come for a live stage musical, and she is also creating a television series for Amazon.

Below you’ll find the 2016 Lucile Lortel Awards nomination list in its entirety.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE LUCILLE LORTEL AWARD NOMINEESS OF 2016!

Outstanding Play

The Christians: Produced by Playwrights Horizons and Center Theatre Group & Written by Lucas Hnath

Eclipsed: Produced by The Public Theater & Written by Danai Gurira

Gloria: Produced by Vineyard Theatre & Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Guards at the Taj: Produced by Atlantic Theater Company& Written by Rajiv Joseph

John: Produced by Signature Theatre & Written by Annie Baker

Outstanding Musical

FUTURITY: Produced by Soho Rep. and Ars Nova in association with Carole Shorenstein Hays

Music by César Alvarez with The Lisps, Lyrics and Book by César Alvarez

Iowa: Produced by Playwrights Horizons

Written by Jenny Schwartz, Music by Todd Almond, Lyrics by Todd Almond and Jenny Schwartz

Southern Comfort: Produced by The Public Theater

Book and Lyrics by Dan Collins, Music by Julianne Wick Davis, Based on the Film by Kate Davis, Conceived for the Stage by Robert DuSold and Thomas Caruso

Tappin’ Thru Life: Produced by Leonard Soloway, Bud Martin, Riki Kane Larimer, Jeff Wolk, Phyllis and Buddy Aerenson, Darren P. DeVerna/Jeremiah J. Harris and the Shubert Organization

Written by Maurice Hines

The Wildness: Sky-Pony’s Rock Fairy Tale: Produced by Ars Nova in collaboration with The Play Company

Text by Kyle Jarrow & Lauren Worsham, Songs by Kyle Jarrow

Outstanding Revival

‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore: Produced by Red Bull Theater & Written by John Ford

Cloud Nine: Produced by Atlantic Theater Company& Written by Caryl Churchill

Mother Courage And Her Children: Produced by Classic Stage Company & Written by Bertolt Brecht, Translated by John Willett

The Robber Bridegroom: Produced by Roundabout Theatre Company in association with Daryl Roth

Book and Lyrics by Alfred Uhry, Music by Robert Waldman

Women Without Men: Produced by Mint Theater Company & Written by Hazel Ellis

Outstanding Solo Show

The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey: Produced by Darren Bagert, Daryl Roth, Co-Produced by Jane Dubin, Curtis Forsythe, Michael Mayer, Diane Procter, Seaview Productions and Minerva Productions/Joshua Goodma

Written and Performed by James Lecesne

Forever: Produced by New York Theatre Workshop

Created and Performed by Dael Orlandersmith

Grounded: Produced by The Public Theater & Written by George Brant

Performed by Anne Hathaway

Mike Birbiglia: Thank God For Jokes: Produced by Mike Berkowitz, Joseph Birbiglia, Ron Delsener and Mike Lavoie

Written and Performed by Mike Birbiglia

Outstanding Director

Rachel Chavkin, The Royale

Anne Kauffman, Marjorie Prime

Amy Morton, Guards at the Taj

Liesl Tommy, Eclipsed

Eric Tucker, Bedlam’s SENSE & SENSIBILITY

Outstanding Choreographer

Alexandra Beller, Bedlam’s SENSE & SENSIBILITY

Martha Clarke, Angel Reapers

Maurice Hines, Tappin’ Thru Life

Paul McGill, The Legend of Georgia McBride

David Neumann, FUTURITY

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play

Denis Arndt, Heisenberg

Reed Birney, The Humans

Timothée Chalamet, Prodigal Son

Andrew Garman, The Christians

Ed Harris, Buried Child

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play

Ito Aghayere, Familiar

Georgia Engel, John

Jayne Houdyshell, The Humans

Chinasa Ogbuagu, Sojourners

Phylicia Rashad, Head of Passes

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical

Gabriel Ebert, Preludes

Michael C. Hall, Lazarus

Maurice Hines, Tappin’ Thru Life

Michael Luwoye, Invisible Thread

Steven Pasquale, The Robber Bridegroom

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical

Sophia Anne Caruso, Lazarus

Alison Fraser, First Daughter Suite

Annette O’Toole, Southern Comfort

Mary Testa, First Daughter Suite

Sammy Tunis, FUTURITY

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play

Sanjit De Silva, Dry Powder

Jonathan Hogan, Hold On To Me Darling

Matt McGrath, The Legend of Georgia McBride

Paul Sparks, Buried Child

C.J. Wilson, Hold On To Me Darling

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play

Alana Arenas, Head of Passes

Lauren Klein, The Humans

Jeanine Serralles, Gloria

Lois Smith, John

Myra Lucretia Taylor, Familiar

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical

Greg Hildreth, The Robber Bridegroom

Jeffrey Kuhn, Southern Comfort

Or Matias, Preludes

Chris Sarandon, Preludes

Kevin Zak, Clinton the Musical

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical

Eisa Davis, Preludes

Karen Kandel, FUTURITY

Leslie Kritzer, Gigantic

Leslie Kritzer, The Robber Bridegroom

Annie McNamara, Iowa

Outstanding Scenic Design

Mimi Lien, John

Timothy R. Mackabee, Guards at the Taj

G.W. Mercier, Head of Passes

Emily Orling and Matt Saunders, FUTURITY

David Zinn, The Humans

Outstanding Costume Design

Martha Hally, Women Without Men

Toni-Leslie James, First Daughter Suite

Clint Ramos, Eclipsed

Anita Yavich, The Legend of Georgia McBride

Donna Zakowska, Angel Reapers

Outstanding Lighting Design

Christopher Akerlind, Grounded

Mark Barton, John

Ben Stanton, The Legend of Georgia McBride

Justin Townsend, The Humans

David Weiner, Guards at the Taj

Outstanding Sound Design

Matt Hubbs, The Royale

Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen, Guards at the Taj

Fitz Patton, The Humans

Will Pickens, Grounded

Bray Poor, Buzzer

SPECIAL AWARDS

Outstanding Alternative Theatrical Experience

Angel Reapers

By Martha Clarke and Alfred Uhry

Produced by Signature Theatre

Peter Nigrini, Projection Design, Grounded

HONORARY AWARDS

Lifetime Achievement Award

James Houghton

Playwrights’ Sidewalk Inductee

Suzan-Lori Parks

The Voting Committee is made up of representatives from the Off-Broadway League, Actors’ Equity Association, Stage Directors & Choreographers Society, the Lucille Lortel Foundation, in addition to theatre journalists and academics and other Off-Broadway professionals.

For more information about the awards visit HERE