Theater News

Hamilton Wins 2015 Obie Award for Best New American Theatre Work

Trip Cullman and Darko Tresnjak also took home the esteemed ”Village Voice” prize.

Carleigh Bettiol, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., and Anthony Ramos in the Obie Award-winning musical Hamilton at the Public Theater.
Carleigh Bettiol, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., and Anthony Ramos in the Obie Award-winning musical Hamilton at the Public Theater.
(© Joan Marcus)

The American Theatre Wing and the Village Voice are thrilled to announce the winners of the 60th Annual OBIE Awards. The Public Theater’s Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda (including special citations for Andy Blankenbuehler, Thomas Kail, and Alex Lacamoire) received the Obie Award for Best New American Theatre Work, which is accompanied by a $1,000 check. The Signature Theatre’s founding artistic director James Houghton received the Obie Award for Sustained Achievement. The Awards were hosted by Obie Award-winning actress Lea DeLaria (Orange Is the New Black). A complete list of awards is listed below.

Performance
Usman Ally, The Invisible Hand (New York Theatre Workshop)
Firdous Bamji, Indian Ink (Roundabout Theatre Company)
Brooke Bloom, You Got Older (Page 73 & HERE Arts Center)
Stephen McKinley Henderson, Between Riverside and Crazy (Atlantic Theater Company & Second Stage Theatre)
April Matthis, Sustained Excellence of Performance
John Douglas Thompson, Tamburlaine (Theatre for a New Audience) & The Iceman Cometh (BAM)

Playwriting
Ayad Akhtar, The Invisible Hand (New York Theatre Workshop)
Clare Barron, You Got Older (Page 73 & HERE Arts Center)
Suzan-Lori Parks, Father Comes Home From the Wars Parts I, II, & III (Public Theater)

Direction
Trip Cullman, Punk Rock (MCC Theater)
Anne Kauffman, Sustained Excellence of Direction
Darko Tresnjak, The Killer (Theatre for a New Audience)

Design
Abigail DeVille, Prophetika: An Oratorio (La MaMa)
Christine Jones, Sustained Excellence of Set Design
Ben Stanton, Sustained Excellence of Lighting Design
Japhy Weideman, Sustained Excellence of Lighting Design

Special Citations
Kate Benson (writer) and Lee Sunday Evans (director), A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes (New Georges)
Bootycandy, writer/director Robert O’Hara, actors Philip James Brannon, Jessica Frances Dukes, Jesse Pennington, Benja Kay Thomas, Lance Coadie Williams (Playwrights Horizons)
Catch (performance series), Andrew Dinwiddie, Caleb Hammons, Jeff Larson
Bridget Everett, Rock Bottom (Public Theater)
Bush Moukarzel and Dead Centre, Lippy (Abrons Arts Center)
Andrew Schneider, Youarenowhere (PS 122 / COIL Festival)

Obie Grants ($2,500 to each theater)
Horse Trade Theater Group/The Fire This Time Festival
JACK (Arts Center)

Ars Nova (The Ross Wetzsteon Award) (includes $1,000 check)

Best New American Theatre Work (includes $1,000 check)
Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda, choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, direction by Thomas Kail, arrangements/orchestrations/music direction by Alex Lacamoire (Public Theater)

Sustained Achievement Award
James Houghton

Obie winner Stephen McKinley Henderson with Elizabeth Canavan in Between Riverside and Crazy at Atlantic Theater Company.
Obie winner Stephen McKinley Henderson with Elizabeth Canavan in Between Riverside and Crazy at Atlantic Theater Company.
(© Kevin Thomas Garcia)