FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Contact: Chris Kanarick
[email protected] O: 646.893.4777 35TH ANNUAL LUCILLE LORTEL AWARDS RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED Heroes of the Fourth Turning and Octet Top the Awards with Three Each, Including Outstanding Play and Outstanding Musical, Respectively Presentations Were Made as Part of a Historic Livestream Event Lucille Lortel Foundation Pledges Grants Totaling $100,000 to TDF and The Actors Fund Emergency Grant Program New York, NY (May 3, 2020) – The 35th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off- Broadway were presented this evening in 19 categories, and two honorary awards were bestowed. Award recipients were announced during a special livestream broadcast hosted by Mario Cantone as a benefit for The Actors Fund, with the Lortel Foundation pledging $50,000 to their Emergency Grant Program, and an additional $50,000 to TDF. Donations can still be made at www.actorsfund.org/lortel. The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League and the Lucille Lortel Theatre Foundation, with additional support provided by TDF. Top recipients, earning three awards each, were Dave Malloy’s Octet produced by Signature Theatre for Outstanding Musical; and Heroes of the Fourth Turning, produced by Playwrights Horizons, for Outstanding Play. There were also two ties this year – in the categories of Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical and Outstanding Costume Design. Special honorees this year included Playwrights Horizons’ Tim Sanford, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award; and Anna Deavere Smith, inducted onto the famed Playwrights’ Sidewalk in front of the historic Lucille Lortel Theatre. Featured presenters included: Jelani Alladin, Rachel Dratch, Jordan Fisher, Jackie Hoffman, Andy Karl, Nathan Lane, Tatiana Maslany, Debra Messing, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Nyambi Nyambi, Kelli O'Hara, Orfeh, Steven Pasquale, Lauren Patten, Alison Pill, Jeremy Pope, Condola Rashad, Krysta Rodriguez, Phillipa Soo, Sonya Tayeh, Marisa Tomei, Michael Urie, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.