"Hold your Bat Boy! Love your Bat Boy!"

So run the lyrics to the closing song of Off-Broadway's freak hit (literally), Bat Boy. The Lucille Lortel Awards did just that. Laurence O'Keefe, Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming's darkly campy pop tuner playing at the Union Square Theatre won the 2001 Lortel Award for Best Musical, as well as picking up a nod for choreographer Christopher Gatelli.

That award, as well as several others, was announced on April 23. The prizes will be officially handed out at a ceremony at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher St.) May 7, followed by a supper celebration at America restaurant on 18th Street. Among those scheduled to present at the awards ceremony are Kim Coles, Polly Draper, Judy Gold, Gale Harold, Patricia Kalember, Mark Linn-Baker, Priscilla Lopez, Julianna Margulies, Donna Murphy, George Morfogen and Tim Robbins.

Alan Cumming, currently starring in Design for Living (ironically, on Broadway) will co-host with Brooke Shields the 16th annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway (last year's emcees were Joy Behar and Sam Harris).

* On the straight play side, Proof and Mnemonic picked up three Lortel wins each, with Proof netting best play, actress (Mary Louise Parker) and director (Daniel Sullivan) and Mnemonic recognized for sound (Christopher Shutt), lighting (Paul Anderson) and for being a "Unique Theatrical Experience." Ten Unknowns picked up featured actor and actress awards for Justin Kirk and Julianna Margulies.

As previously reported, playwright Lanford Wilson, the Off-Broadway theatre company New York Theatre Workshop will receive honorary trophies at this year's Lucille Lortel Awards ceremony. The Lifetime Achievement Award will go to Kitty Carlisle Hart.

Wilson, the winner of “The Edith Oliver Award for Sustained Excellence,” is the author of many plays, including The Fifth of July, Talley’s Folly, Balm in Gilead, Hot l Baltimore, Redwood Curtain and others. Many of his works have been produced Off-Broadway, the area of production which the Lortels choose to spotlight.

New York Theatre Workshop, recognized for “Outstanding Body of Work,” has produced such works as Rent, Dirty Blonde, several productions by director Anne Bogart, and an esteemed revival of John Guare’s Lydie Breeze cycle.

Proof, Jitney and The Unexpected Man had led the 2001 Lortel nominations with six nods apiece. This was the first year that the Lortels, which honor Off-Broadway theatre (and are named for "the Queen of Off-Broadway," Lucille Lortel), announced nominations, which were chosen in an early-evening meeting April 2 and announced shortly thereafter.

*

Here are the nominees and winners of the 2001 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway: (winners in BOLD CAPS)

Outstanding Play of 2001
Jitney (Second Stage)
PROOF (Manhattan Theatre Club)
Ten Unknowns (Lincoln Center Theatre)
The Play About The Baby
The Unexpected Man

Outstanding Musical of 2001
American Rhapsody: A New Musical Revue
BAT BOY: THE MUSICAL
newyorkers (Manhattan Theatre Club)
Suburb (York Theatre Company)
The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin (Playwrights Horizons)

Outstanding Revival of 2001
for colored girls who considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf (Dia Theatrical Inc)
Juno and the Paycock (Roundabout)
TINY ALICE (Second Stage)
What the Butler Saw (The New Group)

Outstanding Actor of 2001
ALAN BATES ( The Unexpected Man )
Glenn Fitzgerald ( Lobby Hero )
Deven May ( Bat Boy: The Musical )
Brian Murray ( The Play About the Baby )
Donald Sutherland ( Ten Unknowns )

Outstanding Actress of 2001
Eileen Atkins ( The Unexpected Man )
Janie Dee ( Comic Potential )
Mary Beth Fisher ( Boy Gets Girl )
MARY LOUISE PARKER ( Proof )
Marian Seldes ( The Play About the Baby )

Outstanding Featured Actor of 2001
Tate Donovan ( Lobby Hero)
Dion Graham ( Lobby Hero )
JUSTIN KIRK ( Ten Unknowns )
Alec Mapa ( Dogeaters )
Howard Witt ( Boy Gets Girl )

Outstanding Featured Actress of 2001
Johanna Day ( Proof )
Randy Graff ( A Class Act )
JULIANNA MARGULIES ( Ten Unknowns )
Julia Murney ( Time and Again )
Ching Valdes-Aran ( Dogeaters )

Outstanding Director of 2001
Mark Brokaw ( Lobby Hero )
Michael Grief ( Dogeaters )
Simon McBurney ( Mnemonic )
Marion McClinton ( Jitney )
DANIEL SULLIVAN ( Proof )

Outstanding Choreography of 2001
A.C. Ciulla ( The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin )
CHRISTOPHER GATELLI ( Bat Boy: The Musical )
Daniel Pelzig ( Newyorkers )
Donald Saddler ( American Rhapsody: A New Musical Revue )
Maria Torres ( 4 Guys Named Jose… And Una Mujer Named Maria!)

Outstanding Set Design of 2001
John Arnone ( Tiny Alice )
John Lee Beatty ( Proof )
Ralph Funicello ( Ten Unknowns )
Mark Thompson ( The Unexpected Man )
DAVID GALLO ( Jitney )

Outstanding Costume Design of 2001
JANE GREENWOOD ( Old Money )
Susan Hilferty ( Jitney )
Constance Hoffman ( Tiny Alice )
Fabio Toblini ( Bat Boy: The Musical )
David C. Woolard ( The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin )

Outstanding Lighting Design of 2001
Betsy Adams/Martha Swetzoff ( The Laramie Project )
PAUL ANDERSON ( Mnemonic )
Pat Collins ( Proof )
Donald Holder ( Jitney )
Hugh Vanstone ( The Unexpected Man )

Outstanding Sound Design of 2001
Mark Bennett/Michael Creason ( Dogeaters )
David Bullard/Mic Pool ( The Unexpected Man )
T. Richard Fitzgerald ( 4 Guys Named Jose… And Una Mujer Named Maria!)
Robert Milburn ( Jitney )
CHRISTOPHER SHUTT ( Mnemonic )

Unique Theatrical Experience of 2001
MNEMONIC by Simon McBurney (Theatre de Complicite).

Following is a list of shows which received multiple wins and/or nominations:

Proof (3 wins / 6 nominations )
Jitney (1 / 6)
The Unexpected Man (1 / 6)
Ten Unknowns (2 / 5)
Bat Boy: The Musical (2 / 4)
Dogeaters (4)
Lobby Hero (4)
The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin (3)
Mnemonic (3 / 3)
The Play About The Baby (3)
Tiny Alice (1 / 3)
American Rhapsody: A New Musical Revue (2)
Boy Gets Girl (2)
4 Guys Named Jose… And Una Mujer Named Maria (2)
newyorkers (2)

— By David Lefkowitz