LGBTQ entertainment critics announce winners of inaugural Dorian Theater Awards
GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics’ theater wing has announced the winners and finalists of its inaugural Dorian Theater Awards, honoring the best in Broadway and Off-Broadway for the 2022-2023 season.
Like GALECA’s Dorian film and TV honors, the group’s theater honors celebrate both mainstream and LGBTQ+-themed productions and seek to award excellence in the medium while championing LGBTQ+ issues, representation, and visibility. The wing’s 35 members, listed further below, are stage critics and journalists who regularly cover New York City theater for notable media outlets. The theater wing’s co-chair is Merryn Johns, editor-in-chief of Queer Forty, alongside Sam Eckmann of Gold Derby.
“I’m thrilled to commence Pride Month with the first ever crop of Dorian Theater Award winners,” said Eckmann. “From the gentleness of Kimberly Akimbo and Into the Woods, to boundary-pushing works such as Fat Ham and Prima Facie to the shot of serotonin that is Titaníque, our cohort of passionate journalists has uplifted the spectacular artistry that thrives in the New York theater scene.”
“GALECA’s Theater Wing is deeply grateful to the many productions and performers, on and off Broadway, who made voting a pleasure,” said Johns. “We’re already looking at next season with great anticipation.”
This season yielded much to delight voters. Kimberly Akimbo was a clear favorite in the Broadway categories. The new musical, by Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire picked up four awards: Outstanding Broadway Musical, Outstanding Lead Performance in a Broadway Musical for Victoria Clark, Outstanding Featured Performance in a Broadway Musical for Bonnie Milligan, and Outstanding Broadway Ensemble. James Ijames’ Pulitzer-winning play Fat Ham won Outstanding Broadway Play and Outstanding LGBTQ Broadway Production.
Two award categories set the Dorian Theater Awards apart from all others: J. Harrison Ghee, star of Some Like it Hot, won the LGBTQ Theater Trailblazer Award, bestowed upon a figure in the NYC theater industry who inspires empathy, truth and equity. Ghee is the first nonbinary performer to receive a Tony Award nomination for Lead Actor in a Musical. The Broadway Showstopper Award, for a standout production number or scene, went to “Independently Owned” performed by Alex Newell from Shucked.
Off-Broadway is also recognized by the awards and this year, voters awarded Titaníque, a parody of the movie Titanic, with Celine Dion’s songs driving the narrative, with Outstanding Off-Broadway Production. Star and co-creator Marla Mindelle—who essays Dion in the play—received a performance nod.
Full list of Dorian Theater Awards winners and finalists:
Note: Three finalists rather than two denotes a tie in voting
Outstanding Broadway Musical
⭐ Kimberly Akimbo
Finalists:
Shucked
Some Like it Hot
Outstanding Broadway Play
⭐ Fat Ham
Finalists:
Cost of Living
Leopoldstadt
Outstanding Broadway Musical Revival
⭐ Into the Woods
Finalists:
Parade
Sweeney Todd
Outstanding Broadway Play Revival
⭐ A Doll’s House
Finalists:
Ohio State Murders
The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window
Topdog/Underdog
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Broadway Musical
⭐ Victoria Clark, Kimberly Akimbo
Finalists:
Annaleigh Ashford, Sweeney Todd
J. Harrison Ghee, Some Like it Hot
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Broadway Musical
⭐ Bonnie Milligan, Kimberly Akimbo
Finalists:
Justin Cooley, Kimberly Akimbo
Alex Newell, Shucked
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Broadway Play
⭐ Jodie Comer, Prima Facie
Finalists:
Jessica Chastain, A Doll’s House
Sean Hayes, Good Night, Oscar
Stephen McKinley Henderson, Between Riverside and Crazy
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Broadway Play
⭐ Crystal Lucas-Perry, Ain’t No Mo’
Finalists:
Jordan E. Cooper, Ain’t No Mo
Miriam Silverman, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window
Outstanding Broadway Ensemble
⭐ Kimberly Akimbo
Finalists:
Into the Woods
Shucked
The Broadway Showstopper Award
(standout production number or scene)
⭐ “Independently Owned” from Shucked
Finalists:
“Better” from Kimberly Akimbo
“You Coulda Knocked Me Over with a Feather” from Some Like it Hot
Outstanding LGBTQ Broadway Production
⭐ Fat Ham
Finalists:
& Juliet
Some Like it Hot
Outstanding Off-Broadway Production
⭐ Titaníque
Finalists:
Dark Disabled Stories
Downstate
Outstanding Off-Broadway Performance
⭐ Marla Mindelle, Titaníque
Finalists:
K. Todd Freeman, Downstate
Ryan J. Haddad, Dark Disabled Stories
Parker Posey, The Seagull/Woodstock, NY
LGBTQ Theater Trailblazer Award
(to a figure who inspires empathy, truth, and equity)
⭐ J. Harrison Ghee
Finalists:
Jordan E. Cooper
Ryan J. Haddad
GALECA theater wing members, 2022-23:
Merryn Johns (co-chair), Queer Forty
Sam Eckmann (co-chair), Gold Derby
Marshall Heyman (Broadway lead), Town and Country, etc.
Cary Wong (Off-Broadway lead), Film Score Monthly Online, etc.
Frank J. Avella (Industry Liaison), Edge Media Network, Awards Daily
Kerensa Cadenas, GQ, etc.
Chris Carpenter, Rage magazine, etc.
Murtada Elfadl, The A.V. Club, etc.
Adam Feldman, Time Out
Brian Herrera, StinkyLulu Says podcast
James Kleinmann, The Queer Review
Naveen Kumar, Variety, etc.
Stacy Lambe, ET Online
Brian Scott Lipton, Cititour, etc.
Soraya McDonald, Andscape
Charles O’Keefe, E! News
Jonathan Mandell, New York Theater
Dan Meyer, Theatrely
Abby Monteil, them, etc.
Michael Musto, The Village Voice, etc.
Louis Peitzman, High Drama newsletter, etc.
Juan Michael Porter II, The Body, TDF Stages
Juan A. Ramirez, Theatrely
Mathew Rodriguez, them
Nathaniel Rogers, The Film Experience
Gillian Russo, New York Theatre Guide
Michael Schulman, The New Yorker
Marcus Scott, Time Out, American Theatre
Ashley Steves, Today on Broadway podcast / Broadway Radio
Tim Teeman, The Daily Beast
Kyle Turner, Slant, etc.
Lindsey Weber, Not Broadway newsletter, etc.
Matthew Wexler, Queerty
Abbey White, The Hollywood Reporter
Curtis Wong, HuffPost
Theater Wing Diversity Liaison: Jose Solis
Historian: Will Kohler
About GALECA
GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics and its Dorian Awards honor the best in film, television and, under its theater wing, Broadway and Off-Broadway. More than 480-members strong, GALECA seeks to remind society that the world loves the Q+ eye on everything entertainment. A nonprofit organization, GALECA also advocates for better pay and access for underrepresented entertainment journalists.
Follow GALECA and the Dorian Awards on social media @DorianAwards. For more information, visit GALECA.org.
