DEATH BECOMES HER & CATS: THE JELLICLE BALL Lead Dorian Theater Award Nominations

GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics has revealed the nominations for its third annual Dorian Theater Awards, honoring outstanding achievements across Broadway and Off-Broadway during the 2024-2025 season. Modeled after the group’s acclaimed Dorian Awards for film and television, the theater honors recognize both mainstream productions and those with LGBTQ+ themes or creators.

Death Becomes Her, the Broadway adaptation of the cult classic film, leads the pack with seven nominations. Directed and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, the musical is nominated for Outstanding Broadway Musical and Outstanding LGBTQ Broadway Musical. Cast members Megan Hilty, Jennifer Simard, and Christopher Sieber are all recognized for their performances, and the song “For the Gaze” by Noel Carey and Julia Mattison is up for The Broadway Showstopper Award.

Three additional Broadway productions follow closely with six nominations each: John Proctor is the Villain, Purpose, and Sunset Blvd. Among the nominated performers are Sadie Sink, Fina Strazza, and Amalia Yoo for John Proctor is the Villain; Jon Michael Hill, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Alana Arenas, and Kara Young for Purpose; and Nicole Scherzinger, Tom Francis, and David Thaxton for Sunset Blvd.

Off-Broadway, Cats: The Jellicle Ball tops the list with five nominations, including acting nods for André De Shields, Sydney James Harcourt, and ballroom star Tempress Chastity Moore. Other multi-nominated Off-Broadway productions include DRAG: The Musical, featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race veterans Alaska Thunderfuck and Jujubee, and We Had a World from Manhattan Theatre Club, with nominations for Joanna Gleason and Jeanine Serralles.

This year’s nominees for LGBTQ Theater Trailblazer, the group’s career achievement award, are André De Shields, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Jinkx Monsoon, Andrew Scott, Paul Tazewell, and George C. Wolfe.

Winners will be announced Monday, June 2, 2025, coinciding with the launch of Pride Month.

Full list of 2025 Dorian Theater Awards Nominees

Outstanding Broadway Musical

Death Becomes Her
Dead Outlaw
Just in Time
Maybe Happy Ending
Operation Mincemeat
Real Women Have Curves

Outstanding Broadway Play

English
The Hills of California
John Proctor is the Villain
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Purpose

Outstanding Broadway Musical Revival

Floyd Collins
Gypsy
Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Sunset Blvd.

Outstanding Broadway Play Revival

Eureka Day
Our Town
Romeo + Juliet
Yellow Face

Outstanding LGBTQ Broadway Production

Cult of Love
Death Becomes Her
Purpose
Redwood
SMASH

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Broadway Musical

Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending
Andrew Durand, Dead Outlaw
Tom Francis, Sunset Blvd.
Jonathan Groff, Just in Time
Megan Hilty, Death Becomes Her
Audra McDonald, Gypsy
Jasmine Amy Rogers, BOOP! The Musical
Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Blvd.
Helen J. Shen, Maybe Happy Ending
Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Broadway Play

Kit Connor, Romeo + Juliet
Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California
Mia Farrow, The Roommate
Daniel Dae Kim, Yellow Face
Sydney Lemmon, JOB
Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Jon Michael Hill, Purpose
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Purpose
Sadie Sink, John Proctor is the Villain
Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Broadway Musical

Natalie Venetia Belcon, Buena Vista Social Club
Jeb Brown, Dead Outlaw
Gracie Lawrence, Just in Time
Justina Machado, Real Women Have Curves
Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat
Jinkx Monsoon, Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Lea Salonga, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends
Christopher Sieber, Death Becomes Her
Taylor Trensch, Floyd Collins
David Thaxton, Sunset Blvd.
Michael Urie, Once Upon a Mattress
Joy Woods, Gypsy

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Broadway Play

Alana Arenas, Purpose
Tala Ashe, English
Molly Bernard, Cult of Love
Jessica Hecht, Eureka Day
Francis Jue, Yellow Face
Marjan Neshat, English
Bob Odenkirk, Glengarry Glen Ross
Zachary Quinto, Cult of Love
Fina Strazza, John Proctor is the Villain
Amalia Yoo, John Proctor is the Villain
Kara Young, Purpose

Outstanding Broadway Ensemble

Cult of Love
Death Becomes Her
John Proctor is the Villain
Real Women Have Curves
Sunset Blvd.

The Broadway Showstopper Award

Death Becomes Her - “For the Gaze”
Gypsy - “Rose’s Turn”
John Proctor Is the Villain - “Green Light”
Maybe Happy Ending - “Chasing Fireflies”
Sunset Blvd. - “Sunset Boulevard”

Outstanding Off-Broadway Production

Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Grangeville
Liberation
Vanya
Wine in the Wilderness

Outstanding LGBTQ Off-Broadway Production

Cats: The Jellicle Ball
DRAG: The Musical
Grangeville
The Fires
We Had a World

Outstanding Lead Performance in an Off-Broadway Production

Patsy Ferran, A Streetcar Named Desire
Susannah Flood, Liberation
Brandon Flynn, Kowalski
Joanna Gleason, We Had a World
Marla Mindelle, The Big Gay Jamboree
Paul Mescal, A Streetcar Named Desire
Andrew Scott, Vanya
Paul Sparks, Grangeville
Alaska Thunderfuck, DRAG: The Musical
Olivia Washington, Wine in the Wilderness

Outstanding Featured Performance in an Off-Broadway Production

Betsy Aidem, Liberation
Billy Crudup, Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts
Andre De Shields, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Drew Elhamalawy, We Live in Cairo
Sydney James Harcourt, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Jujubee, DRAG: The Musical
Ahmad Kamal, SUMO
Julia Lester, All Nighter
Paris Nix, The Big Gay Jamboree
Jeanine Serralles, We Had a World
Kyra Sedgwick, All of Me
“Tempress” Chastity Moore, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Jenny Lee Stern, Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole A Song
Jason Veasey, The Fires
Natalie Walker, The Big Gay Jamboree

LGBTQ Theater Artist of the Season

Michael Arden
Tommy Dorfman
Jonathan Groff
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Jinkx Monsoon

LGBTQ Theater Trailblazer

Andre De Shields
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Jinkx Monsoon
Andrew Scott
Paul Tazewell
George C. Wolfe

Productions With Multiple Nominations

Death Becomes Her - 7
John Proctor is the Villain - 6
Purpose - 6
Sunset Blvd. - 6
Cats: The Jellicle Ball - 5
Cult of Love - 4
Gypsy - 4
Maybe Happy Ending - 4
The Big Gay Jamboree - 3
Drag: The Musical - 3
English - 3
Dead Outlaw - 3
Grangeville - 3
Just in Time - 3
Liberation - 3
Real Women Have Curves - 3
We Had a World - 3
Yellow Face - 3
Eureka Day - 2
The Fires - 2
Floyd Collins - 2
The Hills of California - 2
Operation Mincemeat - 2
The Picture of Dorian Gray - 2
Pirates! The Penzance Musical - 2
A Streetcar Named Desire - 2
Vanya - 2
Wine in the Wilderness - 2