Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Score

Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Score
Awarded for	Outstanding New Score
Location	New York City
Presented by	Outer Critics Circle
Currently held by	Will Aronson and Hue Park for Maybe Happy Ending (2025)
Website	OuterCritics.org

The Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Score is an annual award given to the composer and/or lyricist of a musical or play on Broadway or Off-Broadway, as determined by Outer Critics Circle. The award has been given out since the 2005-2006 season.^[1]

Since its inception, no composer or lyricist has won the award more than once, while John Kander, Fred Ebb, Jeanine Tesori, David Yazbek and Alan Menken are all tied for the most nominations, with four each.

Award winners

2000s

  indicates the winner.

Year	Production	Composer	Lyricist	Ref.
2006
	The Drowsy Chaperone	Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison		[2]
	See What I Wanna See	Michael John LaChiusa
	The Color Purple	Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray
	Grey Gardens	Scott Frankel	Michael Korie
2007
	Spring Awakening	Duncan Sheik	Steven Sater	[3]
	Mary Poppins	Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe
	In The Heights	Lin-Manuel Miranda
	Curtains	John Kander	John Kander, Fred Ebb and Rupert Holmes
2008
	Next to Normal	Tom Kitt	Brian Yorkey	[4]
	Adding Machine	Joshua Schmidt
	Young Frankenstein	Mel Brooks
	The Last Ship	Stew and Heidi Rodewald	Stew
2009
	Billy Elliot	Elton John	Lee Hall	[5]
	Happiness	Scott Frankel	Michael Korie
	Rooms: A Rock Romance	Paul Scott Goodman
	Shrek the Musical	Jeanine Tesori	David Lindsay-Abaire

2010s

Year	Production	Composer	Lyricist	Ref.
2010
	Memphis	David Bryan	David Bryan and Joe DiPietro	[6]
	Yank!	Joe Zellnik	David Zellnik
	Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson	Michael Friedman
	The Scottsboro Boys	John Kander	Fred Ebb
2011
	The Book of Mormon	Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone		[7]
	Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	David Yazbek
	Sister Act	Alan Menken	Glenn Slater
	Catch Me if You Can	Marc Shaiman	Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman
2012
	Newsies	Alan Menken	Jack Feldman	[8]
	Queen of the Mist	Michael John LaChiusa
	Bonnie and Clyde	Frank Wildhorn	Don Black
	Death Takes a Holiday	Maury Yeston
2013
	Kinky Boots	Cyndi Lauper		[9]
	Chaplin	Christopher Paul Curtis
	Dogfight	Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
	Hands on a Hardbody	Amanda Green and Trey Anastasio	Amanda Green
	Here Lies Love	David Byrne and Fatboy Slim
2014
	The Bridges of Madison County	Jason Robert Brown		[10]
	Aladdin	Alan Menken	Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin
	If/Then	Tom Kitt	Brian Yorkey
	A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder	Steven Lutvak	Steven Lutvak and Robert L. Freedman
	Fun Home	Lisa Kron	Jeanine Tesori
2015
	Hamilton	Lin-Manuel Miranda		[11]
	The Visit	John Kander	Fred Ebb
	Something Rotten!	Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick
	It Shoulda Been You	Barbara Anselmi	Brian Hargrove
	The Last Ship	Sting
2016
	Bright Star	Steve Martin and Edie Brickell	Edie Brickell	[12]
	Waitress	Sara Bareilles
	American Psycho	Duncan Sheik
	Daddy Long Legs	Paul Gordon
	Dear Evan Hansen	Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
2017
	The Band's Visit	David Yazbek		[13]
	Come From Away	Irene Sankoff and David Hein
	Anastasia	Stephen Flaherty	Lynn Ahrens
	A Bronx Tale	Alan Menken	Glenn Slater
	Groundhog Day	Tim Minchin
2018
	SpongeBob SquarePants	Various[14]		[15]
	A Bronx Tale	Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
	Desperate Measures	David Friedman	Peter Kellogg
	Harry Potter and the Cursed Child	Imogen Heap
	Miss You Like Hell	Erin McKeown	Erin McKeown and Quiara Alegría Hudes
2019
	Hadestown	Anaïs Mitchell		[16]
	The Hello Girls	Peter Mills
	Tootsie	David Yazbek
	The Prom	Matthew Sklar	Chad Beguelin
	Be More Chill	Joe Iconis

2020s

Year	Production	Composer	Lyricist	Ref.
2020 (Hon.)	The Secret Life of Bees	Duncan Sheik	Susan Birkenhead	[17]
	The Wrong Man	Ross Golan
	A Strange Loop	Michael R. Jackson
	Octet	Dave Malloy
	Soft Power	Jeanine Tesori	David Henry Hwang
2021	No award given due to COVID-19 pandemic.
2022
	Six	Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss		[18]
	Harmony	Barry Manilow	Bruce Sussman
	Kimberly Akimbo	Jeanine Tesori	David Lindsay-Abaire
	Paradise Square	Jason Howland	Nathan Tysen and Masi Asare
	Mrs. Doubtfire	Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick
2023
	Some Like It Hot	Marc Shaiman	Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman	[19][20]
	Between the Lines	Elyssa Samsel	Kate Anderson
	New York, New York	John Kander	Fred Ebb and Lin-Manuel Miranda
	The Bedwetter	Adam Schlesinger	Adam Schlesinger and Sarah Silverman
	Shucked	Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally
2024
	Suffs	Shaina Taub		[21][22]
	Dead Outlaw	David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna
	Stereophonic	Will Butler
	The Connector	Jason Robert Brown
	Days of Wine and Roses	Adam Guettel
2025
	Suffs	Will Aronson	Will Aronson and Hue Park	[23]
	Death Becomes Her	Julia Mattison and Noel Carey
	Boop! The Musical	David Foster	Susan Birkenhead
	Operation Mincemeat	David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoe Roberts
	Real Women Have Curves	Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez

Multiple nominations

4 nominations

• John Kander
• Fred Ebb
• Jeanine Tesori
• David Yazbek
• Alan Menken

3 nominations

• Duncan Sheik
• Lin-Manuel Miranda
• Tom Kitt

2 nominations

• Michael John LaChiusa
• Scott Frankel
• Michael Korie
• Brian Yorkey
• David Lindsay-Abaire
• Robert Lopez
• Glenn Slater
• Marc Shaiman
• Scott Wittman
• Cyndi Lauper
• Benj Pasek
• Justin Paul
• Jason Robert Brown
• Wayne Kirkpatrick
• Karey Kirkpatrick
• Sara Bareilles

See also

• Tony Award for Best Original Score
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics

References

1. "2005–2006 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
2. "2005–2006 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
3. "2006–2007 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
4. "2007–2008 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
5. "2008–2009 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
6. "2009–2010 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
7. "2010–2011 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
8. "2011–2012 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
9. "2012–2013 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
10. "2013–2014 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
11. "2014–2015 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
12. "2015–2016 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
13. "2016–2017 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
14. Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Derek Brown, Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, Cyndi Lauper, Rob Hyman, John Legend, Brendon Urie, De'Mar Hamilton, Tom Higgenson, Tim Lopez, Mike Retondo, Dave Tirio, John Flansburgh, John Linnell, Alex Ebert, T.I., Domani, Lil' C, Tom Kitt
15. "2017–2018 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
16. "2018–2019 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
17. "Maybe Happy Ending Leads 2025 Outer Critics Circle Awards; See the Full List of Winners". Playbill. Playbill. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
18. "2021–2022 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
19. "2022–2023 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
20. Culwell-Block, Logan (May 16, 2023). "Some Like It Hot Dominates 2023 Outer Critics Circle Awards; See the Full List of Winners". Playbill. Retrieved September 1, 2025.
21. "2023-2024 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
22. "Stereophonic Leads 2024 Outer Critics Circle Awards, Wins Best Play; See the Full List of Winners". Playbill. Archived from the original on 2025-08-19. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
23. "2024–2025 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.