2026 Outer Critics Circle Awards winners full list: Tony Awards analysis

Winners for the 2026 Outer Critics Circle Awards were announced today, and Schmigadoon! and Ragtime picked up important trophies on the road to this year’s Tony Awards.

Of course, it’s important to note which Tony nominees weren’t eligible for the Outer Critics Circle Awards before trying to analyze the results. The Broadway transfers of Cats: The Jellicle Ball, Liberation, and Titanique are absent from the Outer Critics’ race, having already competed for their off-Broadway iterations. Cats: The Jellicle Ball won Outstanding Revival of a Musical last year, while Liberation won Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play. So theater fans still won’t have much indication on how this year’s Outer Critics Circle winners will fare against those three productions on Tony night.

What we do know is that Outer Critics Circle voters had a clear hankerin’ for corn pudding. Schmigadoon! was the most successful new musical with the group, earning five awards. In addition to its Outstanding New Broadway Musical victory, creator Cinco Paul picked up an important win for Book of a Musical. Schmigadoon! faced two of its fellow Tony nominees in that category: The Lost Boys and Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York). Book of a Musical and Original Score are two of the most important Tony races as they can act as a bellwether for Best Musical. The Outer Critics Circle gave its Original Score prize to buzzy off-Broadway tuner Mexodus, which was the winningest off-Broadway production with four victories.

Number of wins by show

The other category that can help predict Best Musical at the Tonys is Outstanding Director of a Musical. The Outer Critics gave their corresponding director prize to Lear deBessonet, who helmed the Lincoln Center Theatre revival of Ragtime. This win suggests that the directing prize at the Tonys will be handed out to one of the revivals (The Jellicle Ball directing duo of Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch weren’t eligible at the OCC), so Best Musical may ultimately be determined by which show can prevail for its score and/or book.

Ragtime also won both the Outer Critics Circle’s gender-neutral musical acting categories. Lead performer Joshua Henry continued his victory march as expected. Ben Levi Ross pulled off a win in Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical over fellow Tony nominee Ali Louis Bourzgui from The Lost Boys. Gold Derby’s Tony odds for Featured Actor in a Musical predict a win for Andre De Shields. The actor picked up an Outer Critics Circle Award last year for his role in The Jellicle Ball, so Tony night will now feature two Outer Critics winners going head to head in this category.

On the play side, voters declared that “attention must be paid” to Death of a Salesman. It beat fellow Tony nominee Becky Shaw for Outstanding Revival of a Play, with additional wins for director Joe Mantello and actors Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf. Lane impressively held off a challenge from the towering performance of John Lithgow in Giant, a play that went home empty-handed with Outer Critics voters. Giant was surely hoping for Outstanding New Broadway Play award since Pulitzer-winner Liberation was out of the way. But David Lindsey-Abaire’s The Balusters took the prize instead, a possible indicator that it’s the biggest challenger to Liberation at the Tony Awards.

Here’s the complete list of winners at the 2026 Outer Critics Circle Awards.

Outstanding New Broadway Musical
The Lost Boys
[winner] Schmigadoon!
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical
Beau the Musical
Goddess
[winner] Mexodus
Oratorio for Living Things
Saturday Church

Outstanding New Broadway Play
[winner] The Balusters
Giant
Little Bear Ridge Road
Oedipus
Punch

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play
Angry Alan
[winner] Meet the Cartozians
The Monsters
Prince Faggot
The Reservoir

John Gassner Award (for a new American play preferably by a new playwright)
Call Me Izzy by Jamie Wax
Caroline by Preston Max Allen
[winner] Cold War Choir Practice by Ro Reddick (tie)
Data by Matthew Libby
[winner] Well, I’ll Let You Go by Bubba Weiler (tie)

Outstanding Revival of a Musical
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
The Baker’s Wife
Chess
Masquerade
[winner] Ragtime

Outstanding Revival of a Play
Becky Shaw
The Brothers Size
[winner] Death of a Salesman
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Marjorie Prime

Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play
Rose Byrne, Fallen Angels
Will Harrison, Punch
[winner] Nathan Lane, Death of a Salesman
John Lithgow, Giant
Lesley Manville, Oedipus
Kelli O’Hara, Fallen Angels

Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play
Christopher Abbott, Death of a Salesman
Danny Burstein, Marjorie Prime
Jessica Hecht, Dog Day Afternoon
[winner] Laurie Metcalf, Death of a Salesman
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical
Sara Chase, Schmigadoon!
Nicholas Christopher, Chess
Luke Evans, The Rocky Horror Show
[winner] Joshua Henry, Ragtime
Sam Tutty, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Brandon Uranowitz, Ragtime
Jessica Vosk, Beaches

Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical
Ali Louis Bourzgui, The Lost Boys
Max Clayton, Schmigadoon!
Andrew Durand, The Rocky Horror Show
Benjamin Pajak, The Lost Boys
[winner] Ben Levi Ross, Ragtime

Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical
Micaela Diamond, The Seat of Our Pants
Amber Iman, Goddess
Brian Quijada, Mexodus
[winner] D. Robinson, Mexodus
Matt Rodin, Beau the Musical

Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical
Justin Cooley, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
J. Harrison Ghee, Saturday Church
[winner ] Judy Kuhn, The Baker’s Wife
Kevin McHale, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Jasmine Amy Rogers, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Play
[winner] Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Well, I’ll Let You Go
Alana Raquel Bowers, Cold War Choir Practice
André Holland, The Brothers Size
Alani iLongwe, The Brothers Size
Aigner Mizzelle, The Monsters

Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play
[winner] Caroline Aaron, The Reservoir
Brian d’Arcy James, Eurydice
River Lipe-Smith, Caroline
Andrea Martin, Meet the Cartozians
Malcolm Mays, The Brothers Size

Outstanding Solo Performance
Sean Hayes, The Unknown
Jack Holden, Kenrex
Mary Kate O Flanagan, Making a Show of Myself
[winner] Daniel Radcliffe, Every Brilliant Thing
Jean Smart, Call Me Izzy

Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Jim Barne and Kit Buchan, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
David Hornsby and Chris Hoch, The Lost Boys
Douglas Lyons, Beau the Musical
[winner] Cinco Paul, Schmigadoon!
Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson, Mexodus

Outstanding Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Jim Barne and Kit Buchan, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Heather Christian, Oratorio for Living Things
Ethan D. Pakchar and Douglas Lyons, Beau the Musical
[winner] Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson, Mexodus
The Rescues, The Lost Boys

Outstanding Direction of a Play
Debbie Allen, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Ngozi Anyanwu, The Monsters
Trip Cullman, Becky Shaw
Robert Icke, Oedipus
[winner] Joe Mantello, Death of a Salesman
Tarell Alvin McCraney and Bijan Sheibani, The Brothers Size

Outstanding Direction of a Musical
Michael Arden, The Lost Boys
[winner] Lear deBessonet, Ragtime
Lee Sunday Evans, Oratorio for Living Things
David Mendizábal, Mexodus
Diane Paulus, Masquerade

Outstanding Choreography
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Masquerade
[winner] Christopher Gattelli, Schmigadoon!
Darrell Grand Moultrie, Goddess
Darrell Grand Moultrie, Saturday Church
Rickey Tripp, The Monsters

Outstanding Orchestrations (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
[winner] Doug Besterman and Mike Morris, Schmigadoon!
Heather Christian, Johnny Butler, Jane Cardona, Fraser Campbell, Laura Dadap, Clerida Eltime, Fred Epstein, Camellia Hartman, Odetta Hartman, Ben Moss, John Murchison and Peter Wise, Oratorio for Living Things
Mikhail Fiksel, Brian Quijada, and Nygel D. Robinson, Mexodus
Ethan Popp and The Rescues, The Lost Boys
Michael Thurber, Goddess

Outstanding Scenic Design
James Fluhr, Masquerade
[winner] Dane Laffrey, The Lost Boys
Scott Pask, Schmigadoon!
Adam Rigg and Anton Volovsek, Bowl EP
Jason Sherwood, The Baker’s Wife

Outstanding Costume Design
Dede Ayite, Goddess
[winner] Linda Cho, Schmigadoon!
Jeff Mahshie, Fallen Angels
Ryan Park, The Lost Boys
Emilio Sosa, Masquerade

Outstanding Lighting Design
Mextly Couzin, Mexodus
Adam Honoré, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Jack Knowles, Death of a Salesman
[winner] Jen Schriever and Michael Arden, The Lost Boys
Studio Luna, Marcel on the Train

Outstanding Sound Design
Caroline Eng, The Unknown
[winner] Mikhail Fiksel, Mexodus
Adam Fisher, The Lost Boys
Brett Jarvis, Masquerade
Nick Kourtides, Oratorio for Living Things

Outstanding Video/Projection Design
[winner] 59 Studio, Ragtime
Akhila Krishnan, Ky1oto
Derek McLane, This World of Tomorrow
Johnny Moreno, Mexodus
John Narun, Bughouse