Thursday, May 15, 2025

BROADWAY: George Clooney, Denzel Washington Snubbed by First Theater Award Nominations; $900 Tix Didn’t Help

Selling $900 tickets didn’t endear Hollywood stars to the Outer Critics.

Today’s announcement of the first real theater awards didn’t include George Clooney or Denzel Washington.

Also, their productions of “Goodnight and Good Luck,” and “Othello,” got no love either. “Good Night and Good Luck” was thrown a bone: nominee for Best First Play.

There were plenty of lesser priced entries that struck out, also. “Pirates! A Penzance Play,” got zip, even David Hyde Pierce. “The Last Five Years” was snubbed, with Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren.

Also not on the list: “Sleeping Beauty” herself, Rachel Zegler, from “Romeo & Juliet,” even though her Romeo was included.

Definitely on the list: Kieran Culkin, from “Glengarry Glen Ross.” If he wins, he’ll have had a Tony, Emmy, and Oscar in the same cycle.

Culkin’s “Succession” co-star Sarah Snook will win a Tony for Best Solo Performance.

The OCC excluded “Dead Outlaw,” because it already won last year’s Off Broadway award.

Outstanding New Broadway Play
Cult of Love
The Hills of California
John Proctor Is the Villain
Purpose
Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Outstanding New Broadway Musical
Boop! The Musical
Death Becomes Her
Maybe Happy Ending
Operation Mincemeat
Real Women Have Curves

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical
The Big Gay Jamboree
Drag: The Musical
We Live in Cairo

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play
The Antiquities
Grangeville
Here There Are Blueberries
Liberation
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
Marin Ireland, Pre-Existing Condition
Lia Romeo, Still
Emil Weinstein, Becoming Eve

Outstanding Revival of a Musical
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
Vanya
Yellow Face

Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play
Kit Connor, Romeo + Juliet
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
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
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
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
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
Andre 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
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
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
Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending
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 (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending
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 (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
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, Just in Time

Outstanding Direction of a Musical
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
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
Jerry Mitchell, Boop! the Musical

Outstanding Scenic Design
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
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
Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Ben Stanton, Maybe Happy Ending
Justin Townsend, Death Becomes Her

Outstanding Sound Design
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
David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Hana S. Kim, Redwood
Finn Ross, Boop! The Musical

Donate to Showbiz411.com

Showbiz411 is now in its 13th year of providing breaking and exclusive entertainment news. This is an independent site, unlike the many Hollywood trades that are owned by one company. To continue providing news that takes a fresh look at what's going on in movies, music, theater, etc, advertising is our basis. Reader donations would be greatly appreciated, too. They are just another facet of keeping fact based journalism alive.
Thank you


Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

Read more

In Other News