The Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of writers on New York theatre for out-of-town newspapers and national publications, is pleased to announce the dates for the prestigious annual Outer Critics Circle Awards, honoring the 2022-2023 Broadway and Off-Broadway season, as well as the reconstruction of the acting categories.
The eligibility cut-off date for nominators to attend a show in the 2022-2023 season will be Sunday, April 23. The OCC Awards Nominations announcement will take place on Tuesday, April 25, winners will be announced on Tuesday, May 16, and the awards ceremony will take place on Thursday, May 25 at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the New York Public Library for The Performing Arts.
The big news, and possibly the wave of the future, is that the Outer Critics Circle board of directors has voted to remove gender specifications from acting categories as well as expand acting categories to separately include off-Broadway productions. In the previous configuration, actors in Broadway and off-Broadway productions had been nominated together in the same category.
Beginning with the 2023 ceremony, the Outer Critics Circle will present acting awards in the following categories:
Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical
Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical
Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play
Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play
Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical
Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical
Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Play
Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play
and Outstanding Solo Performance, which is a pre-existing category.
Founded during the 1949-50 Broadway season by respected theater journalist John Gassner, The Outer Critics Circle is an esteemed association with members affiliated with more than ninety newspapers, magazines, broadcast stations, and online news organizations, in America and abroad.
