Using the Tony Awards’ official categories as a guide (with one exception), here’s my favorite musical work — new shows and revivals alike — of the 2019-2020 (non-Broadway) theatre season:
ACTRESS
- Janelle McDermoth, We’re Gonna Die
- Margo Seibert, Unknown Soldier
- Rebecca L. Hargrove, Acquanetta
- Alexandra Socha, Mack & Mabel
ACTOR
- Larry Owens, A Strange Loop
- Ryan Raftery, IVANKA 2020 / The Anna Wintour Musical
- Joshua Henry, The Wrong Man
- Jonathan Groff / Gideon Glick, Little Shop of Horrors
- Erik Lochtefeld, Unknown Soldier
SUPPORTING CAST
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
- Grace McLean, In the Green / Cyrano
- Kerstin Anderson, Unknown Soldier
- Amelia Watkins, Acquanetta
SUPPORTING ACTOR
- Christian Borle, Little Shop of Horrors
- Ari Fliakos, A PINK CHAIR (In Place of a Fake Antique)
- Alan H. Green, Broadway Bounty Hunter
BOOK
- Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop
- Young Jean Lee, We’re Gonna Die
- Ryan Raftery, IVANKA 2020 / The Anna Wintour Musical
- Daniel Goldstein, Unknown Soldier
- Wooster Group, A PINK CHAIR (In Place of a Fake Antique)
- Grace McLean, In the Green
- The HawtPlates (Jade Hicks, Kenita Miller-Hicks, & Justin Hicks) & Quincy Flowers, Waterboy and the Mighty World
- Ahamefule J. Oluo & Lindy West, Susan
- Tom Morello, Tom Morello at the Minetta Lane
- Sherie Rene Scott, Twohander
COSTUMES
- Naoko Nagata, We’re Gonna Die
- Enver Chakartash, A PINK CHAIR (In Place of a Fake Antique)
- Montana Levi Blanco, A Strange Loop / Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise
CHOREOGRAPHY
- Raja Feather Kelly, A Strange Loop / We’re Gonna Die
- Toshiki Okada, Eraser Mountain
- The HawtPlates (Jade Hicks, Kenita Miller-Hicks, & Justin Hicks), Waterboy and the Mighty World
- Camille A. Brown, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf
- Ellenore Scott, Black Exhibition
- Travis Wall, The Wrong Man
- Miranda Haymon, In the Penal Colony
- Zoë Coombs Marr, Ursula Martinez, & Adrienne Truscott — Wild Bore
- Johanna Lemke, History of Violence
- José Rivera Jr., The Fez & The Sandalwood Box
- Ellenore Scott, Little Shop of Horrors
- Zhang Jun & Akram Khan, Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise
DIRECTOR
- The HawtPlates (Jade Hicks, Kenita Miller-Hicks, & Justin Hicks), Waterboy and the Mighty World
- Daniel Fish, Acquanetta
- Elizabeth LeCompte, A PINK CHAIR (In Place of a Fake Antique)
- Raja Feather Kelly, We’re Gonna Die
- Lee Sunday Evans, In the Green
- Trip Cullman, Unknown Soldier
- Stephen Brackett, A Strange Loop
- Michael Mayer, Little Shop of Horrors
LIGHTING
- Hao Bai, Waterboy and the Mighty World
- Barbara Samuels, In the Green / Acquanetta
- Ben Stanton, Unknown Soldier
- Tuce Yasak, We’re Gonna Die
- Jen Schriever, A Strange Loop
- Tobias G. Rylander, Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise
ORCHESTRATIONS
- Grace McLean & Kris Kukul, In the Green
- The HawtPlates (Jade Hicks, Kenita Miller-Hicks, & Justin Hicks), Waterboy and the Mighty World
- Vocal arrangements as orchestrations. Vocal orchestrations?
- Michael Friedman & Marco Paguia, Unknown Soldier
- Ahamefule J. Oluo, Susan
- Charlie Rosen, A Strange Loop
- Cian McCarthy, We’re Gonna Die
- Alex Lacamoire, The Wrong Man
- Carlos Cuevas & Charlie García, Evolution of a Sonero
- Tom Morello & T Bone Burnett, Tom Morello at the Minetta Lane
SET
- Amy Rubin & Jim Findlay, Acquanetta
- Kristen Robinson, In the Green
- Mark Wendland, Unknown Soldier
- Arnulfo Maldonado, A Strange Loop
SCORE
- The HawtPlates (Jade Hicks, Kenita Miller-Hicks, & Justin Hicks), Waterboy and the Mighty World
- Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop
- Grace McLean, In the Green
- Young Jean Lee, Tim Simmonds, & John-Michael Lyles — We’re Gonna Die
- Michael Friedman & Daniel Goldstein, Unknown Soldier
- Ross Golan, The Wrong Man
- Michael Gordon & Deborah Artman, Acquanetta
- Ahamefule J. Oluo, Susan
- Andrew Lynch, Leap and the Net Will Appear
- Bobby Krlic & Arca, Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise
SOUND
- Andrew Lulling, Waterboy and the Mighty World
- Garth MacAleavey, Acquanetta
- Nicholas Pope, In the Green
- Eric Sluyter & Omar Zubair, A PINK CHAIR (In Place of a Fake Antique)
- Jason Crystal, We’re Gonna Die
- Brandon Wolcott, Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise