2020 Outer Critics Circle Awards

2020 Outer Critics Circle Awards
2020 Outer Critics Circle Awards
Date	May 11, 2020
Most nominations	Moulin Rouge! (11)
Website	outercritics.org.

The 2020 Outer Critics Circle Awards announced its honorees on May 11, 2020, recognizing excellence in Broadway and Off-Broadway productions during the 2019–20 season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no formal awards ceremony was held, nor did the awards name winners. Instead, the normal slate of nominees were celebrated as honorees, as Broadway and Off-Broadway had been shut down on March 12, 2020. ^[1]

Despite the pandemic, with a cut-off date for the awards of March 6, over 150 productions were eligible, while the following were only eligible for new components to their productions, which were eligible in their previous runs: Girl from the North Country, Sea Wall/A Life and Slave Play.^[2]

Awards and nominations

Among the 2020 Honorees, Moulin Rouge was the most nominated production, receiving 11 nominations including Outstanding New Broadway Musical, alongside Jagged Little Pill and Tina, which received eight and five nominations, respectively. The Secret Life of Bees and The Sound Inside both received seven nominations, including Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical and Outstanding New Broadway Play, respectively. The Inheritance and The Height of the Storm both followed closely, with five nominations each.^[3]


	Honorees^[4]
Outstanding New Broadway Play	Grand Horizons The Height of the Storm The Inheritance Linda Vista The Sound Inside
Outstanding New Broadway Musical	Jagged Little Pill Moulin Rouge! Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play	Cambodian Rock Band Greater Clements Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven Make Believe Seared
Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical	Darling Grenadine Octet The Secret Life of Bees Soft Power A Strange Loop
Outstanding Revival of a Play (Broadway or Off-Broadway)	Betrayal Fires in the Mirror For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune A Soldier's Play
Outstanding Revival of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway)	Little Shop of Horrors The Unsinkable Molly Brown West Side Story
John Gassner Award	Catya McMullen, Georgia Mertching Is Dead Will Arbery, Heroes of the Fourth Turning Alexis Scheer, Our Dear Dead Drug Lord Eboni Booth, Paris
Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway)	Diablo Cody, Jagged Little Pill David Henry Hwang, Soft Power Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop Lynn Nottage, The Secret Life of Bees Mark Saltzman, Romeo and Bernadette
Outstanding New Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway)	Susan Birkenhead and Duncan Sheik, The Secret Life of Bees Ross Golan, The Wrong Man Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop Dave Malloy, Octet Jeanine Tesori and David Henry Hwang, Soft Power
Outstanding Director of a Play	David Cromer, The Sound Inside Stephen Daldry, The Inheritance Kenny Leon, "A Soldier's Play" Jamie Lloyd, Betrayal John Ortiz, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Outstanding Director of a Musical	Stephen Brackett, A Strange Loop Michael Mayer, Little Shop of Horrors Diane Paulus, Jagged Little Pill Alex Timbers, Moulin Rouge! Ivo van Hove, West Side Story
Outstanding Choreographer	Sidi Larbi Cherakoui, Jagged Little Pill Raja Feather Kelly, A Strange Loop Sonya Tayeh, Moulin Rouge! Anthony Van Laast, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical Travis Wall, The Wrong Man
Outstanding Orchestrations	Tom Kitt, Jagged Little Pill Alex Lacamoire, The Wrong Man Justin Levine, with Matt Stine, Katie Kresek, and Charlie Rosen, Moulin Rouge! Christopher Nightingale, A Christmas Carol Duncan Sheik and John Clancy, The Secret Life of Bees
Outstanding Actor in a Play	Ian Barford, Linda Vista Edmund Donovan, Greater Clements Raúl Esparza, Seared Tom Hiddleston, Betrayal Will Hochman, The Sound Inside Jonathan Pryce, The Height of the Storm
Outstanding Actress in a Play	Eileen Atkins,The Height of the Storm Judith Ivey, Greater Clements Joaquina Kalukango, Slave Play April Matthis, Toni Stone Mary-Louise Parker, The Sound Inside Portia, Stew
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play	David Alan Grier, A Soldier's Play John Benjamin Hickey, The Inheritance Paul Hilton, The Inheritance Samuel H. Levine, The Inheritance Andrew Morrison, Blues for an Alabama Sky Chris Perfetti, Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play	Liza Colón-Zayas, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven Montego Glover, All the Natalie Portmans Marsha Mason, Little Gem Krysta Rodriguez, Seared Lois Smith, The Inheritance Jennifer Van Dyck, The Confession of Lily Dare
Outstanding Solo Performance	David Cale, We’re Only Alive For a Short Amount of Time Laura Linney, My Name Is Lucy Barton Aedin Moloney, Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom Deirdre O’Connell, Dana H. Michael Benjamin Washington, Fires in the Mirror
Outstanding Actor in a Musical	Jonathan Groff, Little Shop of Horrors Joshua Henry, The Wrong Man Adam Kantor, Darling Grenadine Larry Owens, A Strange Loop Isaac Powell, West Side Story Aaron Tveit, Moulin Rouge!
Outstanding Actress in a Musical	Beth Malone, The Unsinkable Molly Brown Janelle McDermoth, We’re Gonna Die Karen Olivo, Moulin Rouge! Shereen Pimentel, West Side Story Elizabeth Stanley, Jagged Little Pill Adrienne Warren, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical	Christian Borle, Little Shop of Horrors Danny Burstein, Moulin Rouge! Gus Halper, Sing Street Jay Armstrong Johnson, Scotland, PA Francis Jue, Soft Power Daniel J. Watts, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical	Eisa Davis, The Secret Life of Bees Kathryn Gallagher, Jagged Little Pill LaChanze, The Secret Life of Bees Judy McLane, Romeo & Bernadette Lauren Patten, Jagged Little Pill Saycon Sengbloh, The Secret Life of Bees
Outstanding Scenic Design	Rob Howell, A Christmas Carol Tim Mackabee, Seared Derek McLane, Moulin Rouge! Clint Ramos, Grand Horizons Anthony Ward, The Height of the Storm
Outstanding Costume Design	Vanessa Leuck, Emojiland Jeff Mahshie, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice Mark Thompson, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical Rachel Townsend & Jessica Jahn, The Confession of Lily Dare Catherine Zuber, Moulin Rouge!
Outstanding Lighting Design	Isabella Byrd, Heroes of the Fourth Turning Heather Gilbert, The Sound Inside Justin Townsend, Moulin Rouge! Hugh Vanstone, A Christmas Carol Hugh Vanstone, The Height of the Storm
Outstanding Projection Design	Luke Halls, West Side Story Brad Peterson, Broadway Bounty Hunter Lisa Renkel and Possible Productions, Emojiland Aaron Rhyne, The Sound Inside Hannah Wasileski, Fires in the Mirror
Outstanding Sound Design	Simon Baker, A Christmas Carol Mikhail Fiksel, Dana H. Peter Hylenski, Moulin Rouge! Lee Kinney and Sanae Yamada, Is This A Room Daniel Kluger, The Sound Inside

References

^ Logan Culwell-Block (March 12, 2025). "On March 12, 2020: The COVID-19 Pandemic Shut Down Broadway". Playbill.
^ Olivia Clement (May 11, 2020). "Moulin Rouge! Leads 2020 Outer Critics Circle Award Honorees". Playbill.
^ Olivia Clement (May 11, 2020). "Moulin Rouge! Leads 2020 Outer Critics Circle Award Honorees". Playbill.
^ "2019-2020 – Outer Critics Circle". Retrieved November 16, 2023.

[1] Logan Culwell-Block (March 12, 2025). "On March 12, 2020: The COVID-19 Pandemic Shut Down Broadway". Playbill.

[2] Olivia Clement (May 11, 2020). "Moulin Rouge! Leads 2020 Outer Critics Circle Award Honorees". Playbill.

[3] Olivia Clement (May 11, 2020). "Moulin Rouge! Leads 2020 Outer Critics Circle Award Honorees". Playbill.

[4] "2019-2020 – Outer Critics Circle". Retrieved November 16, 2023.

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