Winners announced for New York’s Outer Critics Circle Awards 2025 including Jak Malone, Laura Donnelly & Stranger Things

The Outer Critics Circle in New York has announced the winners of its 2025 Outer Critics Circle Awards, honouring the 2024 to 2025 Broadway and Off-Broadway season.

The winners were announced today, 12 May 2025, in New York, and the awards ceremony follows on 22 May 2025.

The Outer Critics Circle is the official organisation of writers on New York theatre for out-of-town, national, and digital news publications, and is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.

In a shock turn of events, new Broadway musical Death Becomes Her, which had led the nominations with twelve, failed to pick up any awards. The same for Jamie Lloyd’s revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Sunset Boulevard, which had been nominated for four awards.

Leading the pack is new musical Maybe Happy Ending, which was nominated for nine awards and took home four, the most of any show, including Outstanding New Broadway Musical. London import Stranger Things: The First Shadow scored three awards for its creative team.

British star Jak Malone won the award for Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical for Operation Mincemeat; and Laura Donnelly won Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play for The Hills of California.

Andrew Scott (Vanya) lost out to Sarah Snook (The Picture of Dorian Gray) for Outstanding Solo Performance, although Vanya did take the prize for Outstanding Revival of a Play.

Awards League Table of Winners (1 or more)

4 – Maybe Happy Ending
3 – Boop! The Musical; Stranger Things: The First Shadow
2 – Cats: The Jellicle Ball; Drag: The Musical; John Proctor Is the Villain; The Picture of Dorian Gray
1 – Liberation; Good Night, and Good Luck; The Hills of California; Hold On to Me Darling; Just in Time; Operation Mincemeat; Table 17; Vanya; Yellow Face

2025 Outer Critics Circle Awards – Full list of winners

Outstanding New Broadway Play

Cult of Love
The Hills of California
John Proctor Is the Villain – WINNER
Purpose
Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Outstanding New Broadway Musical

Boop! The Musical
Death Becomes Her
Maybe Happy Ending – WINNER
Operation Mincemeat
Real Women Have Curves

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical

The Big Gay Jamboree
Drag: The Musical – WINNER
We Live in Cairo

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play

The Antiquities
Grangeville
Here There Are Blueberries
Liberation – WINNER
Table 17

John Gassner Award (new American play preferably by a new playwright)

Amy Berryman, Walden
George Clooney and Grant Heslov, Good Night, and Good Luck – WINNER
Marin Ireland, Pre-Existing Condition
Lia Romeo, Still
Emil Weinstein, Becoming Eve

Outstanding Revival of a Musical

Cats: The Jellicle Ball – WINNER
Floyd Collins
Gypsy
Once Upon a Mattress
Sunset Boulevard

Outstanding Revival of a Play

Beckett Briefs: From the Cradle to the Grave
Glengarry Glen Ross
Romeo + Juliet
Vanya – WINNER
Yellow Face

Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play

Kit Connor, Romeo + Juliet
Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California – WINNER
Mia Farrow, The Roommate
Jon Michael Hill, Purpose
Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play

Kieran Culkin, Glengarry Glen Ross
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Purpose
Francis Jue, Yellow Face – WINNER
Mare Winningham, Cult of Love
Kara Young, Purpose

Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical

Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending
Jeremy Jordan, Floyd Collins
Audra McDonald, Gypsy
Jasmine Amy Rogers, Boop! The Musical – WINNER
Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Boulevard
Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her

Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical

Danny Burstein, Gypsy
Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat – WINNER
Michele Pawk, Just in Time
Christopher Sieber, Death Becomes Her
Michael Urie, Once Upon a Mattress

Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical

Nick Adams, Drag: The Musical – WINNER
Marla Mindelle, The Big Gay Jamboree
Nkeki Obi-Melekwe, Safety Not Guaranteed
Alaska Thunderfuck, Drag: The Musical
Taylor Trensch, Safety Not Guaranteed

Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical

Ali Louis Bourzgui, We Live in Cairo
Paris Nix, The Big Gay Jamboree
Eddie Korbich, DRAG: The Musical
J. Elaine Marcos, DRAG: The Musical
André De Shields, Cats: The Jellicle Ball – WINNER
Henry Stram, Three Houses

Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Play

Caroline Aaron, Conversations with Mother
F. Murray Abraham, Beckett Briefs: From the Cradle to the Grave
Jayne Atkinson, Still
Adam Driver, Hold On to Me Darling – WINNER
Anthony Edwards, The Counter
Paul Sparks, Grangeville

Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play

Betsy Aidem, Liberation
Sean Bell, The Beacon
Michael Rishawn, Table 17 – WINNER
Richard Schiff, Becoming Eve
Frank Wood, Hold On to Me Darling

Outstanding Solo Performance

David Greenspan, I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan
Khawla Ibraheem, A Knock on the Roof
Sam Kissajukian, 300 Paintings
Andrew Scott, Vanya
Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray – WINNER

Outstanding Book of a Musical

Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending – WINNER
David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts, Operation Mincemeat
Daniel Lazour and Patrick Lazour, We Live in Cairo
Bob Martin, Boop! The Musical
Marco Pennette, Death Becomes Her

Outstanding Score

Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending – WINNER
David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts, Operation Mincemeat
David Foster and Susan Birkenhead, BOOP! The Musical
Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez, Real Women Have Curves
Julia Mattison and Noel Carey, Death Becomes Her

Outstanding Orchestrations

Will Aronson, Maybe Happy Ending
Doug Besterman, Death Becomes Her
Joseph Joubert and Daryl Waters, Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Daniel Lazour and Michael Starobin, We Live in Cairo
Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber, Just in Time – WINNER

Outstanding Direction of a Musical

Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending – WINNER
Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her
Robert Hastie, Operation Mincemeat
Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”
Jerry Mitchell, BOOP! The Musical

Outstanding Direction of a Play

Trip Cullman, Cult of Love
Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Sam Mendes, The Hills of California
Phylicia Rashad, Purpose
Danya Taymor, John Proctor Is the Villain – WINNER

Outstanding Choreography

Jenny Arnold, Operation Mincemeat
Warren Carlyle, Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her
Shannon Lewis, Just in Time
Jerry Mitchell, BOOP! the Musical – WINNER

Outstanding Scenic Design

Miriam Buether, Jamie Harrison, and Chris Fisher, Stranger Things: The First Shadow – WINNER
Rachel Hauck, Swept Away
Rob Howell, The Hills of California
Dane Laffrey, Maybe Happy Ending
Derek McLane, Death Becomes Her

Outstanding Costume Design

Gregg Barnes, BOOP! The Musical – WINNER
Wilberth Gonzalez and Paloma Young, Real Women Have Curves
Rob Howell, The Hills of California
Qween Jean, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”
Paul Tazewell, Death Becomes Her

Outstanding Lighting Design

Kevin Adams, Swept Away
Natasha Chivers, The Hills of California
Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow – WINNER
Ben Stanton, Maybe Happy Ending
Justin Townsend, Death Becomes Her

Outstanding Sound Design

Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow – WINNER
Adam Fisher, Sunset Boulevard
Peter Hylenski, Death Becomes Her
Peter Hylenski, Maybe Happy Ending
John Shivers, Swept Away

Outstanding Video/Projections

59, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom, Sunset Boulevard
David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian Gray – WINNER
Hana S. Kim, Redwood
Finn Ross, BOOP! The Musical

Special Awards
Patrick Hoffman, the recently retired curator of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, in honor of over three decades of service to the theater community, during which time he ensured the preservation of over 1,200 productions.

Note on Eligibility
The following productions were considered in previous seasons, with only new elements eligible during this cycle: Buena Vista Social Club; Dead Outlaw; English; Hold On to Me Darling; Job; and Oh, Mary!. The following productions were not eligible for awards this season: All In: Comedy About Love, and Ben Platt: Live at the Palace.

Awards – League Table of nominations (2 or more)

12 – Death Becomes Her
9 – Maybe Happy Ending
8 – Boop! The Musical
7 – Stranger Things: The First Shadow
6 – The Hills of California, Operation Mincemeat
5 – Drag: The Musical, Purpose
4 – Cats: The Jellicle Ball, Sunset Boulevard, We Live in Cairo
3 – The Big Gay Jamboree, Cult of Love, Gypsy, Just in Time, Real Women Have Curves, Swept Away
2 – Beckett Briefs, Becoming Eve, Floyd Collins, Glengarry Glen Ross, Grangeville, Hold On to Me Darling, John Proctor Is the Villain, Liberation, Once Upon a Mattress, Pirates! The Penzance Musical, Romeo + Juliet, Safety Not Guaranteed, Still, Table 17, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Vanya, Yellow Face

Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Phoenix Theatre, London

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