May 3, 2026: At the Lucille Lortel Awards, Off-Broadway Confronts Its Own Growth

 

May 3, 2026: At the Lucille Lortel Awards, Off-Broadway Confronts Its Own Growth

The 41st Annual Lucille Lortel Awards will take place Sunday, May 3, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. at NYU Skirball, closing out an Off-Broadway season that was not only large—98 eligible productions—but increasingly difficult to define.

The nominations, announced this week, suggest a field pulled in multiple directions at once: toward celebrity casting, toward formally ambitious new work, and toward a generation of theater artists building careers almost entirely outside the commercial Broadway system.

First-time nominees, including Sean Hayes, Dulé Hill, and John Krasinski, appear alongside artists like Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson, whose work in Mexodus signals a different center of gravity—one shaped by hybrid forms and culturally specific storytelling rather than traditional commercial pathways.

Presented by the Off-Broadway League and the Lucille Lortel Theatre, the awards remain the only major New York honors dedicated exclusively to Off-Broadway. That distinction has taken on new meaning in a season where the question is no longer whether Off-Broadway matters, but what, exactly, it is becoming.

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Complete List of 2026 Lucille Lortel Award Nominees

Outstanding Play

• Cold War Choir Practice — Ro Reddick
• Kyoto — Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson
• The Monsters — Ngozi Anyanwu
• Mother Russia — Lauren Yee
• Prince Faggot — Jordan Tannahill

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Outstanding Musical

• BIGFOOT! — Amber Ruffin, Kevin Sciretta, David Schmoll
• Mexodus — Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson
• My Joy Is Heavy — The Bengsons
• Night Side Songs — The Lazours
• Saturday Church — Sia, Damon Cardasis, James Ijames

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Outstanding Revival

• The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee — William Finn, Rachel Sheinkin
• Bus Stop — William Inge
• Gruesome Playground Injuries — Rajiv Joseph
• Titus Andronicus — William Shakespeare
• The Weir — Conor McPherson

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Outstanding Solo Show

• Hold Me in the Water — Ryan J. Haddad
• I'm Assuming You Know David Greenspan — Mona Pirnot / David Greenspan
• Nothing Can Take You From The Hand Of God — Jen Tullock, Frank Winters
• Other — Ari’el Stachel
• The Unknown — David Cale / Sean Hayes

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Outstanding Director

• Knud Adams — Cold War Choir Practice
• Shayok Misha Chowdhury — Prince Faggot
• Stephen Daldry & Justin Martin — Kyoto
• David Mendizábal — Mexodus
• Keenan Tyler Oliphant — Practice

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Outstanding Choreographer

• Edgar Godineaux & Jared Grimes — Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole
• Darrell Grand Moultrie — GODDESS
• Darrell Grand Moultrie — Saturday Church
• Tony Thomas — Mexodus
• Rickey Tripp — THE MONSTERS

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Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play

• Noah Galvin — The Reservoir
• Marin Ireland — Queens
• John Krasinski — Angry Alan
• Aigner Mizzelle — The Monsters
• Okieriete Onaodowan — The Monsters
• Susannah Perkins — Antigone (This Play I Read In High School)
• Kara Young — Gruesome Playground Injuries

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Outstanding Featured Performer in a Play

• Jorge Bosch — Kyoto
• Felicia Curry — Bowl EP
• Crystal Finn — Cold War Choir Practice
• David Greenspan — Prince Faggot
• Lizan Mitchell — Cold War Choir Practice
• Deirdre O’Connell — Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.
• David Turner — Mother Russia

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Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical

• Abigail Bengson — My Joy Is Heavy
• J. Harrison Ghee — Saturday Church
• Dulé Hill — Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole
• Ruthie Ann Miles — The Seat of Our Pants
• Brian Quijada — Mexodus
• Nygel D. Robinson — Mexodus
• Daniel J. Watts — Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole

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Outstanding Featured Performer in a Musical

• Nick Rashad Burroughs — GODDESS
• Judy Kuhn — The Baker’s Wife
• Erin Morton — Heathers The Musical
• Stephanie Jae Park — Monte Cristo
• Caleb Quezon — Saturday Church
• Natalie Walker — The Last Bimbo of the Apocalypse
• Lynne Wintersteller — About Time

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Outstanding Ensemble

• Initiative — Olivia Rose Barresi, Brandon Burk, Greg Cuellar, Harrison Densmore, Carson Higgins, Andrea Lopez Alvarez, Jamie Sanders, Christopher Dylan White
• Night Side Songs — Robin de Jesús, Brooke Ishibashi, Jonathan Raviv, Kris Saint-Louis, Mary Testa
• The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee — Philippe Arroyo, Autumn Best, Leana Rae Concepcion, Justin Cooley, Lilli Cooper, Jason Kravits, Matt Manuel, Kevin McHale, Jasmine Amy Rogers

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Outstanding Scenic Design

• Miriam Buether — Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.
• Afsoon Pajoufar — Cold War Choir Practice
• Riw Rakkulchon — Mexodus
• Adam Rigg & Anton Volovsek — Bowl EP
• David Zinn — Prince Faggot

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Outstanding Costume Design

• Montana Levi Blanco — Prince Faggot
• Enver Chakartash — TARTUFFE
• Qween Jean — Saturday Church
• Celeste Jennings — minor.ity
• Kaye Voyce — The Seat of Our Pants

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Outstanding Lighting Design

• Isabella Byrd — Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.
• Isabella Byrd — Prince Faggot
• Mextly Couzin — Mexodus
• Cha See — The Unknown
• Studio Luna — Marcel on the Train

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Outstanding Sound Design

• Caroline Eng — The Unknown
• Mikhail Fiksel — Mexodus
• Ryan Gamblin — Bowl EP
• Drew Levy — The Weir
• Bray Poor — Eurydice

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Outstanding Projection Design

• David Bengali — My Joy Is Heavy
• Stefania Bulbarella — Nothing Can Take You From The Hand Of God
• Akhila Krishnan — Kyoto
• Johnny Moreno — Mexodus
• John Narun — Bughouse

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Honorary Awards

• Lifetime Achievement: Mia Katigbak

• Playwrights’ Sidewalk Inductee: William Finn