CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND, HALFWAY BITCHES GO STRAIGHT TO HEAVEN, A STRANGE LOOP, ROMEO & BERNADETTE, THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES and More Nominated for Off Broadway Alliance Awards

Michael Musto announced this season’s Off Broadway Alliance Award nominees today.

Awards will be presented in seven competitive categories: Best New Musical, Best New Play, Best Musical Revival, Best Play Revival, Best Unique Theatrical Experience, Best Solo Performance, and Best Family Show. The winners of the Off Broadway Alliance Awards will be announced via Facebook at 11am on Tuesday, May 19. Due to the shutdown, the awards ceremony will take place this Fall (date and location TBD).

New Federal Theatre Producer Woodie King, Jr. Photo by Lia Chang

In addition to the competitive awards, Legend of Off Broadway Awards will be presented to Gretchen Cryer, Woodie King, Jr., Eric Krebs and Barbara Zinn Krieger for their extraordinary contributions over many years, Mark Blum, Wynn Handman and Julia Miles will be posthumously honored with induction into the Off Broadway Hall of Fame, and the Friend of Off Broadway Award will be presented to The Drama Bookshop for their continued dedication to Off Broadway.

2019-20 Off Broadway Alliance Award Nominations are:
Best New Play:

Ain’t No Mo’
By Jordan E. Cooper
Produced by The Public Theater

Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
By Stephen Adly Guirgus
Produced by Atlantic Theater Company

Patrice Johnson Chevannes (Wanda Wheels), Elizabeth Canavan (Rockaway Rosie), Benja Kay Thomas (Queen Sugar), Pernell Walker (Munchies), Victor Almanzar (Joey Fresco), Liza Colón-Zayas (Sarge), Andrea Syglowski (Bella), Neil Tyrone Pritchard (Mr. Mobo), Wilemina Olivia-Garcia (Happy Meal Sonia), Sean Carvajal (Mateo), Kara Young (Little Melba Diaz), Viviana Valeria (Taina), and Esteban Andres Cruz (Venus) star in Stephen Adly Guirgis's Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven, directed by John Ortiz, at Atlantic Theater Company. © Monique Carboni
Patrice Johnson Chevannes (Wanda Wheels), Elizabeth Canavan (Rockaway Rosie), Benja Kay Thomas (Queen Sugar), Pernell Walker (Munchies), Victor Almanzar (Joey Fresco), Liza Colón-Zayas (Sarge), Andrea Syglowski (Bella), Neil Tyrone Pritchard (Mr. Mobo), Wilemina Olivia-Garcia (Happy Meal Sonia), Sean Carvajal (Mateo), Kara Young (Little Melba Diaz), Viviana Valeria (Taina), and Esteban Andres Cruz (Venus) star in Stephen Adly Guirgis’s Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven, directed by John Ortiz, at Atlantic Theater Company. © Monique Carboni

Life Sucks
By Aaron Posner
Produced by Wheelhouse Theater

Make Believe
By Bess Wohl
Produced by Second Stage Theater

The Confession of Lily Dare
By Charles Busch
Produced by Jamie deRoy and Primary Stages

Kendal Sparks, Charles Busch, Christopher Borg, Nancy Anderson, Jennifer Van Dyck, and Howard McGillin in THE CONFESSION OF LILY DARE. Photo by Carol Rosegg

Best Play Revival:
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow is Enuf
By Ntozake Shange
Produced by The Public Theater

Much Ado About Nothing

By William Shakespeare
Produced by The Public Theater

The Woman in Black
Adapted by Stephen Mallatratt
From the novel by Susan Hill
Presented by the McKittrick Hotel

Timon of Athens
By William Shakespeare
Produced by Theatre for a New Audience and Shakespeare Theater Company

Best New Musical:
A Strange Loop
Book, Music & Lyrics by Michael R Jackson
Produced by Playwrights Horizons and Page 73

Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop. Playwrights Horizons, New York, 2019. From left to right: James Jackson, Jr., John-Michael Lyles, Jason Veasey, Larry Owens, Antwayn Hopper, John-Andrew Morrison, L Morgan Lee.
Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop. Playwrights Horizons, New York, 2019. From left to right: James Jackson, Jr., John-Michael Lyles, Jason Veasey, Larry Owens, Antwayn Hopper, John-Andrew Morrison, L Morgan Lee. Photo by Joan Marcus

Cambodian Rock Band
By Lauren Yee
Songs by Dengue Fever
Produced by Signature Theatre Company

Joe Ngo, Abraham Kim, Francis Jue, Jane Lui, Courtney Reed and Moses Villarama in CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND. Photo by Joan Marcus

Emojiand
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Keith Harrison and Laura Schein
Produced by Arborhouse Productions and Visceral Entertainment

The cast of Emojiland, The Musical. Photo by Jeremy Daniel
The cast of Emojiland, The Musical. Photo by Jeremy Daniel

Romeo & Bernadette: A Musical Tale of Verona and Brooklyn
Book & Lyrics by Mark Saltzman
Produced by Amas Musical Theatre and Eric Krebs

Judy McLane, Carlos Lopez, Michael Notardonato, Ari Raskin, Anna Kostakis, Nikita Burshteyn, Zach Schanne, and Viet Vo in Romeo & Bernadette. Photo by Russ Rowland

Sing Street
Book by Enda Walsh, Music & Lyrics by John Carney and Gary Clark
Produced by New York Theatre Workshop

The Secret Life of Bees
Book by Lynn Nottage
Music by Duncan Sheik
Lyrics by Susan Birkenhead
Produced by the Atlantic Theater Company

Saycon Sengbloh, Nathaniel Stampley, Eisa Davis, Anastacia McCleskey, and LaChanze in The Secret Life of Bees. Photo: Ahron R. Foster
Saycon Sengbloh, Nathaniel Stampley, Eisa Davis, Anastacia McCleskey, and LaChanze in The Secret Life of Bees. Photo: Ahron R. Foster

Best Musical Revival:
Baby
Book by Sybille Pearson, Music by David Shire, Lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr
Produced by Out of the Box Theatrics

Enter Laughing
Book by Joseph Stein, Music & Lyrics by Stan Daniels
Produced by The York Theater Company

Little Shop of Horrors
Book & Lyrics by Howard Ashman, Music by Alan Menken
Produced by Robert Ahrens, Hunter Arnold, Mickey Liddell, Curt Cronin, John Joseph, and Tom Kirdahy

Rock of Ages
Book by Chris D’Arienzo
Produced by S2BN Entertainment

The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Music and lyrics by Meredith Willson; Book and new lyrics by Dick Scanlan, based on the original book by Richard Morris; Music adaptation by Michael Rafter
Produced by Transport Group

Beth Malone (center) leads the off-Broadway cast of The Unsinkable Molly Brown. (© Carol Rosegg)
Beth Malone (center) leads the off-Broadway cast of The Unsinkable Molly Brown. (© Carol Rosegg)

Best Unique Theatrical Experience:
Dana H.
By Lucas Hnath
Produced by Vineyard Theatre, Goodman Theatre, and Center Theatre Group

Midsummer: A Banquet
By William Shakespeare. Adapted by Zach Morris and Victoria Rae Sook
Produced by Food of Love Productions and Third Rail Projects

Novenas for a Lost Hospital
By Cusi Cram
Produced by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater

Playing Hot
Created by Kevin Armento and Jaki Bradley
Written by Kevin Armento and C.A. Johnson
Produced by Pipeline Theater

Katsura Sunshine’s Rakugo
Created and Performed by Katsura Sunshine
Produced by Joe Trentacosta, Yoshitaka Tanaka, Yumi Shinozaki, and Marie Fukuda

Best Solo Performance:
Kathleen Chalfant in A Woman of the World
By Rebecca Gilman
Produced by The Acting Company and 59E59 Theaters

Keith Hamilton Cobb in American Moor
By Keith Hamilton Cobb
Produced by Evangeline Morphos, Frederick M Zollo, Red Bull Theater, Elizabeth I McCann, and Tom Shea

Harvey Fierstein in Bella Bella By Harvey Fierstein
Produced by Manhattan Theatre Club

Ken Jennings in Gospel of John
Conceived by Ken Jennings
Produced by The Sheen Center for Thought and Culture

Bill Posley in The Day I Became Black
Created and written by Bill Posley
Produced by Kristen Boulé

Aedín Moloney in Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom
Adaptation by Aedín Moloney and Colum McCann
Produced by Irish Repertory Theatre

Best Family Show:
Dog Man: The Musical
Music by Brad Alexander
Books and Lyrics by Kevin DelAguila
Based on the series by Dav Pilkey
Produced by TheatreWorks USA

Paddington Gets in a Jam
Created by Jonathan Rockefeller
Written by Doug Kmiotek
Based on the series by Michael Bond
Produced by Rockefeller Productions

She Persisted, The Musical
Script & Lyrics by Adam Tobin
Music by Deborah Wicks La Puma
Adapted from the Book by Chelsea Clinton
Produced by Atlantic Theater Company

Taste the Clouds
Created by Hit the Lights! Theater Co.
Based on the book “Taste the Clouds” by Rita Marshall
Produced by New York Children’s Theatre

The Big One-Oh!
Music by Doug Besterman
Lyrics by Dean Pitchford
Book by Timothy Allen McDonald
Based on the Novel by Dean Pitchford
Produced by Atlantic Theater Company

Special Honorees:
Legends of Off Broadway – honoring sustained achievement Off Broadway
Gretchen Cryer: Off-Broadway Playwright, lyricist, and actress, co-author of I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road
Woodie King, Jr.: Founding director of New Federal Theatre, New York City and Off Broadway producer and director
Eric Krebs: Off Broadway producer and founder and director of the Off-Broadway’s John Houseman Theater Center and Douglas Fairbanks Theater.
Barbara Zinn Krieger: Founder of New York City Children’s Theater and Executive Director and Founder of Vineyard Theatre.

Off Broadway Hall of Fame Inductees – A posthumous award that honors a lifetime of extraordinary contributions to Off Broadway

Mark Blum. Photo by Lia Chang

Mark Blum an actor whose Off Broadway career spanned over five decades and 26 productions
Wynn Handman – Off Broadway Director and teacher and Co-Founder and Artistic Director of The American Place Theatre
Julia Miles – Trailblazing Founder of the Women’s Project Theater
Friend of Off Broadway – Award – honors persons or organizations for their steadfast support of the Off Broadway community over many years.
The Drama Bookshop

SOFT POWER Receives Eleven Drama Desk Nominations, HALFWAY BITCHES GO STRAIGHT TO HEAVEN Receives Eight Nods; Full List of Nominees 

David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori’s SOFT POWER Receives Five Lucille Lortel Nominations Including Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical for Francis Jue and Conrad Ricamora, Outstanding Choreography for Sam Pinkleton and Outstanding Scenic Design for Clint Ramos; Full List of Nominations 

Lia Chang. Photo by Garth Kravits

Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers,  musicians and corporations. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs.

All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2020 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at liachangpr@gmail.com

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