The Theatre Award season has begun with the release of the Drama League Award nominations and now the announcement of the Outer Critics Circle Award nominations.

“The Outer Critics Circle honor recognizes the best in New York theatre—including both Broadway and Off-Broadway productions—from a voting membership comprising writers from out-of-town, national, and digital news outlets.”

Still in previews, “The Lost Boys” leads the list of nominees with eleven.  “Mexodus”, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”, “Schmigadoon!”,  and “Masquerade” also garnered multiple award nominations.

The winners will be announced on May 21 at the MMAC Theater.

The nominees for the 2026 Outer Critics Circle Awards are:

Outstanding New Broadway Musical:
“The Lost Boys”
“Schmigadoon!”
“Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)”

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical:
“Beau the Musical”
“Goddess”
“Mexodus”
“Oratorio for Living Things”
“Saturday Church”

Outstanding New Broadway Play:
“The Balusters”
“Giant”
“Little Bear Ridge Road”
“Oedipus”
“Punch”

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play:
“Angry Alan”
“Meet the Cartozians”
“The Monsters”
“Prince Faggot”
“The Reservoir”

John Gassner Award (for a new American play preferably by a new playwright):
“Call Me Izzy” by Jamie Wax
“Caroline” by Preston Max Allen
“Cold War Choir Practice” by Ro Reddick
“Data” by Matthew Libby
“Well, I’ll Let You Go” by Bubba Weiler

Outstanding Revival of a Musical:
“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”
“The Baker’s Wife”
“Chess”
“Masquerade”
“Ragtime”

Outstanding Revival of a Play:
“Becky Shaw”
“The Brothers Size”
“Death of a Salesman”
Joe Turner’s “Come and Gone”
“Marjorie Prime”

Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play:
Rose Byrne in “Fallen Angels”
Will Harrison in “Punch”
Nathan Lane in “Death of a Salesman”
John Lithgow in “Giant”
Lesley Manville in “Oedipus”
Kelli O’Hara in “Fallen Angels”

Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play:
Christopher Abbott in “Death of a Salesman”
Danny Burstein in “Marjorie Prime”
Jessica Hecht in “Dog Day Afternoon”
Laurie Metcalf in “Death of a Salesman”
Ruben Santiago-Hudson in Joe Turner’s “Come and Gone”

Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical:
Sara Chase in “Schmigadoon!”
Nicholas Christopher in “Chess”
Luke Evans in “The Rocky Horror Show”
Joshua Henry in “Ragtime”
Sam Tutty in “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)”
Brandon Uranowitz in “Ragtime”
Jessica Vosk in “Beaches”

Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical:
Ali Louis Bourzgui in “The Lost Boys”
Max Clayton in “Schmigadoon!”
Andrew Durand in “The Rocky Horror Show”
Benjamin Pajak in “The Lost Boys”
Ben Levi Ross in “Ragtime”

Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical:
Micaela Diamond in “The Seat of Our Pants”
Amber Iman in “Goddess”
Brian Quijada in “Mexodus”
Nygel D. Robinson in “Mexodus”
Matt Rodin in “Beau the Musical”

Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical:
Justin Cooley in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”
J. Harrison Ghee in “Saturday Church”
Judy Kuhn in “The Baker’s Wife”
Kevin McHale in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”
Jasmine Amy Rogers in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”

Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Play:
Quincy Tyler Bernstine in “Well, I’ll Let You Go”
Alana Raquel Bowers in “Cold War Choir Practice”
André Holland in “The Brothers Size”
Alani iLongwe in “The Brothers Size”
Aigner Mizzelle in “The Monsters”

Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play:
Caroline Aaron in “The Reservoir”
Brian d’Arcy James in “Eurydice”
River Lipe-Smith in “Caroline”
Andrea Martin in “Meet the Cartozians”
Malcolm Mays in “The Brothers Size”

Outstanding Solo Performance:
Sean Hayes in “The Unknown”
Mary Kate O Flanagan in “Making a Show of Myself”
Jack Holden in “Kenrex”
Daniel Radcliffe in “Every Brilliant Thing”
Jean Smart in “Call Me Izzy”

Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway):
Jim Barne and Kit Buchan for “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)”
David Hornsby and Chris Hoch for “The Lost Boys”
Douglas Lyons for “Beau the Musical”
Cinco Paul for “Schmigadoon!”
Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson for “Mexodus”

Outstanding Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway):
Jim Barne and Kit Buchan for “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)”
Heather Christian for “Oratorio for Living Things”
Ethan D. Pakchar and Douglas Lyons for “Beau the Musical”
Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson for “Mexodus”
The Rescues for “The Lost Boys”

Outstanding Direction of a Play:
Debbie Allen for Joe Turner’s “Come and Gone”
Ngozi Anyanwu for “The Monsters”
Trip Cullman for “Becky Shaw”
Robert Icke for “Oedipus”
Joe Mantello for “Death of a Salesman
Tarell Alvin McCraney and Bijan Shibani, for “The Brothers Size”

Outstanding Direction of a Musical:
Michael Arden for “The Lost Boys”
Lear deBessonet for “Ragtime”
Lee Sunday Evans for “Oratorio for Living Things”
David Mendizábal for “Mexodus”
Diane Paulus for “Masquerade”

Outstanding Choreography:
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui for “Masquerade”
Christopher Gattelli for “Schmigadoon!”
Darrell Grand Moultrie for “Goddess”
Darrell Grand Moultrie for “Saturday Church”
Rickey Tripp for “The Monsters”

Outstanding Orchestrations (Broadway or Off-Broadway):
Fraser Campbell, Jane Cardona, Ben Moss, Odetta Hartman, John Murchison, and Peter Wise for “Oratorio for Living Things”
Doug Besterman and Mike Morris for  “Schmigadoon!”
Mikhail Fiksel, Brian Quijada, and Nygel D. Robinson for “Mexodus”
Ethan Popp and The Rescues for “The Lost Boys”
Michael Thurber for “Goddess”

Outstanding Scenic Design:
James Fluhr for “Masquerade”
Dane Laffrey for “The Lost Boys”
Scott Pask for “Schmigadoon!”
Adam Rigg and Anton Volovsek for “Bowl EP”
Jason Sherwood for “The Baker’s Wife”

Outstanding Costume Design:
Dede Ayite for “Goddess”
Linda Cho for “Schmigadoon!”
Jeff Mahshie for “Fallen Angels”
Ryan Park for “The Lost Boys”
Emilio Sosa for “Masquerade”

Outstanding Lighting Design:
Mextly Couzin for “Mexodus”
Adam Honoré for “Cats: The Jellicle Ball”
Jack Knowles for “Death of a Salesman”
Jen Schriever and Michael Arden for “The Lost Boys”
Studio Luna for “Marcel on the Train”

Outstanding Sound Design:
Caroline Eng for “The Unknown”
Mikhail Fiksel for “Mexodus”
Adam Fisher for “The Lost Boys”
Brett Jarvis for “Masquerade”
Nick Kourtides for “Oratorio for Living Things”

Outstanding Video/Projection Design:59 Studio for “Ragtime”
Akhila Krishnan for “Kyoto”
Derek McLane, for “This World of Tomorrow”
Johnny Moreno for “Mexodus”
John Narun for “Bughouse”