The hit revival of “Merrily We Roll Along” and Off-Broadway sensation “Oh, Mary!” won over the LGBTQ journalists of GALECA and dominated the group’s 2nd Annual Dorian Theater Awards. Winners were revealed to coincide with LGBTQ Pride Month, with “Merrily and “Mary” claiming four prizes a piece.
“Merrily” continued its winning streak this awards season, with the Maria Friedman-helmed production picking up wins for Broadway Musical Revival, Lead Performance in a Broadway Musical for Jonathan Groff, Featured Performance in a Broadway Musical for Daniel Radcliffe, and The Broadway Showstopper Award for Radcliffe’s impressive patter song “Franklin Shepard INC.”
SEE2024 Tony Awards: Why we might be underestimating ‘Purlie Victorious’ for Best Play Revival
“Oh, Mary!” steamrolled through every single Off-Broadway category at the Dorian Awards. The outrageous comedy picked up wins for Outstanding Off-Broadway Production, Outstanding LGBTQ Off-Broadway Production, Lead Performance in an Off-Broadway Production for Cole Escola and Featured Performance in an Off-Broadway Production for Conrad Ricamora. Escola, who also wrote the play, was named LGBTQ Theater Artist of the Season. The comedy is transferring to Broadway for a limited run at the end of the month to coincide with Pride Week in NYC.
These journalists named the emotional dance piece “Illinoise” as their Outstanding Broadway Musical choice. With the Outer Critics Circle opting for “Suffs” and the Drama League Awards choosing “Hell’s Kitchen,” Broadway marches towards the Tony Awards without any consensus on what will win the coveted Best Musical trophy. But “Illinoise,” which also picked up the Dorian Award for Outstanding LGBTQ Broadway Production, now officially has its hat in the ring.
SEESarah Paulson (‘Appropriate’) on playing a character ‘at a 12’ and the ‘special experience’ of her first Tony nomination [Exclusive Video Interview]
Sarah Paulson added another victory to her scorecard with this group, who awarded her their Lead Performance in a Broadway Play prize for “Appropriate.” That production also claimed the Best Broadway Play Revival category. Those looking for any Tony Awards tea leaves in the featured acting races will be disappointed however. Dorian voters wound up with a tie in Featured Performance in a Broadway Play, with Tony frontrunners Sarah Pidgeon (“Stereophonic”) and Kara Young (“Purlie Victorious”) both named the winner.
Revered playwright Paula Vogel was given the LGBTQ Theater Trailblazer Award, an honor bestowed to a figure with “a lifelong commitment to creating art that inspires empathy, truth and equity.” The author is represented on Broadway this season with her Tony nominated, semi-autobiographical drama “Mother Play.” Vogel is a past Pulitzer Prize winner for “How I Learned to Drive,” which was recently revived on Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club. Her other major works include “The Baltimore Waltz, “Hot ’N Throbbing,” “The Mineola Twins” and “Indecent.” “We’re thrilled to be able to pay respect to Ms. Vogel’s lifelong contributions to the American theater, as well as to her ongoing support of the LGBTQ community,” said Cary Wong, the Dorian Awards’ Off-Broadway Lead.
SIGN UPfor Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
See the full list of Dorian nominees and winners below.
Best Broadway Musical
“Here Lies Love”
“Hell’s Kitchen”
X – “Illinoise”
“Lempicka”
“The Outsiders”
“Suffs”
Best Broadway Play
“Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”
“Just for Us”
“Mary Jane”
“Mother Play”
“Prayer for the French Republic”
X – “Stereophonic”
Best Broadway Musical Revival
“Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club”
X – “Merrily We Roll Along”
“The Who’s Tommy”
Best Broadway Play Revival
X – “Appropriate”
“An Enemy of the People”
“Purlie Victorious”
Best Lead Performance in a Broadway Musical
Ali Louis Bourzgui, “The Who’s Tommy”
Eden Espinosa, “Lempicka”
Brody Grant, “The Outsiders”
X – Jonathan Groff, “Merrily We Roll Along”
Brian d’Arcy James, “Days of Wine and Roses”
Maleah Joi Moon, “Hell’s Kitchen”
Kelli O’Hara, “Days of Wine and Roses”
Maryann Plunkett, “The Notebook”
Eddie Redmayne, “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club”
Shaina Taub, “Suffs”
Best Lead Performance in a Broadway Play
Betsy Aidem, “Prayer for the French Republic”
Alex Edelman, “Just For Us”
William Jackson Harper, “Uncle Vanya”
Jessica Lange, “Mother Play”
Leslie Odom Jr., “Purlie Victorious”
Rachel McAdams, “Mary Jane”
Laurie Metcalf, “Grey House”
X – Sarah Paulson, “Appropriate”
Best Featured Performance in a Broadway Musical
Hannah Cruz, “Suffs”
Amber Iman, “Lempicka”
Kecia Lewis, “Hell’s Kitchen”
Nikki M. James, “Suffs”
Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, “Monty Python’s Spamalot”
Lindsay Mendez, “Merrily We Roll Along”
Bebe Neuwirth, “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club”
Conrad Ricamora, “Here Lies Love”
X – Daniel Radcliffe, “Merrily We Roll Along”
Ricky Ubeda, “Illinoise”
Best Featured Performance in a Broadway Play
Brittany Adebumola, “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”
Francis Benhamou, “Prayer for the French Republic”
Quincy Tyler Bernstine, “Doubt”
Alex Brightman, “The Shark is Broken”
Will Brill, “Stereophonic”
Elle Fanning, “Appropriate”
Eli Gelb, “Stereophonic”
Celia Keenan-Bolger, “Mother Play”
Jay O. Sanders, “Purlie Victorious”
Tom Pecinka, “Stereophonic”
X – Sarah Pidgeon, “Stereophonic”
X – Kara Young, “Purlie Victorious”
Best LGBTQ Broadway Production
“Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club”
X – “Illinoise”
“Lempicka”
“Mother Play”
Best Broadway Ensemble
“Here Lies Love”
“Illinoise”
“Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”
“Merrily We Roll Along”
“Suffs
X – “Stereophonic”
The Broadway Showstopper Award
— To a standout production number or scene
“Appropriate,” Epilogue: The Plantation Decays
“Illinoise,” Chicago
“Lempicka,” Woman Is
X – “Merrily We Roll Along,” Franklin Shepard INC
“The Outsiders,” The Rumble
Best Off-Broadway Production
“All the Devils Are Here”
“The Ally”
“The Connector”
X – “Oh, Mary!”
“Primary Trust”
“Teeth”
Best LGBTQ Off-Broadway Production
“Bark of Millions”
“Eddie Izzard’s Hamlet”
“Make Me Gorgeous”
X – “Oh, Mary!”
“Teeth”
Best Lead Performance in an Off-Broadway Production
Charles Busch, “Ibsen’s Ghost: An Irresponsible Biographical Fantasy”
Nicholas Christopher, “Jelly’s Last Jam”
X – Cole Escola, “Oh, Mary!”
William Jackson Harper, “Primary Trust”
Moses Ingram, “Sunset Baby”
Rachel Bay Jones, “Here We Are”
Alyse Alan Louis, “Teeth”
Taylor Mac, “Bark of Millions”
Ruthie Ann Miles, “The Light in the Piazza”
Cynthia Nixon, “The Seven Year Disappear”
Patrick Page, “All the Devils Are Here”
Best Featured Performance in an Off-Broadway Production
Susan Blommaert, “Grief Hotel”
Marylouise Burke, “Infinite Life”
Bobby Cannavale, “Here We Are”
Micaela Diamond, “Here We Are”
Joaquina Kalukango, “Jelly’s Last Jam”
Julia Lester, “I Can Get it For You Wholesale”
Steven Pasquale, “Teeth”
David Hyde Pierce, “Here We Are”
X – Conrad Ricamora, “Oh, Mary!”
James Scully, “Oh, Mary!”
Jennifer Van Dyck, “Ibsen’s Ghost: An Irresponsible Biographical Fantasy”
Anna Zavelson, “The Light in the Piazza”
LGBTQ Theater Artist of the Season
X – Cole Escola
Michael Greif
Jonathan Groff
Michael R. Jackson
Sarah Paulson
Conrad Ricamora
LGBTQ Theater Trailblazer Award
— For a lifelong commitment to creating art that inspires empathy, truth and equity
Charles Busch
André De Shields
Christopher Durang (nominated posthumously)
Taylor Mac
X – Paula Vogel
WINNERS TALLY
Merrily We Roll Along – 4
Oh, Mary! – 4
Stereophonic – 3
Appropriate – 2
Illinoise – 2
Purlie Victorious – 1
PREDICT the 2024 Tony Awards through June 16
Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?
SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest prediction