The nominations for the 2018 Lucille Lortel Awards, celebrating the best of Off-Broadway theatre, were announced April 4. Dear Evan Hansen Tony winner Rachel Bay Jones and stage favorite Steven Pasquale (both previous Lortel Award winners) revealed the nominees exclusively through Playbill via Facebook Live.
The 33rd annual ceremony, hosted by Laura Benanti and Jason Jones, will be held May 6 at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.
The environmental musical KPOP, from Ars Nova, Ma-Yi Theater, and the Woodshed Collective, leads the pack with nine nominations, including Outstanding Musical and representation in each of the four musical performance categories: James Seol for Lead Actor, Ashley Park for Lead Actress, Jason Tam for Featured Actor, and Vanessa Kai for Featured Actress.
Joining the show in the Outstanding Musical category are Desperate Measures, Hundred Days, Jerry Springer - The Opera, and Bella: An American Tale, which followed KPOP in the nominations tally with six total.
The New York Theatre Workshop staging of Amy Herzog’s Mary Jane also earned six nominations, including nods for star Carrie Coon and director Anne Kauffman. Kauffman is one of four women recognized in the Outstanding Director category, alongside Lilieana Blai-Cruz for Pipeline, Lila Neugebaurer for Miles for Mary, and Leigh Silverman for Harry Clarke. Rounding out the group is Michael Greif for The Low Road.
Five works are up for Outstanding Play: Cost of Living, Miles for Mary, Pipeline, The Treasurer, and School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play (which will return to Off-Broadway's MCC Theater this fall).
Ars Nova's The Lucky Ones dominated the Featured Actress in a Musical category, with Maryann Plunkett, Myra Lucretia Taylor, and Adina Verson earning nods. The trio is joined by KPOP's aforementioned Kai and Jerry Springer standout Tiffany Mann.
Individuals to receive multiple nominations include Quincy Tyler Bernstine, nominated for her performances in both The Amateurs and As You Like It, and playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, who has two plays up for Outstanding Revival: Fucking A and In the Blood (both presented at Signature Theatre under the collective title The Red Letter Plays).
As previously announced, the ceremony will posthumously elect composer Michael Friedman onto the Playwrights’ Sidewalk in front of the Lucille Lortel Theatre and will honor Tony-winning playwright and performer Eve Ensler (The Vagina Monologues) with a Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as celebrate the longstanding Off-Broadway company WP Theater for their "Outstanding Body of Work."
See below for the full list of nominees.
Outstanding Play
Cost of Living
Produced by Manhattan Theatre Club in association with Williamstown Theatre Festival
Written by Martyna Majok
Miles for Mary
Produced by Playwrights Horizons
Written by Marc Bovino, Joe Curnutte, Michael Dalto, Lila Neugebauer, and Stephanie Wright Thompson
Pipeline
Produced by Lincoln Center Theater
Written by Dominique Morisseau
School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play
Produced by MCC Theater
Written by Jocelyn Bioh
The Treasurer
Produced by Playwrights Horizons
Written by Max Posner
Outstanding Musical
Bella: An American Tall Tale
Produced by Playwrights Horizons
Book, music, and lyrics by Kirsten Childs
Desperate Measures
Produced by The York Theatre Company in association with Cecilia Lin and Hu Guo
Book and lyrics by Peter Kellogg, music by David Friedman
Hundred Days
Produced by New York Theatre Workshop
By the Bengsons and Sarah Gancher
Jerry Springer - The Opera
Produced by The New Group
Music and lyrics by Richard Thomas, book and additional lyrics by Stewart Lee and Richard Thomas
KPOP
Produced by Ars Nova in association with Ma-Yi Theater Company and Woodshed Collective
Conceived by Woodshed Collective and Jason Kim, book by Jason Kim, music and lyrics by Helen Park and Max Vernon, immersive design by Woodshed Collective
Outstanding Revival
Fucking A
Produced by Signature Theatre
Written by Suzan-Lori Parks
In The Blood
Produced by Signature Theatre
Written by Suzan-Lori Parks
Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train
Produced by Signature Theatre
Written by Stephen Adly Guirgis
The Government Inspector
Produced by Red Bull Theater
Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from Revizor by Nikolai Gogol
Torch Song
Produced by Second Stage Theater in association with Richie Jackson
Written by Harvey Fierstein
Outstanding Solo Show
Harry Clarke
Produced by Vineyard Theatre in association with Audible
Written by David Cale, performed by Billy Crudup
Who's Holiday!
Produced by Whoville Theatrical, Scott and Jenny Beck, Jason Shaw, Ken Fakler, Drew Desky/Dane Levens, Darren Bagert
Written by Matthew Lombardo, performed by Lesli Margherita
Outstanding Director
Lileana Blain-Cruz, Pipeline
Michael Greif, The Low Road
Anne Kauffman, Mary Jane
Lila Neugebauer, Miles for Mary
Leigh Silverman, Harry Clarke
Outstanding Choreographer
Camille A. Brown, Bella: An American Tall Tale
Bill Castellino, Desperate Measures
Byron Easley, X: Or, Betty Shabazz v. The Nation
Sonya Tayeh, The Lucky Ones
Jennifer Weber, KPOP
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play
Sean Carvajal, Jesus Hopped The ‘A’ Train
Peter Friedman, The Treasurer
Chukwudi Iwuji, The Low Road
Namir Smallwood, Pipeline
Michael Urie, Torch Song
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play
Quincy Tyler Bernstine, The Amateurs
MaameYaa Boafo, School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play
Carrie Coon, Mary Jane
Cristin Milioti, After the Blast
Karen Pittman, Pipeline
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Marc Bovino, Miles for Mary
Edi Gathegi, Jesus Hopped The ‘A’ Train
Gregg Mozgala, Cost of Living
Paul Sparks, Edward Albee's At Home at the Zoo: Homelife and The Zoo Story
John Tufts, Pride and Prejudice
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Vanessa Aspillaga, Amy and the Orphans
Quincy Tyler Bernstine, As You Like It
Liza Colón-Zayas, Mary Jane
Mirirai Sithole, School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play
Katy Sullivan, Cost of Living
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical
Damon Daunno, The Lucky Ones
Steven Eng, Pacific Overtures
Terrence Mann, Jerry Springer – The Opera
Wade McCollum, Ernest Shackleton Loves Me
James Seol, KPOP
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical
Abigail Bengson, Hundred Days
Ashley D. Kelley, Bella: An American Tall Tale
Julia Knitel, A Letter to Harvey Milk
Lauren Molina, Desperate Measures
Ashley Park, KPOP
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Sean Patrick Doyle, Jerry Springer – The Opera
Brandon Gill, Bella: An American Tall Tale
Paolo Montalban, Bella: An American Tall Tale
Thom Sesma, Pacific Overtures
Jason Tam, KPOP
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Vanessa Kai, KPOP
Tiffany Mann, Jerry Springer – The OperaQuincy Tyler Bernstine
Maryann Plunkett, The Lucky Ones
Myra Lucretia Taylor, The Lucky Ones
Adina Verson, The Lucky Ones
Outstanding Scenic Design
Gabriel Hainer Evansohn, KPOP
Anna Fleischle, Hangmen
Laura Jellinek, Mary Jane
Amy Rubin, Miles for Mary
Louisa Thompson, In The Blood
Outstanding Costume Design
Dede M. Ayite, Bella: An American Tall Tale
Dede M. Ayite, School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play
Tricia Barsamian, KPOP
Tilly Grimes, The Government Inspector
Emily Rebholz, The Low Road
Outstanding Lighting Design
Alan C. Edwards, Harry Clarke
Bradley King, The Treasurer
Ben Stanton, The Low Road
Japhy Weideman, Mary Jane
Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, KPOP
Outstanding Sound Design
Mikhail Fiksel, The Treasurer
Leah Gelpe, Mary Jane
Bray Poor, The Last Match
Bray Poor, Office Hour
Brandon Wolcott, After the Blast
Outstanding Projection Design
Lucy Mackinnon, After the Blast
Alexander V. Nichols, Ernest Shackleton Loves Me
Brad Peterson, The Stone Witch
Hannah Wasileski, Pipeline
Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, Relevance
Productions with multiple nominations
KPOP (9)
Bella: An American Tall Tale (6)
Mary Jane (6)
The Lucky Ones (5)
Pipeline (5)
Jerry Springer - The Opera (4)
The Low Road (4)
Miles for Mary (4)
School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play (4)
The Treasurer (4)
After the Blast (3)
Cost of Living (3)
Desperate Measures (3)
Harry Clarke (3)
Jesus Hopped The "A" Train (3)
Ernest Shackleton Loves Me (2)
The Government Inspector (2)
Hundred Days (2)
In the Blood (2)
Pacific Overtures (2)
Torch Song (2)
Watch Jones and Pasquale announce the nominations below.
