'DEATH BECOMES HER,' JINKX MONSOON LEAD IN LGBTQ CRITICS’ DORIAN THEATER AWARD NOMINATIONS

Andrew Scott, André De Shields, Jonathan Groff Score Double-Nods;

Megyn Hilty, Audra McDonald, Nicole Scherzinger, Kit Connor, Paul Mescal Also in Mix

New York, N.Y. (May 13, 2025) — GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics has announced its latest shortlist of standout New York stage productions for the third annual Dorian Theater Awards. Honoring excellence across Broadway and Off-Broadway during the 2024–2025 season, the awards celebrate both mainstream achievements and works that reflect LGBTQ+ themes and perspectives—in the spirit of GALECA’s longer-established film and television honors.

Leading the Broadway categories with seven nominations is Death Becomes Her, the musical adaptation of the cheeky 1992 fantasy film about two women seeking eternal (outer) beauty. In addition to nods for Outstanding Broadway Musical and Outstanding LGBTQ Broadway Musical, the show—directed and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, with music by Noel Carey and Julia Mattison—earned acting nominations for Megan Hilty, Jennifer Simard, and Christopher Sieber. The team's production number “For the Gaze" is in line for the wing's signature Broadway Showstopper Award.

Boosted by appreciation for their well-represented cast members, three productions show six Dorian nominations each: the provocative The Crucible-meets-#MeToo tale John Proctor is the Villain, the reflective civil rights drama Purpose, and the second-ever Broadway revival of Sunset Blvd., another musical take on a film about ephemeral beauty (the first stage mounting premiered in 1994). 

In the Off-Broadway categories, Cats: The Jellicle Ball leads with five nominations, including acting nods for André De Shields, Sydney James Harcourt, and ballroom icon “Tempress” Chastity Moore. DRAG: The Musical and its stars Alaska Thunderfuck and Jujubee, both of TV's RuPaul's Drag Race fame, all hold nominations. And the Manhattan Theatre Club's We Had a World, by playwright Joshua Harmon, is in the running for Outstanding LGBTQ Off-Broadway Production World's stars Joanna Gleason and Jeanine Serralles are nominated as well.

Nominees for GALECA’s LGBTQ+ Theater Trailblazer Award—which honors a lifelong commitment to creating art that inspires empathy, truth, and equity—include performer André De Shields, playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, actor Andrew Scott, costume designer Paul Tazewell, director George C. Wolfe, and Drag Race alum turned multihyphenate Jinkx Monsoon. 

Monsoon is also up for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Broadway Musical for Pirates! The Penzance Musical, as well as another special accolade, LGBTQ Theater Artist of the Season.

Last year, the Off-Broadway staging of Oh, Mary! and the Broadway revival of Merrily We Roll Along topped the Dorian Theater Awards, winning four prizes each. The wing’s voters also fell in love with the queer sensibilities at the heart of Sufjan Stevens' Illinoise, naming the dance musical Outstanding Broadway Musical and Outstanding LGBTQ Broadway Musical. In the inaugural year, the musicals Kimberly Akimbo and Titanique!, and drama Fat Ham scored the most Dorian wins. 

GALECA will once again help kick off Pride Month by announcing the winners of the 2025 Dorian Theater Awards on Monday, June 2.

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

— To a standout production number or scene

Death Becomes Her - “For the Gaze," performed by Megan Hilty

Gypsy - “Rose’s Turn," performed by Audra McDonald

John Proctor Is the Villain - “Green Light," performed by Sadie Sink, Amalia Yoo

Maybe Happy Ending - “Chasing Fireflies," performed by Darren Criss, Helen J. Shen

Sunset Blvd. - “Sunset Boulevard," performed by Nicole Scherzinger

Outstanding Off-Broadway Production

Cats: The Jellicle Ball

Grangeville

Liberation

Vanya

Wine in the Wildernes

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

André 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

— For a lifelong commitment to creating art that inspires empathy, truth and equity

André 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

About GALECA

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 550 members strong, GALECA reminds society that the world values the informed Q+ eye on everything entertainment. A nonprofit organization, GALECA also advocates for better pay, access, and respect for entertainment journalists, especially the underrepresented. For more informations, visit galeca.org and find us at @DorianAwards on social media.