Via Press Release

Thursday June 1, 2023 - The 35 members of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics' theater wing announced the winners and finalists of its inaugural Dorian Theater Awards, honoring the best in Broadway and Off-Broadway for the 2022-2023 season.

Like GALECA’s Dorian film and TV honors, the group's theater honors celebrate both mainstream and LGBTQ+-themed productions. The wing's members, listed below, are stage critics and / or journalists who regularly cover NYC theater for notable media outlets.

Kimberly Akimbo was a clear favorite in the Broadway categories. The new musical, by Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire, was the most awarded production, picking up four awards: Outstanding Broadway Musical, Outstanding Lead Performance in a Broadway Musical for Victoria Clark, Outstanding Featured Performance in a Broadway Musical for Bonnie Milligan, and Outstanding Broadway Ensemble. Voters also demonstrated love for James Ijames’ audacious new play Fat Ham, which won Outstanding Broadway Play and Outstanding LGBTQ Broadway Production. 

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 NYC theater industry who inspires empathy, truth and equity. Ghee 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. 

The group’s trademark Broadway Showstopper Award, for a standout production number or scene, went to the rousing “Independently Owned” from Shucked.

In the Off-Broadway arena, GALECA members christened the parody musical Titaníque, which incorporates the songs of Celine Dion to tell a unique version of the Titanic story, as Outstanding Off-Broadway Production. Star and co-creator Marla Mindelle—who essays Dion in the play—received a performance nod.

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. 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."

“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."

Full list of 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” from Shucked

 Finalists:

“Better” from Kimberly Akimbo

“You Coulda Knocked Me Over with a Feather” from 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

GALECA theater wing members, 2022-23:

Merryn Johns (co-chair), Queer Forty

Sam Eckmann (co-chair), Gold Derby
Marshall Heyman (Broadway lead), Town and Country, etc.

Cary Wong (Off-Broadway lead), Film Score Monthly Online, etc.

Frank J. Avella (Industry Liaison), Edge Media Network, Awards Daily

Kerensa Cadenas, GQ, etc.
Chris Carpenter, Rage magazine, etc.

Murtada Elfadl, The A.V. Club, etc. 
Adam Feldman, Time Out

Brian Herrera, StinkyLulu Says podcast
James Kleinmann, The Queer Review

Naveen Kumar, Variety, etc.
Stacy Lambe, ET Online

Brian Scott Lipton, Cititour, etc. 

Soraya McDonald, Andscape

Charles O’Keefe, E! News

Jonathan Mandell, New York Theater
Dan Meyer, Theatrely

Abby 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 Experience

Gillian Russo, New York Theatre Guide
Michael Schulman, The New Yorker
Marcus Scott, Time Out, American Theatre

Ashley Steves, Today on Broadway podcast / Broadway Radio

Tim Teeman, The Daily Beast

Kyle Turner, Slant, etc.
Lindsey Weber, Not Broadway newsletter, etc.

Matthew Wexler, Queerty 

Abbey White, The Hollywood Reporter

Curtis Wong, HuffPost

Theater Wing Diversity Liaison: Jose Solis

Historian: Will Kohler

About GALECA

GALECA: 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.