2018 Outer Critics Circle Awards

2018 Outer Critics Circle Awards
2018 Outer Critics Circle Awards
Date	May 24, 2018
Venue	Sardi's
Hosted by	Jenn Colella, Jim Dale, Christine Ebersole and Martha Plimpton
Most wins	Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (6)
Most nominations	SpongeBob SquarePants (11)
Website	outercritics.org.

The 2018 Outer Critics Circle Awards winners were announced on May 7, 2018, recognizing excellence in Broadway and Off-Broadway productions during the 2017–18 season. Nominations were announced on April 24, 2018, with SpongeBob SquarePants receiving the most nominations with 11, while Harry Potter and the Cursed Child followed with 10 nominations. For Off-Broadway, Desperate Measures was the most-nominated musical with seven nominations, while Cost of Living was the most-nominated play, with four nominations. ^[1]

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child took home the most awards, with six including Outstanding New Broadway Play, with My Fair Lady taking home five, including Outstanding Revival of a Musical.^[2]

Awards and nominations

The awards winners were announced on May 7, 2018, with an awards ceremony at Sardi's on May 24, 2018, with presenters Jenn Colella, Jim Dale, Christine Ebersole and Martha Plimpton.^[3]

While Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and My Fair Lady took home the most awards, with six and five, respectively, SpongeBob SquarePants, the most nominated production, won four, including Outstanding New Broadway Musical. For Off-Broadway productions, Admissions won Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play and Desperate Measures took home Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical, as both productions' sole win.^[4]

It was also notable for a tie in the category of Outstanding Director of a Musical, with wins for both Tina Landau for SpongeBob SquarePants and Bartlett Sher for My Fair Lady.


Category	Winner and nominees^[5]
Outstanding New Broadway Play	* Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Part One and Part Two Farinelli and the King Junk The Children
Outstanding New Broadway Musical	* SpongeBob SquarePants Escape to Margaritaville Frozen the Musical Mean Girls Prince of Broadway
Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play	* Admissions Mlima's Tale The Low Road Cost of Living Hangmen
Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical	* Desperate Measures Cruel Intentions: The Musical Jerry Springer: The Opera Miss You Like Hell
Outstanding Revival of a Play	* Angels in America Three Tall Women Travesties Lobby Hero Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train
Outstanding Revival of a Musical	* My Fair Lady Carousel Pacific Overtures Once on This Island
John Gassner Award	* Jocelyn Bioh, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play Lindsey Ferrentino, Amy and the Orphans Meghan Kennedy, Napoli, Brooklyn Dominique Morisseau, Pipeline Kate Benson, Porto
Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway)	* Tina Fey, Mean Girls Quiara Alegría Hudes, Miss You Like Hell Kyle Jarrow, SpongeBob SquarePants Peter Kellogg, Desperate Measures
Outstanding New Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway)	* Various Artists^[6], SpongeBob SquarePants Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Frozen the Musical David Friedman, Peter Kellogg, Desperate Measures Imogen Heap, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Erin McKeown, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Miss You Like Hell
Outstanding Director of Play	* John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Joe Mantello, Three Tall Women Patrick Marber, Travesties Marianne Elliott, Angels in America Jo Bonney, Cost of Living
Outstanding Director of a Musical (tie)	* Tina Landau, SpongeBob SquarePants and Bartlett Sher, My Fair Lady (tie) Bill Castellino, Desperate Measures Michael Arden, Once on This Island Casey Nicholaw, Mean Girls
Outstanding Choreography	* Justin Peck, Carousel Steven Hoggett, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Camille A. Brown, Once on This Island Christopher Gattelli, My Fair Lady Christopher Gattelli, SpongeBob SquarePants
Outstanding Orchestrations	* Jonathan Tunick, Carousel Jason Robert Brown, Prince of Broadway AnnMarie Milazzo, Once on This Island Michael Starobin, Once on This Island Claire van Kampen, Farinelli and the King Tom Kitt, SpongeBob SquarePants
Outstanding Actor in a Play	* *Andrew Garfield, Angels in America* as Prior Walter / Man in the Park** Sean Carvajal, Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train as Angel Cruz Tom Hollander, Travesties as Henry Carr Gregg Mozgala, Cost of Living as John Michael Urie, The Government Inspector as Ivan Alexandreyevich Hlestakov
Outstanding Actress in a Play	* *Glenda Jackson, Three Tall Women* as A** Lauren Ridloff, Children of a Lesser God as Sarah Norman MaameYaa Boafo, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play as Paulina Sarpong Katy Sullivan, Cost of Living as Ani Jessica Hecht, Admissions as Sherri Rosen-Mason
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play	* *Nathan Lane, Angels in America* as Roy Cohn / Prior 2 / The Angel Antarctica** Johnny Flynn, Hangmen as Mooney David Morse, The Iceman Cometh as Larry Slade Paul Sparks, At Home at the Zoo as Jerry in The Zoo Story Anthony Boyle, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child as Scorpius Malfoy
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play	* *Laurie Metcalf, Three Tall Women* as B** Jamie Brewer, Amy and the Orphans as Amy Denise Gough, Angels in America as Harper Pitt / Martin Heller / The Angel Africanii Harriet Harris, The Low Road as Mrs. Trumpet / Belinda / Mrs. Low Mary Testa, The Government Inspector as Anna Andreyevna
Outstanding Actor in a Musical	* *Ethan Slater, SpongeBob SquarePants* as SpongeBob SquarePants** Conor Ryan, Desperate Measures as Johnny Blood Harry Hadden-Paton, My Fair Lady as Professor Henry Higgins Joshua Henry, Carousel as Billy Bigelow
Outstanding Actress in a Musical	* *Lauren Ambrose, My Fair Lady* as Eliza Doolittle** Patti Murin, Frozen the Musical as Anna Erika Henningsen, Mean Girls as Cady Heron Hailey Kilgore, Once on This Island as Ti Moune Taylor Louderman, Mean Girls as Regina George
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical	* *Norbert Leo Butz, My Fair Lady* as Alfred P. Doolittle** Gavin Lee, SpongeBob SquarePants as Squidward Q. Tentacles Nick Wyman, Desperate Measures as Governor von Richterhenkenpflichtgetruber Tony Yazbeck, Prince of Broadway Alexander Gemignani, Carousel as Enoch Snow
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical	* *Lindsay Mendez, Carousel* as Carrie Pipperidge** Lauren Molina, Desperate Measures as Bella Rose Ashley Park, Mean Girls as Gretchen Wieners Kerry Butler, Mean Girls as Mrs. Heron / Ms. Norbury / Mrs. George Emily Skinner, Prince of Broadway
Outstanding Solo Performance	* *Billy Crudup, Harry Clarke* as Harry Clarke** Eve Ensler, In the Body of the World John Lithgow, John Lithgow: Stories by Heart Sharon Washington, Feeding the Dragon
Outstanding Scenic Design	* Christine Jones, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Myung Hee Cho, [In the Body of the World Michael H. Yeargan, My Fair Lady David Zinn, SpongeBob SquarePants Miriam Buether, Three Tall Women
Outstanding Costume Design	* Catherine Zuber, My Fair Lady Clint Ramos, Once on This Island Paloma Young, Time and the Conways Katrina Lindsay, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child David Zinn, SpongeBob SquarePants
Outstanding Lighting Design	* Neil Austin, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Lap Chi Chu, Mlima's Tale Paul Russell, Farinelli and the King Paule Constable, Angels in America Kevin Adams, SpongeBob SquarePants
Outstanding Projection Design	* *Finn Ross, Ash J Woodward Harry Potter and the Cursed Child* (video designer)** Finn Ross, Frozen the Musical Finn Ross, In the Body of the World Tim Reid, 1984 Finn Ross, Adam Young, Mean Girls
Outstanding Sound Design	* Gareth Fry, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Fitz Patton, Napoli, Brooklyn Darron L West, Mlima's Tale Marc Salzberg, My Fair Lady Kate Marvin, Porto

References

^ Tom Millward (April 24, 2018). "Nominations for the 2018 Outer Critics Circle Awards announced". New York Theater Guide.
^ Ryan McPhee (May 7, 2018). "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, My Fair Lady Win Big at 2018 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Playbill.
^ Ryan McPhee (May 7, 2018). "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, My Fair Lady Win Big at 2018 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Playbill.
^ Tom Millward (May 8, 2018). "Outer Critics Circle Awards 2018... And the Winners are..." New York Theatre Guide.
^ "Outer Critics Circle Awards 2017–2018". Retrieved July 26, 2025.
^ Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alexander Ebert of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady A, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Panic! at the Disco, Plain White T's, They Might Be Giants, T.I., songs by David Bowie, Tom Kenny and Andy Paley, with additional lyrics by Jonathan Coulton, and additional music by Tom Kitt.

[1] Tom Millward (April 24, 2018). "Nominations for the 2018 Outer Critics Circle Awards announced". New York Theater Guide.

[2] Ryan McPhee (May 7, 2018). "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, My Fair Lady Win Big at 2018 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Playbill.

[3] Ryan McPhee (May 7, 2018). "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, My Fair Lady Win Big at 2018 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Playbill.

[4] Tom Millward (May 8, 2018). "Outer Critics Circle Awards 2018... And the Winners are..." New York Theatre Guide.

[5] "Outer Critics Circle Awards 2017–2018". Retrieved July 26, 2025.

[6] Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alexander Ebert of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady A, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Panic! at the Disco, Plain White T's, They Might Be Giants, T.I., songs by David Bowie, Tom Kenny and Andy Paley, with additional lyrics by Jonathan Coulton, and additional music by Tom Kitt.

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