And The Award Goes To.....

Can you feel a brand new day for award shows? If not, then this year's Drama League and Outer Critics Award nominations should be the first step to jar your thinking. They are the first to launch a gender neutral nominating process to answer the challenge of representation that gender/non-binary and Trans identifying performers are bringing to the industry this time of year. It's an opportunity to keep the conversation of gender expression ongoing, especially in an industry built on imagination.  

This conversation really came through when Justin David Sullivan refused to accept his Tony nomination eligibility for his role in the show, & Juliet, back in February.  Of course,  the shadier  queens than me said that perhaps one might be putting the cart before the horse, but some might have seen this as the first real attempt to deconstruct gender norms and in some cases the patriarchy.   Meanwhile, some of my friends feel like it may be the "everyone gets a ribbon" line of thinking. I told you they were shady.  

No matter how you choose to view it, the whispers have grown and conversations have begun.  If not now, then when? The Drama League and The Outer Critics Circle contain smaller voting bodies that can manage whatever heat that this new approach will garner in terms of conversations, backlashes, and God willing, some significant changes. Besides, if other categories like Costume Design, Lighting Design, Set Design, Books and Lyrics, Directors, etc, can have mixed candidates, then why should performing be any different? Well, I am not gonna touch that one, but I assure you the conversation is gonna be fire. The Tony Award Nominations are coming on May 3rd, and it will be interesting to see if this new trend is going to continue.

For more about the Drama League Awards, click here.

For more about the Outer Critic CIrcle Awards, click here. 

Since the original posting, the Drama Desk nominees were announced and the same with the performance categories.