OUTER CRITICS CIRCLE HONORS BEST OF 2019-2020 THEATER SEASON

The last Broadway show I saw was on March 7.  My review for that was written and set for publication on its official opening night. Unfortunately for everyone involved, opening night was slated for March 12, the start of the Great Shutdown, which, we are told, has been extended at least until Labor Day. 

And so my review is on hold, along with everything else. I will say no more about that particular show until it does make its formal entrance. 

Eventually, along with everything else, theater will return. Many shows that were running will reopen, and new ones will come along. But I will note that some 200 plays and musicals did open in Broadway and Off Broadway theaters during 2019-2020. 

While there will be no Tony Awards this go ‘round, organizations like the Off Broadway Alliance, the Off-Broadway League, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle, the Drama Desk, and the Outer Critics Circle have found ways to recognize outstanding writers, performers, directors and designers who put everything they had into entertaining and enlightening us during this truncated season.

As a proud member of the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), I am delighted with the process the group used to approach its awards this year, a process that involved the membership and the OCC Board in identifying not one winner, but a group of several honorees in each category.   

The honorees were formally announced in a video featuring several big-name stars making the announcements from their individual homes, which gives everything a nice personal touch. So meet  Kristin Chenoweth, Bryan Cranston, Patti LuPone, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Patrick Stewart as they make the announcements here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jifQPNv1vJY


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Listed below are a few of the honorees – for outstanding new Broadways play and musicals, for outstanding new Off Broadway plays and musicals, and for outstanding play and musical revivals. I have included links to my reviews, as indicated.  

OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY PLAY

Grand Horizons  My review at - https://bit.ly/2X4r2tH

Height of the Storm  My review at - https://bit.ly/2mV42Ph

The Inheritance

Linda Vista  My review at - https://bit.ly/2oAI3yr

The Sound Inside  My review at - https://bit.ly/31r1reB

OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY MUSICAL

Jagged Little Pill  My review at - https://bit.ly/2YlyyR7

Moulin Rouge!  My review at - https://bit.ly/3dZw6Xb

Tina   My review at - https://bit.ly/36ToByi

OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY PLAY

Cambodian Rock Band

Greater Clements  My review at - https://bit.ly/36iOkPu

Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven

Make Believe

Seared

OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL

Darling Grenadine

Octet

The Secret Life of Bees

Soft Power  My review at- https://bit.ly/2VJj6Nm

A Strange Loop

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A PLAY

Betrayal  My review at - https://bit.ly/2lGTpPp

Fires in the Mirror

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf

Frankie and Johnny  My review at - https://bit.ly/2EJPOaf

A Soldier’s Play  My review at - https://bit.ly/37hCJRG

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL

Little Shop of Horrors

The Unsinkable Molly Brown

West Side Story  My review at - https://bit.ly/2SZSpmJ

I am unsure of a great many things, but I am quite certain Broadway and Off Broadway plays and musicals will rise again! Until then, let's be grateful for what we've got:  our memories and our record and CD and DVD collections and streaming opportunities that will keep us going. 

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