GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics Announces Inaugural Dorian Theater Awards

GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics today announced it is expanding its mission to honor Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, across a variety of inaugural categories, beginning with the current 2022-2023 theater season.

Like GALECA's Dorian film and TV honors, the Dorian Theater Awards will celebrate both mainstream and LGBTQ+-themed productions. While GALECA counts over 460 members in all, the organization's new theater wing includes 31 stage critics and/or journalists who regularly cover NYC theater for notable media outlets. The wing's charter voting members are listed below.

"The 2022-2023 theater season features a bold crop of plays and musicals which empower all kinds of audience members, no matter their identity," said Gold Derby contributor Sam Eckmann, who with Merryn Johns, editor-in-chief of the website QueerForty, co-chairs the new wing. "As the industry continues to elevate diversity and queerness, I can think of no better time to expand the Dorian Awards to the stage. The LGBTQ community has long been a champion of the theater, and we will have plenty to cheer about this Pride Month as we celebrate the best that Broadway and Off-Broadway has to offer."

One winner and two finalists will be selected per category. In the future, the wing may expand to a more traditional nominations/winners timeline.

The voting period this year is Monday, May 22, 2023 to Monday, May 29, 2023. Winners and finalists will be announced on June 1, 2023, in time for Pride Month.

Dorian Theater Awards inaugural categories:

Outstanding Broadway Musical
Outstanding Broadway Play
Outstanding Broadway Revival of a Musical
Outstanding Broadway Revival of a Play
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Broadway Musical
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Broadway Play
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Broadway Musical
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Broadway Play
Outstanding LGBTQ Broadway Production
Outstanding Broadway Ensemble
The Broadway Showstopper Award
(To a standout production number or scene)
LGBTQIA+ Theater Trailblazer Award
Outstanding Off-Broadway Production
Outstanding Off-Broadway Performance

GALECA theater wing members, 2022-23:

Merryn Johns (co-chair), Queer Forty
Sam Eckmann (co-chair), Gold Derby
Marshall Heyman (Broadway lead), Town and Country,
Cary Wong (Off-Broadway lead), Film Score Monthly Online, etc.
Frank J. Avella (Industry Liaison), Edge Media Network, Awards Daily
Kerensa Cadenas, GQ, etc.
Chris Carpenter, Rage magazine, etc.
Murtada Elfadl, The A.V. Club, etc.
Adam Feldman, Time Out
Brian Herrera, StinkyLulu Says podcast
James Kleinmann, The Queer Review
Naveen Kumar, Variety, etc.
Stacy Lambe, ET Online
Brian Scott Lipton, Cititour, etc.
Soraya McDonald, Andscape
Charles O'Keefe, E! News
Dan Meyer, Theatrely
Abby Monteil, them, etc.
Michael Musto, The Village Voice, etc.
Louis Peitzman, High Drama newsletter (Substack), etc.
Juan Michael Porter II, The Body, TDF Stages
Juan A. Ramirez, Theatrely
Mathew Rodriguez, them
Nathaniel Rogers, The Film Experience
Gillian Russo, New York Theater Guide
Michael Schulman, The New Yorker
Tim Teeman, The Daily Beast
Kyle Turner, Slant, etc.
Lindsey Weber, Not Broadway newsletter (Substack), etc.
Abbey White, Variety
Curtis Wong, HuffPost

GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics and its Dorian Awards honor the best in film, television and, under its theater wing, Broadway and Off-Broadway. More than 450-members strong, GALECA seeks to remind society that the world loves the Q+ eye on all things entertainment. A nonprofit organization, GALECA also advocates for better pay and access for a segment of journalists whose work is often undervalued by the very media they support.

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