Outer Critics Circle Nominations Announced

The nominations were announced today for the Outer Critics Circle Awards. The organization consists of critics and reporters who cover New York theatre for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media beyond Broadway. The awards, which honor achievement both on and Off Broadway, were announced by the actors Lily Rabe and Richard Thomas. Leading the nominations were the "new" Gershwin Brothers musical Nice Work If You Can Get It (suggested by the vintage show Oh, Kay!), with nine nominations; the new Disney musical Newsies and the film-to-stage adaptation Once, with seven apiece; and, with five nominations each, the revivals of Death of Salesman, Follies, and Evita, and the new musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.

Among the design nominees, in the category of outstanding set design for a play or musical, those cited included Bob Crowley, for Once; Derek McLane, for Nice Work If You Can Get It; Christopher Oram, for Evita; and George Tsypin, for Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.

The lighting design nominees were Neil Austin, for Evita; Donald Holder, for Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark; Brian MacDevitt, for Death of a Salesman; and Hugh Vanstone, for Ghost: The Musical.

Costume design nominees included Gregg Barnes, for Follies; the late Eiko Ishioka, for Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark; William Ivey Long, for Don't Dress for Dinner; and Martin Pakledinaz, for Nice Work If You Can Get It.

The Outer Critics Circle does not give out awards for sound or projection/video design.

As a side note, a statement released with the nominations said, "The nominating committee attended all of this season's Broadway productions prior to the OCC Award cut-off date. Venus in Fur, Clybourne Park, Peter and the Starcatcher and Other Desert Cities were considered in previous seasons, but new cast members were taken into consideration for this season."

In addition, the OCC honored The Public Theater on its 50th Anniversary for presenting free theater at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Alumni of Shakespeare in the Park and Public Theater productions Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara presented the special award to The Public's artistic director Oskar Eustis and executive director Patrick Willingham.

The winners will be announced on May 14. The awards will be given out at a ceremony on May 24.

For a full list of nominees, go to the URL listed below.