"Kimberly Akimbo" and "Fat Ham" win the 1st Annual Dorian Theater Awards
Friday, June 2, 2023 at 5:46PM By Nathaniel R
As we previously shared GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics recently launched a theater wing comprised of 34 members (including myself) which will be honoring the best in Broadway and Off Broadway theater each season. Our wing co-chair Sam Eckmann (Gold Derby) says:
"I’m thrilled to commence Pride Month with the first ever crop of Dorian Theater Award winners. 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."
For the inaugural our group chose one winner and two or three finalists (if there was a tie in voting) in 13 categories. They were...
Outstanding Broadway Musical KIMBERLY AKIMBO
(finalists: Shucked and Some Like It Hot)
More on these shows a bit later but Kimberly Akimbo is a great choice. Highly original, sweet, poignant, and quite funny, too.
Outstanding Broadway Musical Revival INTO THE WOODS
(finalists: Parade and Sweeney Todd)
Into the Woods was all the rage early in the theater season but closed before its latest round of awards. The latest revival of Sweeney Todd is a marvel though if you're needing some Sondheim soon and visiting NYC.
"Fat Ham" Photograph by Joan Marcus
Outstanding Broadway Play FAT HAM
(finalists: Cost of Living and Leopoldstadt)
Fat Ham already won the 2022 Pulitzer so this is a minor feat but still. Congratulations. (More on finalist Leopoldstadt soon)
Outstanding Broadway Play Revival A DOLL'S HOUSE
(finalists: Ohio State Murders, The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window, and Topdog/Underdog)
The minimalist revival of A Doll's House beat out its competition in what was probably a tight race given the extra finalist.
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical VICTORIA CLARK in KIMBERLY AKIMBO
(finalists: Annaleigh Ashford, Sweeney Todd and J Harrison Ghee, Some Like It Hot)
We've been fans of Victoria Clark's since her Tony winning performance in Light in the Piazza in the Aughts. Is it Tony #2 this month? The 63 year old lyric soprano gives a marvelously believable performance as a New Jersey teenager in the 1990s trapped in older woman's body due to a rare genetic condition.
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical BONNIE MILLIGAN in KIMBERLY AKIMBO
(finalists: Justin Cooley, Kimberly Akimbo and Alex Newell, Shucked)
We've also been fans of Bonnie Milligans for some times. She's been a sly marvel in the musical theater scene for a while but Broadway is finally catching on. She's hilarious as the criminally minded aunt of the titular teenager.
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play JODIE COMER in PRIMA FACIE
(finalists: Jessica Chastain in A Doll's House, Sean Hayes in Good Night Oscar, and Stephen McKinley Henderson in Between Riverside and Crazy)
She has an Emmy and may soon have a Tony. Will Oscar be next?
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play CRYSTAL LUCAS-PERRY in AINT NO MO
(finalists: Jordan E Cooper in Aint No Mo, and Miriam SIlverman in The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window)
Outstanding Broadway Ensemble KIMBERLY AKIMBO
(finalists: Into the Woods, Shucked)
Broadway Showstopper Award "INDEPENDENTLY OWNED" from SHUCKED
(finalists: "Better" from Kimberly Akimbo and "You Coulda Knocked Me Over with a Feather" from Some Like it Hot)
Alex Newell can very much stop a show. They did just that the night we attended Shucked. And the night we attended Once On This Island some years back come to think of it.
Outstanding Off-Broadway Production TITANIQUE
(finalists: Dark Disabled Stories and Downstate)
Outsanding Off-Broadway Performance MARLA MINDELLE in TITANIQUE
(finalists: K Todd Freeman in Downstate, Ryan J Haddad in Dark Disabled Stories, and Parker Posey in The Seagull)
Check out Marla Mindelle and cast mates (including friend of TFE Kathy Deitch!) in the Titanique promo above. The spoof show has had real legs here in NYC.
LGBTQ Theater Trailblazer Award J HARRISON GHEE
(finalists: Jordan E Cooper, and Ryan J Haddad)
J Harrison Ghee is the first non-binary actor to be Tony-nominated. He's playing the "Daphne" (Jack Lemmon) role in the musical adaptation of comedy classic Some Like It Hot.
More from the press release...
GALECA’s Theater Wing is deeply grateful to the many productions and performers, on and off Broadway, who made voting a pleasure,” said theater co-chair Merryn Johns, editor of the website Queer Forty. “We’re already looking at next season with great anticipation."
GALECA theater wing members, 2022-23:
Merryn Johns (co-chair), Queer FortySam Eckmann (co-chair), Gold Derby
Marshall Heyman (Broadway lead), Town and Country,Cary Wong (Off-Broadway lead), Film Score Monthly Online, etc.Frank J. Avella (Industry Liaison), Edge Media Network, Awards DailyKerensa Cadenas, GQ, etc.
Chris Carpenter, Rage magazine, etc.Murtada Elfadl, The A.V. Club, etc.
Adam Feldman, Time OutBrian Herrera, StinkyLulu Says podcast
James Kleinmann, The Queer ReviewNaveen Kumar, Variety, etc.
Stacy Lambe, ET OnlineBrian Scott Lipton, Cititour, etc.Soraya McDonald, AndscapeCharles O’Keefe, E! NewsJonathan Mandell, New York Theater
Dan Meyer, TheatrelyAbby Monteil, them, etc.
Michael Musto, The Village Voice, etc.Louis Peitzman, High Drama newsletter, etc.Juan Michael Porter II, The Body, TDF Stages
Juan A. Ramirez, Theatrely
Mathew Rodriguez, them
Nathaniel Rogers, The Film ExperienceGillian Russo, New York Theatre Guide
Michael Schulman, The New Yorker
Marcus Scott, Time Out, American TheatreAshley Steves, Today on Broadway podcast / Broadway RadioTim Teeman, The Daily BeastKyle Turner, Slant, etc.
Lindsey Weber, Not Broadway newsletter, etc.Abbey White, VarietyCurtis Wong, HuffPost
Theater Wing Diversity Liaison: Jose SolisHistorian: Will Kohler
About GALECAGALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics and its Dorian Awards honor the best in film, television and, under its theater wing, Broadway and Off-Broadway. More than 480-members strong, GALECA seeks to remind society that the world loves the Q+ eye on everything entertainment. A nonprofit organization, GALECA also advocates for better pay and access for underrepresented entertainment journalists.
Support our efforts by following @DorianAwards on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. For more information, visit GALECA.org.
Reader Comments (4)
I’m actually shocked that they completely ignored &Juliet which I think celebrates everything that the LGbTQ community stands for. It’s not the best musical ever, yet the Tony still managed to shower it with nominations. I enjoyed it more than I did Shucked. Then again, what do I know?
Yeah, it's weird & JULIET wasn't even a finalist in anything, but oh well. And really there wasn't a BAD choice in winners here so overall great job to GALECA on its first theatre outing. I saw KIMBERLY AKIMBO on my birthday last year and it really was such a pleasant surprise of a show -- but overall this was a pretty dang good year on Broadway.
This was a fantastic NYC season for representation onstage. Aside from non-binary performers like Alex Newell, J Harrison Ghee, and Justin David Sulliv (& Juliet) making headlines for excellent performances and their roles in changing so many awards to genderless categories, we have fantastic disability representation as well.
Katy Sullivan is the first amputee to perform on Broadway and received a Featured Actress in a Play nomination for The Cost of Living. She was fantastic in the show.
Ryan J Haddad made huge waves with Dark Disabled Stories, not just for telling his own stories expertly onstage but for the casting of costar Dickie Hearts (a deaf performer communicating in ASL) and Alejandro Ospino (a wheelchair user who provided audio descriptions throughout the show). They all shared their experiences dating as queer and disabled people in NYC in one of the most accessible productions I've ever seen. Aside from audio descriptions performed live, the production have captions and ASL interpretation throughout.
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