1950-1960

1950-1951
Best Musical: Guys and Dolls
Best Play: Billy Budd
Best Performances in Supporting Roles: Naomi Mitty, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

1951-1952
Best Performances in Supporting Roles: Kim Stanley, The Chase
Best Play: Point of No Return

1952-1953
Best Musical: Wonderful Town

1953-1954
Best Musical: Kismet
Best Play: The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
Best Supporting Performance – Drama: Eva Marie Saint, The Trip to Bountiful
Best Supporting Performance – Musical: Bibi Osterwald, The Golden Apple

1954-1955
Best Musical: Three for Tonight
Best Play: Inherit the Wind
Best Performances in Supporting Role: Crahan Denton, Bus Stop
Best Performances in Supporting Role: Gretchen Wyler, Silk Stockings

1955-1956
Best Musical: My Fair Lady
Best Play: The Diary of Anne Frank
Best Drama Performance: Anthony Franciosa, A Hatful of Rain
Special Citation: Alice Pearce, Fallen Angels
Special Citation: Peter Larkin (Designer), No Time for Sargeants

1956-1957
Best Play: Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Best Drama Performance: Inga Swenson, The First Gentleman
Best Musical Performance: Stubby Kaye, Li’l Abner
Special Citation: New York City Center Light Opera Company
Special Citation: Osbert Lancaster (Designer), Hotel Paradiso

1957-1958
Best Musical: The Music Man
Best Play: Look Homeward, Angel
Best Drama Performance: Henry Jones, Sunrise at Campobello
Best Musical Performance: Jacquelyn McKeever, Oh, Captain!
Outstanding Set Design: Rouben Ter-Arutunian, Who Was That Lady I Saw You With?
Special Citation: Joseph Papp

1958-1959
Best Play: The Visit
Best Drama Performance: Diana Sands, A Raisin in the Sun
Best Musical Performance: Tommy Rall, Juno
Outstanding Set Design: Oliver Messel, Rashomon
Special Citation: Hal Holbrook, Mark Twain Tonight!

1959-1960
Best Musical: Bye Bye Birdie
Best Play: The Miracle Worker
Best Musical Performance: Cecil Kellaway, Greenwillow
Best Drama Performance: Risa Schwartz, The Tenth Man
Special Citation: National Repertory Theatre’s tour of Mary Stuart

1960-1970

1960-1961
Best Ensemble Acting: Big Fish, Little Fish
Best Musical Performance: Don Tompkins, Wildcat
Creative Contribution of the Season: Carnival
Creative Contribution of the Season: Gower Champion
Creative Contribution of the Season: Rhinoceros
Outstanding Set Design: Oliver Smith, Camelot
Special Citation: American Shakespeare Festival Theatre and Academy

1961-1962
Best Revival: Anything Goes
Creative Contribution of the Season: George Abbott, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Creative Contribution of the Season: No Strings
Award: Margot Moser, My Fair Lady
Award: Rudy Vallee, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying / Oh Dad, Poor Dad
Special Citation: George Freedley
Special Citation: National Repertory Theatre

1962-1963
Best New Playwright: Murray Schisgal, The Tiger and the Typists
Best Staging: Alan Schneider, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Best Staging: William Ball, Six Characters in Search of an Author
Playwright of the Season: Edward Albee, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Special Citation: Alexander H. Cohen
Special Citation: Helen Hayes
Special Citation: Maurice Evans
Special Citation: Oliver!

1963-1964
Best New Playwright: Frank Gilroy, The Subject Was Roses
Best Performance: Inga Swenson, 110 in the Shade
Best Performance: Lee Allen, Marathon ’33
Best Revival of a Classic Play: The Trojan Women
Best Revival of a Modern Play: The Lower Depths
Award: Barbara Loden
Award: Beatrice Lillie
Award: Carol Burnett
Award: Carol Haney
Award: Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

1964-1965
Best New Playwright: William Hanley
Best Performance Tommy Steele, Half a Sixpence
Best Performance: Zero Mostel, Fiddler on the Roof
Best Production: Oh, What a Lovely War
Best Production: Tartuffe
Award: Associaton of Producing Artists (APA)
Other Award: City Center Light Opera Company
Other Award: Mike Nichols
Other Award: Sol Hurok

1965-1966
Best Director: Peter Brook, Marat/Sade
Best Performance: Angela Lansbury, Mame
Best Performance: Beatrice Arthur, Mame
Best Performance: Donal Donnelly, Philadelphia, Here I Come
Best Performance: Patrick Bedford, Philadelphia, Here I Come
Best Performance: Gwen Verdon, Sweet Charity
Best Production: Man of La Mancha
Best Production: Wait a Minim!
Award: David Merrick
AwardsL Frank Loesser
Award: Institute for Advanced Studies in Theatre Arts, Phaedra

1966-1967
Best Director: Joseph Hirsch, Galileo
Best New Personality: Leslie Uggams, Hallelujah, Baby
Best New Personality: Melina Mercouri, Illya, Darling
Best Performance: Martin Balsam, You Know I Can’t Hear You When the Water’s Running
Best Production: America Hurrah
Best Production: Cabaret
Best Production: You Know I Can’t Hear You When the Water’s Running
Best Production: You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown
Award: Alexander H. Cohen
Award: Bil Baird and Cora Baird
Award: Constance Towers, The Sound of Music

1967-1968
Best Performance: Harold Gary, The Price
Best Performance: Helen Hayes, The Show-Off
Best Performance: Joel Grey, George M!
Best Performance: Pearl Bailey, Hello, Dolly!
Best Performance: Cab Calloway, Hello, Dolly!
Best Performance: Zena Jasper, Saturday Night
Best Production: George M!
Best Production: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Best Production: The Price
Best Production: Your Own Thing
Award: Herman Shumlin
Award: Mike Nichols
Award: The Forum Theatre
Award: The Public Theater

1968-1969
Best Composer/Lyricist: Sherman Edwards, 1776
Best Director: Edwin Sherin, The Great White Hope
Best Director: Elaine May, Adaptation/Next
Best New Playwright: Elaine May, Adaptation/Next
Best Off-Broadway Musical: Dames at Sea
Best Performance: Linda Lavin, Little Murders and Cop-Out
Best Performance: Lorraine Serabian, Zorba
Award: David Hays

1969-1970
Best Musical: Company
Best Off-Broadway Musical: The Last Sweet Days of Isaac
Best Off-Broadway Play: The White House Murder Case
Best Performance: Bonnie Franklin, Applause
Best Performance: Brian Bedford, Private Lives
Best Performance: Frank Grimes, Borstal Boy
Best Performance: Niall Toibin, Borstal Boy
Best Performance: Lewis J. Stadlen, Minnie’s Boys
Best Performance: Sandy Duncan, The Boy Friend
Best Play: Child’s Play

1970-1980

1970-1971
Best Production: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Best Production: Follies
Best Production: No, No, Nanette
Award: Claire Bloom, Hedda Gabbler and A Doll’s House
Award: John Guare, The House of Blue Leaves
Outstanding Achievement: Joseph Papp and the New York Shakespeare Festival
Outstanding Achievement: Paul Sills of Story Theatre
Outstanding Achievement: The School for Wives
Outstanding Achievement: The Trial of the Catonsville 9

1971-1972
Best Actor: Brock Peters, Lost in the Stars
Best Actor: Robert Morse, Sugar
Best Actress: Marilyn Chris, Kaddish
Best Actress: Rosemary Harris, Old Times
Best Actress: Sada Thompson, Twigs Best Play: Sticks and Bones
Best Play: That Championship Season
John Gassner Playwriting Award: Jason Miller, That Championship Season
Special Award: Chelsea Theatre Center
Special Award: Equity Library Theatre
Special Award: John Houseman

1972-1973
Best Director: Bob Fosse, Pippin
Best Director: Ellis Rabb, A Streetcar Named Desire
Best Ensemble Performance: The Cast of The Women
Outstanding Actor in a Play: Christopher Plummer, The Good Doctor
Outstanding Actress in a Musical: Debbie Reynolds, Irene
Outstanding Actress in a Musical: Michele Lee, Seesaw
Outstanding Actress in a Play: Julie Harris, The Last of Mrs. Lincoln

1973-1974
Best Actor: George Rose, My Fat Friend
Best Actress: Doris Roberts, Bad Habits
Best Actress: Janie Sell, Over Here
Best Actress: Ann Reinking, Over Here
Best Choreography: Patricia Birch
Best Musical: Candide
Best Play: A Moon for the Misbegotten
Best Play: Noel Coward in Two Keys
John Gassner Playwriting Award: Mark Medoff, When You Coming Home, Red Ryder?
Special Award: Sammy Cahn

1974-1975
Best Ensemble Performance: Ellen Burstyn and Charles Grodin, Same Time, Next Year
Best Performance: Anthony Hopkins, Equus
Best Performance: Peter Firth, Equus
Best Performance: Geraldine Page, Absurd Person Singular
Best Performance: John Cullum, Shenandoah
Best Performance: Chip Ford, Shenandoah
Best Performance: Maggie Smith, Private Lives
Best Play: Equuus
Best Young Player: Chip Ford, Shenandoah
Best Young Player: Peter Firth, Equuus
Best Young Player: Tovah Feldshuh, Rodgers and Hart / Yentl the Yeshiva Boy / Dreyfus in Rehearsal
John Gassner Playwriting Award: Leslie Lee, The First Breeze of Summer
Special Award: Arts Council of Great Britain
Special Award Long Wharf Theatre
Special Award: Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, Portfolio Studio

1975-1976
Best Costume Design: Theoni V. Aldredge, A Chorus Line
Best Ensemble Performance: The Norman Conquests
Best Performance: Eva Le Gallienne, The Royal Family
Best Performance: Meryl Streep, Phoenix Repertory Company
Best Performance: Vanessa Redgrave, The Lady from the Sea
Best Performance: Vivian Reed, Bubbling Brown Sugar
Best Set Design: Holmes Easley, Roundabout Theatre Company
Special Award: Circle in the Square
Special Award: Michael Bennett, A Chorus Line
Special Award: The Goodspeed Opera House
Special Award: Tuscaloosa’s Calling Me

1976-1977
Best Actor: John Gielgud, No Man’s Land
Best Actor: Ralph Richardson, No Man’s Land
Best Actress – Play: Liv Ullmann, Anna Christie
Best Actress – Musical: Dorothy Loudon, Annie
Best Broadway Musical: For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf
Best Debut of an Actress: Andrea McArdle, Annie
Best Director: Andrei Serban, The Cherry Orchard
Best Director: Gordon Davidson, The Shadow Box
Best Musical Contribution: Elizabeth Swados, The Cherry Orchard / Nightclub Cantata / Agamemnon
Best Set Design: David Mitchell, Annie
Best Set Design: Santo Loquasto, The Cherry Orchard
John Gassner Playwriting Award: Preston Jones, A Texas Trilogy
Most Refreshing Musical: Annie
Special Award: Brooklyn Academy of Music
Special Award: Theatre Company, Three Sisters / The New York Idea

1977-1978
Best Actor: Bernard Hughes, Da
Best Actor: John Wood, Deathtrap
Best Actor: Martin Balsam, Cold Storage
Best Actress: Nancy Snyder, 5th of July
Best Actress: Vicki Frederick, Dancin’
Best Director: Melvin Bernhardt, Da
Best Play: Da

1978-1979
Best Broadway Musical: Sweeney Todd
Best Broadway Play: The Elephant Man
Best Director: Jack Hofsiss, The Elephant Man
Best New Talent: Philip Anglim, The Elephant Man
Best New Talent: Lucie Arnaz, They’re Playing Our Song
Best New Talent: Susan Kingsley, Getting Out
Best New Talent: Gregory Hines, Eubie!
Best New Talent: Maurice Hines, Eubie!
Best Performance: Tom Conti, Whose Life Is It Anyway?
Best Performance: Carole Shelley, The Elephant Man
Best Set Design: John Wulp, The Crucifer of Blood
John Gassner Playwriting Award: Marsha Norman, Getting Out
Special Award: Cafe La MaMa
Special Award: Brandt Organization for re-opening the Apollo and Lyric Theatres

1979-1980
Auspicious Debut: Phyllis Frelich, Children of a Lesser God
Best Broadway Musical: Barnum
Best Broadway Play: Children of a Lesser God
Best Direction and Choreography: Tommy Tune, A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine
Best Lyricist: Tim Rice, Evita
Best Performance in an Off-Broadway Play: Pat Carroll, Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein
Best Performances: Nancy Marchand, Maureen O’Sullivan, Elizabeth Wilson, Teresa Wright, and Lois de Banzie, Morning’s at Seven
Best Performance: Gerald Hiken, Strider
Best Set Design: John Lee Beatty, Talley’s Folly and Hide and Seek
Consistent Contribution to the Theatre: Curt Dempster and the Ensemble Studio Theatre
John Gassner Playwriting Award: Samm-Art Williams
Special Award: Paul Myers

1980-1990

1980-1981
Best Actor: Ian McKellen, Amadeus
Best Actress: Swoosie Kurtz, The Fifth of July
Best Broadway Play: Amadeus
Best Choreography: Michael Smuin, Donald MacKayle, Henry LeTang, Sophisticated Ladies
Best Off-Broadway Play: March of the Falsettos
Best Revival: The Pirates of Penzance
Best Set Design: Robert Phillips
John Gassner Playwriting Award: Ted Tally, Coming Attractions
Lucille Lortel Award for New Director: Geraldine Fitzgerald, Long Day’s Journey Into Night and Mass Appeal
Most Impressive Debut: Elizabeth Taylor, The Little Foxes
Outstanding Debut: Brian Backer, The Floating Light Bulb
Outstanding Debuts: Daniel Gerroll, Knuckle andThe Fly Boys
Outstanding New Play: Dario Fo, We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay!
Special Citation: National Critics Institute at the O’Neill Theatre Center

1981-1982
Best Actor: Zakes Mokae, “Master Harold”…and the Boys
Best Actor: Milo O’Shea, Mass Appeal
Best Actress: Amanda Plummer, Agnes of God and A Taste of Honey
Best Book of a Musical: Paul Rudnick, Poor Little Lambs
Best Broadway Musical: Nine
Best Broadway Play: “Master Harold”…and the Boys
Best Debut Performance: Matthew Broderick, Torch Song Trilogy
Best Debut Performance: Lizbeth MacKay, Crimes of the Heart
Best Director: Athol Fugard, “Master Harold”…and the Boys
Best Off-Off-Broadway Theatre Company: The Second Stages
Best Revival: The Chalk Garden
John Gassner Playwriting Award: Bill C. Davis, Mass Appeal
Special Citation: The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

1982-1983
Best Actor: Tony Lo Bianco, A View from the Bridge
Best Actress: Anne Pitoniak, Kathy Bates, ‘night, Mother
Best Actress: Kathy Bates, ‘night, Mother
Best Actress: Jessica Tandy, Foxfire
Best Broadway Musical: Cats
Best Broadway Play: Brighton Beach Memoirs
Best Debut Performance: Natalia Makarova, Lara Teeter, On Your Toes
Best Debut Performance: Lara Teeter, On Your Toes
Best Debut Performance: Keith Carradine, Foxfire
Best Director: Robert Allan Ackerman, Extremities
Best Off-Broadway Musical: Little Shop of Horrors
Best Off-Broadway Play: Extremities
Best Revivals On Your Toes
Best Revival: You Can’t Take It with You
Best Score: Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, Little Shop of Horrors
Best Set and Lighting Design: Ming Cho Lee and Allan Lee Hughes, K2
John Gassner Playwriting Award: William Mastrosimone, Extremities
Special Award: Theatre Development Fund
Special Award: Classic Stage Company

1983-1984
Best Actor: George Hearn, La Cage aux Folles
Best Actress: Marian Seldes, Painting Churches
Best Broadway Musical: La Cage aux Folles
Best Broadway Play: The Real Thing
Best Costume Design: Theoni V. Aldredge, La Cage aux Folles
Best Director: Michael Blakemore, Noises Off
Best Off-Broadway Play: Painting Churches
Best Revival: Death of a Salesman
Best Revue: A…My Name Is Alice
Best Score: Howard Marren, Susan Birkenhead, Love
Best Score: Gary William Friedman, Will Holt, Taking My Turn
John Gassner Playwriting Award: Tina Howe, Painting Churches
Special Award: Roundabout Theatre Company
Special Award: Twiggy and Tommy Tune – My One and Only

1984-1985
Best Actor: Jim Dale, Joe Egg
Best Actress: Rosemary Harris, Pack of Lies
Best Book of a Musical: Nahma Sandrow, Kuni-Leml
Best Broadway Musical: Sunday in the Park with George
Best Broadway Play: Biloxi Blues
Best Debut Performance: Barry Miller, Biloxi Blues
Best Debut Performance: Whoopi Goldberg for her one woman show
Best Director: John Malkovich, Balm in Gilead
Best Lyrics: Richard Engquist, Kuni-Leml
Best Off-Broadway Musical: Kuni-Leml
Best Off-Broadway Play: The Foreigner
Best Revival: Joe Egg
Best Set Design: Tony Straiges, Sunday in the Park with George and Diamonds
John Gassner Playwriting Award: Larry Shue, The Foreigner
Special Award: Forbidden Broadway
Special Award: Henry Hewes

1985-1986
Best Actor: Judd Hirsch, I’m Not Rappaport
Best Actress: Lily Tomlin, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
Best Broadway Musical: The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Best Broadway Play: I’m Not Rappaport
Best Choreography: Bob Fosse, Big Deal and Sweet Charity
Best Costume Design: Lindsay W. Davis, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Best Debut Performance: Anthony Rapp, Precious Sons
Best Debut Performance: Semina de Laurentis, Nunsense
Best Director: John Tillinger, Loot / The Perfect Party / Corpse!
Best Lighting Design: Paul Gallo, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Best Off-Broadway Book and Music: Dan Goggin, Nunsense
Best Off-Broadway Lyrics: David Crane, Seth Friedman, Marta Kauffman, Personals
Best Off-Broadway Musical: Nunsense
Best Off-Broadway Play: A Lie of the Mind
Best Revival: Loot
Best Set Design: Bob Shaw, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
John Gassner Playwriting Award: Herb Gardner, I’m Not Rappaport
Special Award: Elisabeth Welch, Time to Start Living / Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood

1986-1987
Best Actor: James Earl Jones, Fences
Best Actress: Linda Lavin, Broadway Bound
Best Broadway Musical: Les Miserables
Best Broadway Play: Fences
Best Debut Performance: Frances Ruffelle, Les Miserables
Best Debut Performance: Colm Wilkinson, Les Miserables
Best Director (The Lucille Lortel Award): Trevor Nunn and John Caird, Les Miserables
Best Off-Broadway Book: Lainie Robertson, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill
Best Off-Broadway Lyrics: Barry Harmon, Olympus on My Mind
Best Off-Broadway Music: Allen Toussaint, Staggerlee
Best Off-Broadway Musical: Stardust
Best Off-Broadway Play: The Common Pursuit
Best Revival: All My Sons
Best Set Design: John Napier, Les Miserables
John Gassner Playwriting Award: August Wilson, Fences
Special Awards: Jackie Mason’s The World According to Me

1987-1988
Best Actor – Musical: Michael Crawford, The Phantom of the Opera
Best Actor – Play: Robert Prosky, A Walk in the Woods
Best Actress – Musical: Joanna Gleason, Into the Woods
Best Actress – Play: Dana Ivey, Driving Miss Daisy and Wencelas Square
Best Broadway Musical: The Phantom of the Opera
Best Broadway Play: M. Butterfly
Best Costume Design: Maria Bjornson, The Phantom of the Opera
Best Debut Performance: B.D. Wong, M. Butterfly
Best Debut Performance: Melissa Gilbert, A Shayna Maidel
Best Director (The Lucille Lortel Award): Ron Lagomarsino, Driving Miss Daisy / Laughing Wild / Only You
Best Director (The Lucille Lortel Award): Jerry Zaks, Anything Goes / Wencelas Square
Best Lighting Design: Andrew Bridge, The Phantom of the Opera
Best Off-Broadway Book, Music, and Lyrics: Romance, Romance
Best Off-Broadway Musical: Oil City Symphony
Best Off-Broadway Musical: Romance, Romance
Best Off-Broadway Play: Driving Miss Daisy
Best Revival: Anything Goes
Best Set Design: Maria Bjornson, The Phantom of the Opera
John Gassner Playwriting Award: David Henry Hwang, M. Butterfly
Special Award: Michael Feinstein
Special Award: The Brooklyn Academy of Music

1988-1989
Best Actor – Musical: Jason Alexander, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway
Best Actor – Play: Kevin Conway, Other People’s Money
Best Actress – Musical: Ruth Brown, Black and Blue
Best Actress – Play: Pauline Collins, Shirley Valentine
Best Broadway Musical: Jerome Robbins’ Broadway
Best Broadway Play: The Heidi Chronicles
Best Debut Performance: Peter Frechette, Eastern Standard
Best Debut Performance: Toni DiBuono, Forbidden Broadway
Best Set, Costume, and Lighting Design: Lend Me a Tenor
John Gassner Playwriting Award: Jerry Sterner, Other People’s Money
Special Award: Mikhail Baryshnikov, Metamorphosis
Special Award: The cast of Lend Me a Tenor
Special Awards: Jewish Repertory Theatre for Cantorial and Chu Chem

1989-1990
Best Actor – Musical: Michael Jeter, Grand Hotel
Nominees: René Auberjonois (City of Angels), Bob Gunton (Sweeney Todd), Jonathan Hadary (Gypsy), James Naughton (City of Angels)

Best Actor – Play: Robert Morse, Tru
Nominees: Charles Durning (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Nathan Lane (The Lisbon Traviata), Gary Sinise (The Grapes of Wrath)

Best Actress – Musical: Tyne Daly, Gypsy
Nominees: Beth Fowler (Sweeney Todd), Randy Graff (City of Angels), Dee Hoty (City of Angels), Sally Mayes (Closer Than Ever)

Best Actress – Play: Maggie Smith, Lettice & Lovage
Nominees: Vanessa Redgrave (Orpheus Descending), Lois Smith (The Grapes of Wrath), Kathleen Turner (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Margaret Tyzack (Lettice & Lovage)

Best Broadway Musical: City of Angels
Nominees: Aspects of Love, Grand Hotel, Meet Me in St. Louis

Best Broadway Play: The Grapes of Wrath
Nominees: A Few Good Men, Lettice & Lovage, The Piano Lesson

Best Director (The Lucille Lortel Award): Michael Blakemore, City of Angels and Lettice & Lovage
Nominees: Frank Galati (The Grapes of Wrath), Lloyd Richards (The Piano Lesson), Tommy Tune (Grand Hotel)

Best Off-Broadway Lyrics: Richard Maltby Jr., Closer Than Ever
Best Off-Broadway Music: David Shire, Closer Than Ever
Best Off-Broadway Musical: Closer Than Ever
Best Off-Broadway Play: Prelude to a Kiss
Best Revival – Musical: Gypsy
Best Revival – Play: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Best Set, Costume, and Lighting Design: City of Angels
John Gassner Playwriting Award: Aaron Sorkin, A Few Good Men
Best Debut Performance: Rocky Carroll, The Piano Lesson
Best Debut Performance: Megan Gallagher, A Few Good Men
Special Award: Bill Irwin, Largely New York
Special Award: Larry Gelbart, Mastergate and City of Angels
Special Award: En Garde Arts,Crowbar
Special Award: Chazz Palminteri
Special Award: Mandy Patinkin

Winners and Nominees from the 2018-2019 season

Outer Critics Circle Award Honorees from the 2019-2020 Covid season

Winners and Nominees from the 2021-2022 season

Winners and Nominees from the 2022-2023 season

Winners and Nominees from the 2023-2024 season

Winners and Nominees from the 2024-2025 season

Winners and Nominees from the 2025-2026 season