Winners for the 2025 Outer Critics Circle Awards were revealed May 12, with Maybe Happy Ending leading the pack with its four wins, including Outstanding Best New Musical. The show is also currently a Best Musical Tony Award nominee, alongside Death Becomes Her, which had gone into this year's Outer Critics as the front runner with 12 nominations. The screen-to-stage musical did not win in any of its categories.
This year's winners will be honored with an awards ceremony May 22 at Lincoln Center's New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Natalie Venetia Belcon (Buena Vista Social Club), Victoria Clark (Kimberly Akimbo), Andrew Durand (Dead Outlaw), Steve Guttenberg (It Takes Two), and Thom Sesma (Dead Outlaw) will present.
The most awarded play was Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which nearly swept the physical design categories (with the exception of costumes, which went to Gregg Barnes for BOOP! The Musical; and video and projections, which went to David Bergman for The Picture of Dorian Gray). The play did not, however, take Outstanding New Broadway Play, a distinction that went to John Proctor is the Villain. Stranger Things, along with BOOP!, was the second most-awarded production of the year with three wins.
Off-Broadway productions getting recognition included DRAG: The Musical, winning Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical; and Liberation, taking Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play. Both revival categories also went to Off-Broadway productions, with play revival going to Andrew Scott's solo Vanya and musical going to Cats: "The Jellicle Ball."
See the full list of winners below:
Outstanding New Broadway Play
Cult of Love
The Hills of California
WINNER - John Proctor Is the Villain
Purpose
Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Outstanding New Broadway Musical
BOOP! The Musical
Death Becomes Her
WINNER - Maybe Happy Ending
Operation Mincemeat
Real Women Have Curves
Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical
The Big Gay Jamboree
WINNER - DRAG: The Musical
We Live in Cairo
Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play
The Antiquities
Grangeville
Here There Are Blueberries
WINNER - Liberation
Table 17
John Gassner Award (new American play preferably by a new playwright)
Amy Berryman, Walden
WINNER - George Clooney and Grant Heslov, Good Night, and Good Luck
Marin Ireland, Pre-Existing Condition
Lia Romeo, Still
Emil Weinstein, Becoming Eve
Outstanding Revival of a Musical
WINNER - Cats: "The Jellicle Ball"
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
WINNER - Vanya
Yellow Face
Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play
Kit Connor, Romeo + Juliet
WINNER - Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California
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
WINNER - Francis Jue, Yellow Face
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
WINNER - Jasmine Amy Rogers, BOOP! The Musical
Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Boulevard
Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her
Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical
Danny Burstein, Gypsy
WINNER - Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat
Michele Pawk, Just in Time
Christopher Sieber, Death Becomes Her
Michael Urie, Once Upon a Mattress
Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical
WINNER - Nick Adams, DRAG: The Musical
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
WINNER - Andr茅 De Shields, Cats: "The Jellicle Ball"
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
WINNER - Adam Driver, Hold On to Me Darling
Anthony Edwards, The Counter
Paul Sparks, Grangeville
Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play
Betsy Aidem, Liberation
Sean Bell, The Beacon
WINNER - Michael Rishawn, Table 17
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
WINNER - Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Outstanding Book of a Musical
WINNER - Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending
David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zo毛 Roberts, Operation Mincemeat
Daniel Lazour and Patrick Lazour, We Live in Cairo
Bob Martin, Boop! The Musical
Marco Pennette, Death Becomes Her
Outstanding Score
WINNER - Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending
David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zo毛 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
WINNER - Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber, Just in Time
Outstanding Direction of a Musical
WINNER - Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending
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
WINNER - Danya Taymor, John Proctor Is the Villain
Outstanding Choreography
Jenny Arnold, Operation Mincemeat
Warren Carlyle, Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her
Shannon Lewis, Just in Time
WINNER - Jerry Mitchell, BOOP! the Musical
Outstanding Scenic Design
WINNER - Miriam Buether, Jamie Harrison, and Chris Fisher, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Rachel Hauck, Swept Away
Rob Howell, The Hills of California
Dane Laffrey, Maybe Happy Ending
Derek McLane, Death Becomes Her
Outstanding Costume Design
WINNER - Gregg Barnes, BOOP! The Musical
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
WINNER - Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Ben Stanton, Maybe Happy Ending
Justin Townsend, Death Becomes Her
Outstanding Sound Design
WINNER - Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
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
WINNER - David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Hana S. Kim, Redwood
Finn Ross, BOOP! The Musical
Recently retired curator of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive at New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Patrick Hoffman will be honored with a Special Award, paying tribute to more than three decades of service to the theatre community. His tenure with the archive saw more than 1,200 productions preserved.
Wins by show:
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
The Outer Critics Circle Awards are one of several New York theatrical honors given on the road to the all-important Tony Awards, which will be handed out June 8 at Radio City Music Hall, broadcasting live on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
Founded in the 1949-1950 Broadway season, the Outer Critics Circle honor recognizes the best in New York theatre鈥攊ncluding both Broadway and Off-Broadway productions鈥攆rom a voting membership comprising writers from out-of-town, national, and digital news outlets.
The group is led by President David Gordon, with a nominating board of directors also including Richard Ridge, Joseph Cervelli, Patrick Hoffman, David Roberts, Cynthia Allen, Harry Haun, Dan Rubins, Janice Simpson, and Doug Strassler. Lauren Yarger executive produces the ceremony.
Helen J Shen and Darren Criss in Maybe Happy Ending
Helen J Shen and Darren Criss in Maybe Happy Ending
Helen J Shen and Darren Criss in Maybe Happy Ending
Helen J Shen and Darren Criss in Maybe Happy Ending
Helen J Shen in Maybe Happy Ending
Darren Criss and Helen J Shen in Maybe Happy Ending
Helen J Shen and Darren Criss in Maybe Happy Ending
Helen J Shen and Darren Criss in Maybe Happy Ending
Helen J Shen and Darren Criss in Maybe Happy Ending
