On Thursday afternoon, POTUS performers Lilli Cooper and Lea DeLaria announced the nominees for the 2022 Lucille Lortel Awards, which honor the best of Off-Broadway theater. New this year are an Outstanding Ensemble category and non-gendered performance categories. The musicals Kimberly Akimbo, which transfers to Broadway later this year, and Oratorio for Living Things lead the pack with six nominations each. The winners of the 37th annual awards will be revealed at a live ceremony in NYU’s Skirball Center on May 1. In addition to the competitve prizes, Deirdre O’Connell will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award and David Henry Hwang will be inducted onto the Playwrights’ Sidewalk. Tickets for the ceremony are available at tickets.nyu.edu.
Among the nominations for Kimberly Akimbo are Outstanding Musical, choreography (Danny Mefford), two lead performances (Victoria Clark, Justin Cooley), and two featured performances (Steven Boyer, Bonnie Milligana). In addition to its nomination for Outstanding Musical, Oratorio for Living Things garnered notice for its direction (Lee Sunday Evans), ensemble, costumes (Márion Talán de la Rosa), lights (Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew), and sound (Nick Kourtides).
The two other Outstanding Musical nominees are Black No More and Intimate Apparel. The former was also noted for its choreography (Bill T. Jones), lead performance (Tamika Lawrence), featured performance (Lillias White), and lights (Jeff Croiter). The latter also earned nods for its lead performance (Kearstin Piper Brown) and costumes (Catherine Zuber).
The nominees for Outstanding Revival included the musical Assassins, which also earned nods for its direction (John Doyle) and two featured performances (Ethan Slater, Will Swenson). The remaining musical with multiple nominations is The Visitor, which is in consideration for its lead performance (Ahmad Maksoud) and projection design (David Bengali and Hana S. Kim).
Other remaining musical nominees include Little Girl Blue for Outstanding Solo Show, Trevor for choreography (Josh Prince), Cheek to Cheek for choreography (Randy Skinner), and Space Dogs for sets (Wilson Chin).