Bill Hanney Receives Elliot Norton Prize; Full Nominations Revealed

The Boston Theater Critics Association has announced the nominations for the 43rd Annual Elliot Norton Awards. The awards ceremony will be held on Monday, June 1, 2026 at 7 PM, at the Huntington Theatre in Boston. Tickets are now on sale.

This year's recipient of the 2026 Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence is award-winning owner/producer Bill Hanney who re-opened the nationally recognized North Shore Music Theatre and R.I.s landmark 500-seat professional summer theatre Theatre By The Sea, and whose work as a producer has been seen in New England, on Broadway, and in London's West End.

Special Citations will be awarded to:

• Commonwealth Shakespeare Company in honor of its 30th Anniversary Season,
• Blue Man Group in honor of its 30-year residency in Boston,
• and to veteran arts administrators Temple Gill and Jim Torres in honor of their decades of service to the theater community.

The 2026 Elliot Norton Arts Education Award will be presented to Open Door Theater which has been making theater accessible on both sides of the curtain since 1980. They are one of the only integrated, accessible theater troupes in the nation to stage full-scale high-quality productions featuring actors who are Deaf, Blind, Disabled, Autistic, and Neurodiverse. All Open Door Theater productions are ASL interpreted, Open Captioned, Sensory Friendly and Audio Described.

Joyce Kulhawik, president of the Boston Theater Critics Association, stated, “As AI looms and our social and political environment grows increasingly surreal— the theater artists are keeping it real and telling human stories for warm-blooded audiences, stories that let us stand in each other's shoes and connect us to ourselves and each other. Let's celebrate these artists in person, for one fabulous evening!”

The Elliot Norton Awards are presented annually by the Boston Theater Critics Association (Don Aucoin, Jules Becker, Jared Bowen, Christopher Ehlers, Joyce Kulhawik, Charles Munitz, R. Scott Reedy, Shelley Sackett, Jacquinn Sinclair, Bob Verini, and Lynne Weiss) to honor the outstanding work of the season in Greater Boston.

The Elliot Norton Awards are named for the eminent Boston theater critic Elliot Norton, who remained an active supporter of drama, both locally and nationally, until his death in 2003 at the age of 100. Despite shrinking governmental support for the arts, The Boston Theater Critics Association carries on Mr. Norton's legacy in championing our outstanding theater community!

Special and honored guests at the awards in past years comprise a who's who of distinguished artists whose work has appeared on Boston's stages, including: Al Pacino, Chita Rivera, Olympia Dukakis, Faye Dunaway, August Wilson, Melinda Lopez, Randy Rainbow, Cherry Jones, Lea DeLaria, Tommy Tune, Edward Albee, Brian Dennehy, Julie Harris, Sir Ian McKellen, Lynn Redgrave, and Jason Robards Jr.

This year's recipient of The Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence is Bill Hanney who is honored and proud to have been responsible for the re-opening of the nationally renowned 1500-seat North Shore Music Theatre in 2010. Aside from his work operating North Shore Music Theatre, one of Bill's crowning achievements was the 2007 purchase and re-opening of Theatre By The Sea, a landmark 500-seat professional summer theatre and restaurant, which will be entering its twentieth successful season of operation in Matunuck, RI in 2026.

Bill is a co-producer on the new Broadway play, The Shark Is Broken, Alice In Wonderland in London's West End and recently co-produced a New York City workshop of The SeaView Nursing Home for the Newly Deceased. Bill is an investor in the recent Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of Pippin, as well as the First National Tour. Bill is currently expanding his group of live theatres with his new multi-venue concept “Bill Hanney's Entertainment Experience” (coming soon to Hyannis, MA and Portland, ME) which will host a combination of live theater, movies, concerts, and show clubs. 

Boston Theater Critics Association's 43rd Annual Elliot Norton Awards

2026 Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence

Bill Hanney

Special Citations

• Commonwealth Shakespeare Company in honor of its 30th Anniversary Season
• Blue Man Group in honor of its 30-year residency in Boston
• Arts administrators Temple Gill and Jim Torres in honor of their decades of service to the theater community

2026 Elliot Norton Arts Education Award

Open Door Theater, which has been making theater accessible on both sides of the curtain since 1980. They are one of the only integrated, accessible theater troupes in the nation to stage full-scale high-quality productions featuring actors who are Deaf, Blind, Disabled, Autistic, and Neurodiverse. All Open Door Theater productions are ASL interpreted, Open Captioned, Sensory Friendly and Audio Described.

Visiting Awardees

Outstanding Visiting Play

“Our Class,” Arlekin

Outstanding Visiting Musical

“Suffs,” Broadway In Boston

Outstanding Performance in a Visiting Musical

Sam Tutty, “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York),” American Repertory Theater

Outstanding Performance in a Visiting Play

Chulpan Khamatova, “Our Class,” Arlekin

Outstanding Visiting Solo Performance

Eddie Izzard, “The Tragedy of Hamlet,” Boch Center

Nominations

Outstanding Play, Large

“Don't Eat the Mangos,” The Huntington
“The Hills of California,” The Huntington in association with Berkeley Repertory Theatre
“Misery,” Merrimack Repertory Theatre
“We Had a World,” The Huntington
“What You Are Now,” Merrimack Repertory Theatre

Outstanding Play, Midsize

“The Garbologists,” Gloucester Stage
“The Glass Menagerie,” Gloucester Stage
“Jaja's African Hair Braiding,” SpeakEasy Stage
“The Moderate,” a Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production, presented by Central Square Theater
“Our Town,” Lyric Stage Boston

Outstanding Play, Small

“the beautiful land I seek (la linda tierra que busco yo),” Teatro Chelsea
“Is This a Room,” Apollinaire Theatre Company
“The Meeting Tree,” Company One Theatre in collaboration with Front Porch Arts Collective
“Mother Mary,” Boston Playwrights' Theatre
“The Mountaintop,” Front Porch Arts Collective in collaboration with The Suffolk University Modern Theatre

Outstanding Musical

“Crowns,” Moonbox Productions
“Fun Home,” The Huntington
“The Light in the Piazza,” The Huntington
“Rent,” North Shore Music Theatre
“tick, tick…BOOM!,” The Umbrella Stage Company

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play, Large

Will Conard, “We Had a World,” The Huntington
Nora Eschenheimer, “As You Like It,” Commonwealth Shakespeare Company
Karen MacDonald, “Misery,” Merrimack Repertory Theatre
Jessica Pimentel, “Don't Eat the Mangos,” The Huntington
Allison Jean White, “The Hills of California,” The Huntington in association with Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play, Midsize

Thomika Marie Bridwell, “The Garbologists,” Gloucester Stage
Josephine Moshiri Elwood, “Job,” SpeakEasy Stage
Paul Melendy, “Featherbaby,” Greater Boston Stage Company
Paul Melendy, “The Garbologists,” Gloucester Stage
Nael Nacer, “The Moderate,” a Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production, presented by Central Square Theater

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play, Small

Adriana Alvarez, “Mother Mary,” Boston Playwrights' Theatre
Dominic Carter, “The Mountaintop,” Front Porch Arts Collective in collaboration with The Suffolk University Modern Theatre
Tara Forseth, “Mother Mary,” Boston Playwrights' Theatre
Parker Jennings, “Is This a Room,” Apollinaire Theatre Company
Nathaniel Justiniano, “the beautiful land I seek (la linda tierra que busco yo),” Teatro Chelsea

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play, Large

Sonnie Brown, “What You Are Now,” Merrimack Repertory Theatre
Kate Fitzgerald, “The Hills of California,” The Huntington in association with Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Evelyn Howe, “Don't Eat the Mangos,” The Huntington
Eva Kaminsky, “We Had a World,” The Huntington
Amy Resnick, “We Had a World,” The Huntington

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play, Midsize

Liza Giangrande, “The Glass Menagerie,” Gloucester Stage
De'Lon Grant, “The Glass Menagerie,” Gloucester Stage
Josephine Moshiri Elwood, “Our Town,” Lyric Stage Boston
Patrick O'Konis, “The Glass Menagerie,” Gloucester Stage
Jules Talbot, “The Moderate,” a Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production, presented by Central Square Theater

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play, Small

Sehnaz Dirik, “A View from the Bridge,” Apollinaire Theatre Company
Nicholas Papayoanou, “You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!,” Company One Theatre
Jacqui Parker, “The Meeting Tree,” Company One Theatre in collaboration with Front Porch Arts Collective
Kiera Prusmack, “The Mountaintop,” Front Porch Arts Collective in collaboration with The Suffolk University Modern Theatre
Adrian Roberts, “The Ceremony,” CHUANG Stage in partnership with Boston Playwrights' Theatre and Boston University College of Fine Arts, School of Theatre

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical

Sehnaz Dirik, “Blood Brothers,” Theater UnCorked
Liza Giangrande, “The Spitfire Grill,” The Umbrella Stage Company
Didi Romero, “Rent,” North Shore Music Theatre
Johnny Shea, “tick, tick…BOOM!,” The Umbrella Stage Company
Emily Skinner, “The Light in the Piazza,” The Huntington

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical

Aaron Arnell Harrington, “Rent,” North Shore Music Theatre
Vanessa Calantropo, “tick, tick…BOOM!,” The Umbrella Stage Company
Joshua Grosso, “The Light in the Piazza,” The Huntington
Sarah-Anne Martinez, “The Light in the Piazza,” The Huntington
Lyla Randall, “Fun Home,” The Huntington

Outstanding Choreography

Rachel Bertone, “Evita,” Reagle Music Theatre
Briana Fallon, “The Wizard of Oz,” North Shore Music Theatre
Hallie Nowicki, “Sweeney Claus: The Demon Father of Sleet Street,” Gold Dust Orphans
Ilyse Robbins, “tick, tick…BOOM!,” The Umbrella Stage Company
Marcos Santana, “Rent,” North Shore Music Theatre

Outstanding Music Direction

David Coleman, "Crowns," Moonbox Productions
Andrea Grody, "The Light in the Piazza," The Huntington
Jordan Oczkowski, "tick, tick...BOOM!," The Umbrella Stage Company
Jessie Rosso, "Fun Home," The Huntington
​​​​​​​Robert L. Rucinski, "Rent," North Shore Music Theatre

Outstanding Director, Large

Logan Ellis, “Fun Home,” The Huntington
Loretta Greco, “The Hills of California,” The Huntington in association with Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Loretta Greco, “The Light in the Piazza,” The Huntington
David Mendizábal, “Don't Eat the Mangos,” The Huntington
​​​​​​​Marcos Santana, “Rent,” North Shore Music Theatre

Outstanding Director, Midsize

Doug Lockwood, “The Glass Menagerie,” Gloucester Stage
Jared Mezzocchi, “The Moderate,” a Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production, presented by Central Square Theater
Ilyse Robbins, “tick, tick…BOOM!,” The Umbrella Stage Company
Regine Vital, “Crowns,” Moonbox Productions
Summer L. Williams, “Jaja's African Hair Braiding,” SpeakEasy Stage

Outstanding Director, Small

Danielle Fauteux Jacques, “Is This a Room,” Apollinaire Theatre Company
David R. Gammons, “A View from the Bridge,” Apollinaire Theatre Company
Maurice Emmanuel Parent, “The Mountaintop,” Front Porch Arts Collective in collaboration with The Suffolk University Modern Theatre
Armando Rivera, “the beautiful land I seek (la linda tierra que busco yo),” Teatro  Chelsea
Elaine Vaan Hogue, “Mother Mary,” Boston Playwrights’ Theatre

Outstanding Scenic Design, Large

Andrew Boyce, “The Light in the Piazza,” The Huntington
Andrew Boyce and Se Hyun Oh, “The Hills of California,” The Huntington in association with Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Ryan M. Howell, “The Wizard of Oz,” North Shore Music Theatre
Tanya Orellana, “Don’t Eat the Mangos,” The Huntington 
Tanya Orellana, “Fun Home,” The Huntington 

Outstanding Scenic Design, Midsize or Small

Janie E. Howland, “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,” SpeakEasy Stage
Ben Lieberson and Pamela Hersch, “The Mountaintop,” Front Porch Arts Collective in collaboration with The Suffolk University Modern Theatre
Jenna McFarland Lord, “The Glass Menagerie,” Gloucester Stage
Cristina Todesco, “The Meeting Tree,” Company One Theatre in collaboration with  Front Porch Arts Collective
Sibyl Wickersheimer and Jared Mezzocchi, “The Moderate,” a Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production, presented by Central Square Theater

Outstanding Lighting Design, Large

Christopher Akerlind, “The Light in the Piazza,” The Huntington
Bradley King, “Wonder,” American Repertory Theater
Jack Mehler, “The Wizard of Oz,” North Shore Music Theatre
Philip Rosenberg, “Fun Home,” The Huntington
Cha See, “Don’t Eat the Mangos,” The Huntington 

Outstanding Lighting Design, Midsize or Small

Amanda Fallon, “The Glass Menagerie,” Gloucester Stage
Kevin Fulton, “The Moderate,” a Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production, presented by Central Square Theater
Brian Lilienthal, “The Mountaintop,” Front Porch Arts Collective in collaboration with The Suffolk University Modern Theatre
Elmer Martinez, “Macbeth,” Actors’ Shakespeare Project
Eduardo M. Ramirez, “Silent Sky,” a Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production, presented by Central Square Theater

Outstanding Costume Design, Large

Miranda Giurleo, “As You Like It,” Commonwealth Shakespeare Company
Rebecca Glick, “Rent,” North Shore Music Theatre
Alex Jaeger, “The Light in the Piazza,” The Huntington
Celeste Jennings, “Fun Home,” The Huntington
Jennifer Von Mayrhauser, “The Hills of California,” The Huntington in association with Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Outstanding Costume Design, Midsize or Small

Seth Bodie, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Actors’ Shakespeare Project
Danielle Domingue Sumi, “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,” SpeakEasy Stage
Chloe Moore, “The Ceremony,” CHUANG Stage in partnership with Boston Playwrights’ Theatre and Boston University College of Fine Arts, School of Theatre
E. Rosser, “Crowns,” Moonbox Productions
Nia Safarr Banks, “The Glass Menagerie,” Gloucester Stage 

Outstanding Sound Design, Large

Alex Berg, “Rent,” North Shore Music Theatre
Megumi Katayama, “The Light in the Piazza,” The Huntington
David Remedios, “Misery,” Merrimack Repertory Theatre
Jake Rodriguez with Alexandra Buschman-Román and Jason Stamberger, “Don’t 
Eat the Mangos,” The Huntington
David Van Tieghem, “The Hills of California,” The Huntington in association with Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Outstanding Sound Design, Midsize or Small

Julian Crocamo, “The Garbologists,” Gloucester Stage
Aubrey Dube, “The Glass Menagerie,” Gloucester Stage
Christian Frederickson, “The Moderate,” a Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production, presented by Central Square Theater
Joshua Jackson, “The Mountaintop,” Front Porch Arts Collective in collaboration with The Suffolk University Modern Theatre
Joseph Lark-Riley, “Is This a Room,” Apollinaire Theatre Company 

Outstanding Solo Performance

Kevin Kling, “Kevin Kling: Unraveled,” Merrimack Repertory Theatre
Valyn Lyric Turner, “No Child…,” Gloucester Stage

Outstanding New Script

Sam Chanse, “What You Are Now,” Merrimack Repertory Theatre
B. Elle Borders, “The Meeting Tree,” Company One Theatre in collaboration with Front Porch Arts Collective
KJ Moran Velz, “Mother Mary,” Boston Playwrights’ Theatre
David Templeton, “Featherbaby,” Greater Boston Stage Company
Ken Urban, “The Moderate,” a Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production, presented  by Central Square Theater

Outstanding Ensemble

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