Some of the Presenters of the Lortel Awards 2020

 

The 35th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway were presented this evening in 19 categories, and two honorary awards were bestowed. Award recipients were announced during a special livestream broadcast hosted by Mario Cantone as a benefit for The Actors Fund, with the Lortel Foundation pledging $50,000 to their Emergency Grant Program, and an additional $50,000 to TDF. Donations can still be made at www.actorsfund.org/lortel. The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League and the Lucille Lortel Theatre Foundation, with additional support provided by TDF.

Top recipients, earning three awards each, were Dave Malloy’s Octet produced by Signature Theatre for Outstanding Musical; and Heroes of the Fourth Turning, produced by Playwrights Horizons, for Outstanding Play. There were also two ties this year – in the categories of Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical and Outstanding Costume Design. 

Special honorees this year included Playwrights Horizons’ Tim Sanford, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award; and Anna Deavere Smith, inducted onto the famed Playwrights’ Sidewalk in front of the historic Lucille Lortel Theatre.

Featured presenters included: Jelani AlladinRachel DratchJordan FisherJackie HoffmanAndy KarlNathan LaneTatiana MaslanyDebra MessingLin-Manuel MirandaBrian Stokes MitchellNyambi NyambiKelli O’HaraOrfehSteven PasqualeLauren PattenAlison PillJeremy PopeCondola RashadKrysta RodriguezPhillipa SooSonya TayehMarisa TomeiMichael Urie, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

The Lortel Awards hosted a “Virtual Red Carpet” where anyone watching the show at home could submit their own “red carpet” photo of them “attending” the event. Photos were posted on social media using #LortelAwards.

Some of the Red Carpet Attendees

 

NOMINEES AND RECIPIENTS OF THE 35TH ANNUAL LUCILLE LORTEL AWARDS 

*Please note: all nominees are listed with the award recipient in BOLD.

 

Outstanding Play

BLKS

Produced by MCC Theater

Written by Aziza Barnes

 

Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven

Produced by Atlantic Theater Company and LAByrinth Theater Company

Written by Stephen Adly Guirgis

 

Heroes of the Fourth Turning

Produced by Playwrights Horizons

Written by Will Arbery

 

Is This A Room

Produced by Vineyard Theatre

Conceived by Tina Satter

 

Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie

Produced by Ars Nova

Created by The Mad Ones and Phillip James Brannon, Brad Heberlee, Carmen M. Herlihy, January LaVoy

 

Outstanding Musical

A Strange Loop

Produced by Playwrights Horizons in association with Page 73 Productions

Book, Music, and Lyrics by Michael R. Jackson

 

In The Green

Produced by Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3

Book, Music, and Lyrics by Grace McLean

 

Octet

Produced by Signature Theatre

Book, Music, and Lyrics by Dave Malloy

 

Soft Power

Produced by The Public Theater and Center Theatre Group

Play and Lyrics by David Henry Hwang, Music and Additional Lyrics by Jeanine Tesori

 

The Secret Life of Bees

Produced by Atlantic Theater Company

Book by Lynn Nottage, Music by Duncan Sheik, Lyrics by Susan Birkenhead

Based on the novel by Sue Monk Kidd

 

Outstanding Revival

A Bright Room Called Day

Produced by The Public Theater

Written by Tony Kushner

 

Fires in the Mirror

Produced by Signature Theatre

Written by Anna Deavere Smith

Performed by Michael Benjamin Washington

 

for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf      

Produced by The Public Theater

Written by Ntozake Shange

 

Little Shop of Horrors

Produced by Tom Kirdahy, Robert Ahrens, Hunter Arnold, Mickey Liddell, Caiola Productions, Curt Cronin, John Joseph, DDM Productions, DeSantis-Baugh Productions, Elizabeth Dewberry & Ali Ahmet Kocabiyik, Wendy Federman, Roy Furman, Deborah Green, Kayla Greenspan, Marguerite Hoffman, Sally Cade Holmes, Latitude Link, Seriff Productions, Silva Theatrical Group, Eric Gelb/Oliver Roth

Book and Lyrics by Howard Ashman, Music by Alan Menken

 

MAC BETH

Produced by Red Bull Theater

Written by William Shakespeare, Adapted by Erica Schmidt

 

Outstanding Solo Show

Bella Bella

Produced by Manhattan Theatre Club

Written and Performed by Harvey Fierstein

 

Dana H.

Produced by Vineyard Theatre, Goodman Theatre, and Center Theatre Group

Written by Lucas Hnath

Performed by Deirdre O’Connell

 

the way she spoke

Produced by Audible

Written by Isaac Gómez

Performed by Kate del Castillo

 

We’re Only Alive for A Short Amount of Time

Produced by The Public Theater and Goodman Theatre

Written and Performed by David Cale, Lyrics by David Cale, Music by David Cale and Matthew Dean Marsh

 

Where We Stand

Produced by WP Theater in association with Baltimore Center Stage

Written and Performed by Donnetta Lavinia Grays

 

Outstanding Director

Stephen Brackett, A Strange Loop

Tina Satter, Is This A Room

Danya Taymor, Heroes of the Fourth Turning

Annie TippeOctet

Les Waters, Dana H.

 

Outstanding Choreographer

Camille A. Brown, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf

Camille A. Brown, Toni Stone

Raja Feather Kelly, A Strange Loop

Sam Pinkleton, Soft Power

Travis Wall, The Wrong Man

 

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play

Charles Busch, The Confession of Lily Dare

Edmund Donovan, Greater Clements

Raúl Esparza, Seared

Hamish Linklater, The Pain of My Belligerence

Aaron Yoo, The Headlands

 

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play

Liza Colón-Zayas, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven

Emily Davis, Is This A Room

April Matthis, Toni Stone

Zoë Winters, Heroes of the Fourth Turning

Kara Young, All the Natalie Portmans

 

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play

Christopher Borg, The Confession of Lily Dare

Marc Bovino, Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie

Garcia, Continuity

Francis Jue, Cambodian Rock Band

Ken Narasaki, Greater Clements

 

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play

Okwui Okpokwasili, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf

Estelle Parsons, A Bright Room Called Day

Michele Pawk, Heroes of the Fourth Turning

Stephanie Wright Thompson, Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie

Alexandria Wailes, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf

 

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical

Jonathan Groff, Little Shop of Horrors

Joshua Henry, The Wrong Man

Francis Jue, Soft Power

Larry Owens, A Strange Loop

Conrad Ricamora, Soft Power   

 

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical

Eisa Davis, The Secret Life of Bees

LaChanze, The Secret Life of Bees

Beth Malone, The Unsinkable Molly Brown

Janelle McDermoth, We’re Gonna Die

Grace McLean, In The Green

 

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical – **TIE**

Christian Borle, Little Shop of Horrors

Alex Gibson, Octet

Gus Halper, Sing Street

Jay Armstrong Johnson, Scotland, PA

John-Andrew Morrison, A Strange Loop

 

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical

Ashley Pérez FlanaganIn The Green

Ari Groover, Little Shop of Horrors

L Morgan LeeA Strange Loop

Ciara Renée, The Wrong Man

Kuhoo Verma, Octet

 

Outstanding Scenic Design

You-Shin Chen and Laura Jellinek, Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie

Yu-Hsuan Chen, Our Dear Dead Drug Lord

Tim Mackabee, Seared

James Noone, London Assurance

Clint Ramos, Soft Power

 

Outstanding Costume Design – **TIE**

Dede Ayite, BLKS

Montana Levi BlancoA Strange Loop

Oana Botez, In The Green

Toni-Leslie James, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf

Rachel Townsend and Jessica Jahn, The Confession of Lily Dare

 

Outstanding Lighting Design

Isabella Byrd, Heroes of the Fourth Turning

Alan C. Edwards, Fires in the Mirror

Tyler Micoleau, Socrates

Barbara Samuels, In The Green

Jen Schriever, Power Strip

 

Outstanding Sound Design

Justin Ellington, Heroes of the Fourth Turning

Mikhail Fiksel, Dana H.

Lee Kinney and Sanae Yamada, Is This A Room

Hidenori Nakajo, Octet

Nicholas Pope, In The Green

 

Outstanding Projection Design

Stephan Mazurek, Mojada

Lisa Renkel and POSSIBLE, Emojiland the Musical

Ruey Horng SunThe Headlands

Hannah Wasileski, Anatomy of a Suicide

Hannah Wasileski, Fires in the Mirror

 

HONORARY AWARDS

Lifetime Achievement Award

Tim Sanford

 

Playwrights’ Sidewalk Inductee

Anna Deavere Smith

www.lortelawards.org

AWARD RECIPIENTS BY SHOW

 

Heroes of the Fourth Turning 3
Octet 3
A Strange Loop 2
Dana H. 2
for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf 2
Cambodian Rock Band 1
Greater Clements 1
In The Green 1
Is This A Room 1
Little Shop of Horrors 1
Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie 1
The Confession of Lily Dare 1
The Headlands 1
The Wrong Man 1