Have queer theater critics predicted this year’s Tony winners with their own inaugural awards?
Is it possible that the newly established GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics’ theater wing has the inside scoop on how this year’s Tony Awards will play out?
The 35-member cohort announced the inaugural winner of the Dorian Theater Awards, a new addition to the society’s longstanding awards for film and television.
Kimberly Akimbo was the frontrunner, picking up four awards including Outstanding Musical. Notably, the Dorian Theater Awards have forgone gendered categories, instead, announcing winners and finalists. Two awards have also been established unique to GALECA.
Pride50 honoree J. Harrison Ghee, star of Some Like It Hot, was bestowed the LGBTQ Theater Trailblazer Award. The honor is given to “a figure in the New York City theater industry who inspires empathy, truth, and equity,” according to a statement from GALECAGhee recently became the first nonbinary performer to receive a Tony Award nomination for Lead Actor in a Musical for their sensitive portrayal of Daphne in the toe-tapping tuner.
GALECA’s trademark Broadway Showstopper Award, for a standout production number or scene, went to the rousing “Independently Owned” from Shucked. Select awards were also given for Off-Broadway productions.
Said wing co-chair Sam Eckmann of Gold Derby: “I’m thrilled to commence Pride Month with the first-ever crop of Dorian Theater Award winners,” said wing co-chir Sam Eckmann of Gold Derby. “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.”
2023 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
to a standout production number or scene
“Independently Owned,” Shucked
Finalists:
“Better,” Kimberly Akimbo
“You Coulda Knocked Me Over with a Feather,” 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
Editor’s note: Q.Digital features editor Matthew Wexler is a voting member of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics’ theater wing.
