Mary Poppins Tops Outer Critics Circle Awards Nominations

By Ernio Hernandez
April 23, 2007

Mary Poppins earned the most nominations, 11 nods, for the 57th annual Outer Critics Circle Awards. Curtains, LoveMusik and Spring Awakening will compete against the Disney show in the Outstanding New Broadway Musical category.

The Coast of Utopia received nine nominations, the most for any new play. It will vie for the Outstanding New Broadway Play award in a field that also includes Coram Boy, Frost/Nixon and Radio Golf.

Tony Award winners Victoria Clark and John Lloyd Young read the nominations for the 2006-2007 season April 23 at the Algonquin Hotel.

Winners of the Outer Critics Circle Awards will be announced May 14 and presented their honors at a May 24 ceremony to be held at Sardi's Restaurant. The awards are decided upon by a group of writers "covering New York theatre for out-of town newspapers, national publications and other media beyond Broadway."

Though the show made itself ineligible for consideration for Outer Critics Circle honors, Deuce stars Angela Lansbury and Marian Seldes will be given Special Achievement Awards "in recognition of their outstanding and distinguished careers in the theatre" as recommended by the OCC Executive Committee. As previously reported, the Terrence McNally work pulled out of the OCC (as well as Drama Desk and Drama League) races.

Tarzan was the only work last season not considered for awards by the committee, but was not nominated this year.

The 2006-2007 Outer Critics Circle Awards nominees are as follows:

Outstanding New Broadway Play
The Coast of Utopia
Coram Boy
Frost/Nixon
Radio Golf

Outstanding New Broadway Musical
Curtains
LoveMusik
Mary Poppins
Spring Awakening

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play
Exits and Entrances
Indian Blood
The Pain and the Itch
The Scene

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical
In the Heights
Evil Dead: The Musical
Floyd and Clea: Under the Western Sky
Gutenberg! The Musical!

Outstanding New Score (Broadway or Off Broadway)
Curtains
In the Heights
Mary Poppins
Spring Awakening

Outstanding Revival of a Play
Inherit the Wind
Journey's End
Talk Radio
The Voysey Inheritance

Outstanding Revival of a Musical
The Apple Tree
A Chorus Line
Company
110 in the Shade

Outstanding Director of a Play (Lucille Lortel Award)
Michael Grandage, Frost/Nixon
David Grindley, Journe's End
Melly Still, Coram Boy
Jack O'Brien, The Coast of Utopia

Outstanding Director of a Musical
John Doyle, Company
Richard Eyre & Matthew Bourne, Mary Poppins
Thomas Kail, In the Heights
Michael Mayer, Spring Awakening

Outstanding Choreography
Rob Ashford, Curtains
Andy Blankenbuehler, In the Heights
Matthew Bourne & Stephen Mear, Mary Poppins
Carol Leavy Joyce & Graciela Daniele, The Pirate Queen

Outstanding Set Design
Bob Crowley & Scott Pask, The Coast of Utopia
Bob Crowley, Mary Poppins
Ti Green & Melly Still, Coram Boy
Derek McLane, The Voysey Inheritance

Outstanding Costume Design
Bob Crowley, Mary Poppins
Judith Dolan, LoveMusik
Martin Pakledinaz, The Pirate Queen
Catherine Zuber, The Coast of Utopia

Outstanding Lighting Design
Neil Austin, Frost/Nixon
Paule Constable, Coram Boy
Howard Harrison, Mary Poppins
Brian MacDevitt/ Kenneth Posner/ Natasha Katz, The Coast of Utopia

Outstanding Actor in a Play
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Brí­an F. O'Byrne, The Coast of Utopia
Christopher Plummer, Inherit the Wind
Liev Schreiber, Talk Radio

Outstanding Actress in a Play
Eve Best, A Moon for the Misbegotten
Jennifer Ehle, The Coast of Utopia
Carla Gugino, Suddenly Last Summer
Allison Pill, Blackbird

Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Michael Cerveris, LoveMusik
Raúl Esparza, Company
Gavin Lee, Mary Poppins
David Hyde Pierce, Curtains

Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Ashley Brown, Mary Poppins
Kristin Chenoweth, The Apple Tree
Audra McDonald, 110 in the Shade
Donna Murphy, LoveMusik

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Billy Crudup, The Coast of Utopia
Boyd Gaines, Journey's End
David Greenspan, Some Men
Stephen Kunken, Frost/Nixon

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Robin Bartlett, Prelude to a Kiss
Jill Clayburgh, The Clean House
Martha Plimpton, The Coast of Utopia
Lily Rabe, Heartbreak House

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Jason Danieley, Curtains
Daniel Jenkins, Mary Poppins
David Pittu , LoveMusik
Bobby Steggert, 110 in the Shade

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Charlotte d'Amboise, A Chorus Line
Rebecca Luker, Mary Poppins
Orfeh, Legally Blonde
Karen Ziemba, Curtains

Outstanding Solo Performance
Daniel Beaty, Emergence-See
Ed Harris, Wrecks
Jay Johnson, The Two and Only
Nilaja Sun, No Child...

John Gassner Award
(Presented for an American play, preferably by a new playwright)
Daisy Foote, Bhutan
Bob Glaudini, Jack Goes Boating
Bruce Norris, The Pain and the Itch
Nilaja Sun, No Child...

Multiple nominations by show are as follows:
11 - Mary Poppins
9 - The Coast of Utopia
6 - Curtains
5 - Frost/Nixon
5 - LoveMusik
4 - Coram Boy
4 - In the Heights
3 - Spring Awakening
3 - 110 in the Shade
3 - Company

Simon Saltzman, a long-time member of the OCC executive committee and theatre reviewer, serves as president. Marjorie Gunner, the organization's president for 25 years, continues as president emerita.