The winners of the 2020 Off-Broadway Alliance Awards were announced by Charles Busch and Julie Halston via a live stream May 19. As previously reported, due to restrictions from the COVID-19 crisis, the physical celebration has been postponed to the fall.
Among this year's recipients are Michael R. Jackson's Pulitzer Prize winner A Strange Loop, which took home the Best New Musical Award; Bill Posley's solo show The Day I Became Black; Lucas Hnath's Dana H., which won Best Unique Theatrical Experience; and Aaron Posner's Life Sucks, the winner of the Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best New Play.
The 2020 awards recognize productions across seven competitive categories. In addition to the competitive awards, Legend of Off Broadway Awards were presented to Gretchen Cryer, Woodie King, Jr., Eric Krebs, and Barbara Zinn Krieger. Mark Blum, Wynn Handman, and Julia Miles are posthumously honored with induction into the Off Broadway Hall of Fame; and the Friend of Off Broadway Award was presented to The Drama Bookshop for its continued dedication to Off Broadway.
Check out the list of nominees below; the winners are in bold and marked with an asterisk. You can view the announcement here.
Best New Play
Ain't No Mo'
By Jordan E. Cooper
Produced by The Public Theater
Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
By Stephen Adly Guirgis
Co-production between Atlantic Theater Company and LAByrinth Theater Company
Life Sucks*
By Aaron Posner
Produced by Wheelhouse Theater
Make Believe
By Bess Wohl
Produced by Second Stage Theater
The Confession of Lily Dare
By Charles Busch
Produced by Primary Stages in association with Jamie deRoy and Ted Snowden
Best Play Revival
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow is Enuf
By Ntozake Shange
Produced by The Public Theater
Much Ado About Nothing
By William Shakespeare
Produced by The Public Theater
The Woman in Black*
Adapted by Stephen Mallatratt
From the novel by Susan Hill
Presented by the McKittrick Hotel with Peter Wilson Productions, Pemberley Productions, and Martin Platt
Timon of Athens
By William Shakespeare
Produced by Theatre for a New Audience and Shakespeare Theater Company
Best New Musical
A Strange Loop*
Book, music and lyrics by Michael R Jackson
Produced by Playwrights Horizons and Page 73
Cambodian Rock Band
By Lauren Yee with songs by Dengue Fever
Produced by Signature Theatre Company
Emojiand
Book, music, and lyrics by Keith Harrison and Laura Schein
Produced by Arborhouse Productions and Visceral Entertainment
Romeo & Bernadette: A Musical Tale of Verona and Brooklyn
Book and lyrics by Mark Saltzman
Produced by Amas Musical Theatre and Eric Krebs
Sing Street
Book by Enda Walsh, music and lyrics by John Carney and Gary Clark
Produced by New York Theatre Workshop
The Secret Life of Bees
Book by Lynn Nottage, music by Duncan Sheik, and lyrics by Susan Birkenhead
Produced by the Atlantic Theater Company
Best Musical Revival
Baby
Book by Sybille Pearson, music by David Shire, and lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr
Produced by Out of the Box Theatrics
Enter Laughing
Book by Joseph Stein, music and lyrics by Stan Daniels
Produced by The York Theater Company
Little Shop of Horrors
Book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, music by Alan Menken
Produced by Robert Ahrens, Hunter Arnold, Mickey Liddell, Curt Cronin, John Joseph, and Tom Kirdahy
Rock of Ages
Book by Chris D'Arienzo
Produced by S2BN Entertainment
The Unsinkable Molly Brown*
Music and lyrics by Meredith Willson; book and new lyrics by Dick Scanlan, based on the original book by Richard Morris; music adaptation by Michael Rafter
Produced by Transport Group
Best Unique Theatrical Experience
Dana H.*
By Lucas Hnath
Produced by Vineyard Theatre, Goodman Theatre, and Center Theatre Group
Midsummer: A Banquet
By William Shakespeare, adapted by Zach Morris and Victoria Rae Sook
Produced by Food of Love Productions and Third Rail Projects
Novenas for a Lost Hospital
By Cusi Cram
Produced by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
Playing Hot
Created by Kevin Armento and Jaki Bradley, written by Kevin Armento and C.A. Johnson
Produced by Pipeline Theater
Katsura Sunshine’s Rakugo
Created and performed by Katsura Sunshine
Produced by Joe Trentacosta, Yoshitaka Tanaka, Yumi Shinozaki, and Marie Fukuda
Best Solo Performance
Kathleen Chalfant in A Woman of the World
By Rebecca Gilman
Produced by The Acting Company and 59E59 Theaters
Keith Hamilton Cobb in American Moor
By Keith Hamilton Cobb
Produced by Evangeline Morphos, Frederick M Zollo, Red Bull Theater, Elizabeth I McCann, and Tom Shea
Harvey Fierstein in Bella Bella
By Harvey Fierstein
Produced by Manhattan Theatre Club
Ken Jennings in Gospel of John
Conceived by Ken Jennings
Produced by The Sheen Center for Thought and Culture
Bill Posley in The Day I Became Black*
Created and written by Bill Posley
Produced by Kristen Boulé
Aedín Moloney in Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom
Adaptation by Aedín Moloney and Colum McCann
Produced by Irish Repertory Theatre
Best Family Show
Dog Man: The Musical
Music by Brad Alexander, books and lyrics by Kevin DelAguila, based on the series by Dav Pilkey
Produced by TheatreWorks USA
Paddington Gets in a Jam
Created by Jonathan Rockefeller, written by Doug Kmiotek, based on the series by Michael Bond
Produced by Rockefeller Productions
She Persisted, The Musical*
Script and lyrics by Adam Tobin, music by Deborah Wicks La Puma, adapted from the book by Chelsea Clinton
Produced by Atlantic Theater Company
Taste the Clouds
Created by Hit the Lights! Theater Co., based on the book Taste the Clouds by Rita Marshall
Produced by New York City Children’s Theater
The Big One-Oh!
Music by Doug Besterman, lyrics by Dean Pitchford, book by Timothy Allen McDonald, based on the novel by Dean Pitchford
Produced by Atlantic Theater Company
Visit OffBroadwayAlliance.com for more information on the awards.
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