2023 Lucille Lortel Awards announced

On May 7, the Off-Broadway League announced the recipients of the 38th annual Lucille Lortel Awards. The awards recognize excellence in Off-Broadway theatre.

The Off-Broadway League has named the winners of the 38th annual Lucille Lortel Awards, which recognize excellence in Off-Broadway theatre. The ceremony took place at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts on May 7.

Wolf Play and Titanique were awarded the top prizes of Outstanding Play and Outstanding Musical, respectively. These productions also led in overall wins, with Wolf Play taking home five awards and Titanique three.

In addition to the competitive awards, the Off-Broadway League also awarded special awards. Actor Stephen McKinley Henderson, a 2023 Tony Award nominee for Between Riverside and Crazy, received a Lifetime Achievement Award. Playwright Ntozake Shange was posthumously inducted into the Playwrights’ Sidewalk, and the service organization A.R.T./New York received an honorary award for its body of work.

Additionally, the Edith Oliver Service to Off-Broadway Award was presented as a surprise to Victoria Bailey, who has served for more than 20 years as executive director of the Theatre Development Fund. She is also a recipient of a special 2023 Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre.

Read the full list of 2023 Lucille Lortel Award winners and nominees. The winners are denoted with an asterisk.

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Outstanding Play

• A Case for the Existence of God
• Dark Disabled Stories
• Downstate
• Epiphany
• Wolf Play*

Outstanding Musical

• Dreaming Zenzile
• Harmony
• Suffs
• Titanique*
• Weightless

Outstanding Revival

• A Bright New Boise
• Endgame
• A Man of No Importance
• Merrily We Roll Along
• A Raisin in the Sun*

Outstanding Director

• Zi Alikhan: On That Day in Amsterdam
• David Cromer: A Case for the Existence of God
• Robert O'Hara: A Raisin in the Sun
• Whitney White: soft
• Dustin Wills: Wolf Play*

Outstanding Choreographer

• Andy Blankenbuehler: Only Gold*
• Warren Carlyle: Harmony
• Edgar Godineaux: The Harder They Come
• Jerry Mitchell: Kinky Boots
• Ellenore Scott: Titanique

Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play

• Kyle Beltran: A Case For the Existence of God
• Marylouise Burke: Epiphany
• K. Todd Freeman: Downstate*
• Ryan J. Haddad: Dark Disabled Stories
• Bill Irwin: Endgame
• Tonya Pinkins: A Raisin in the Sun
• John Douglas Thompson: Endgame

Outstanding Featured Performer in a Play

• Mia Barron: The Coast Starlight*
• Susanna Guzmán: Downstate
• Ryan J. Haddad: american (tele)visions
• Dickie Hearts: Dark Disabled Stories
• Patrice Johnson Chevannes: Endgame
• Maureen Sebastian: The Best We Could (a family tragedy)
• Eddie Torres: Downstate

Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical

• Nicholas Barasch: The Butcher Boy
• Callum Francis: Kinky Boots
• Natey Jones: The Harder They Come
• Somi Kakoma: Dreaming Zenzile
• Lindsay Mendez: Merrily We Roll Along
• Marla Mindelle: Titanique*
• Jim Parsons: A Man of No Importance

Outstanding Featured Performer in a Musical

• Krystal Joy Brown: Merrily We Roll Along
• Darren Goldstein: The Bedwetter
• Nikki M. James: Suffs
• Jacob Ming-Trent: The Harder They Come
• John Riddle: Titanique
• Reg Rogers: Merrily We Roll Along
• A.J. Shively: A Man of No Importance*

Outstanding Ensemble

• The Nosebleed: Drae Campbell, Ashil Lee, Chris Manley, Aya Ogawa, Saori Tsukada, Kaili Y. Turner
• soft: Leon Addison Brown, Biko Eisen-Martin, Dharon Jones, Essence Lotus, Travis Raeburn, Shakur Tolliver, Dario Vazquez, Ed Ventura
• Wolf Play: Christopher Bannow, Esco Jouléy, Brian Quijada, Nicole Villamil, Mitchell Winter*

Outstanding Scenic Design

• John Lee Beatty: Epiphany
• You-Shin Chen: Wolf Play*
• dots: You Will Get Sick
• Arnulfo Maldonado: A Case for the Existence of God
• Clint Ramos: The Far Country

Outstanding Costume Design

• Enver Chakartash: The Trees
• Sarah Laux: Wish You Were Here
• Orla Long: Endgame
• Qween Jean: soft
• Alejo Vietti: Titanique*

Outstanding Lighting Design

• Isabella Byrd: Epiphany*
• Jiyoun Chang: The Far Country
• Tyler Micoleau: A Case for the Existence of God
• Barbara Samuels: Wolf Play
• Cha See: On That Day in Amsterdam

Outstanding Sound Design

• Mikhail Fiksel: How To Defend Yourself
• Daniel Kluger: Epiphany
• Kate Marvin: Wolf Play*
• Theater Mitu: american (tele)visions
• Sinan Refik Zafar: Letters From Max, a ritual

Outstanding Projection Design

• Alex Basco Koch: The Orchard
• Yee Eun Nam: Once Upon a (Korean) Time
• Kameron Neal: Dark Disabled Stories*
• Theater Mitu: american (tele)visions
• S Katy Tucker: Letters From Max, a ritual

Photo credit: Constantine Rousouli, Marla Mindelle & Alex Ellis in Titanique. (Photo by Emilio Madrid)