GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics announced this week that it is expanding its mission to honor Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, across a variety of inaugural categories, beginning with the 2022-2023 theater season.
Following GALECA’s established Dorian film and TV honors, its Dorian Theater Awards will celebrate both mainstream and LGBTQ+ themed productions. While the Society comprises more than 460 members in all, the organization’s new theater wing includes 31 stage critics and journalists who regularly cover New York theater for notable media outlets. The wing’s charter voting members, including The Queer Review’s founder and editor James Kleinmann, 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 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 in each category. In the future, the wing may expand to a more traditional nominations and winners timeline.
The voting period will be Monday, May 22nd, 2023 to Monday, May 29th, 2023. Winners and finalists will be announced on June 1st, 2023.
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 (for a standout production number or scene)
LGBTQIA+ Theater Trailblazer Award
Outstanding Off-Broadway Production
Outstanding Off-Broadway Performance
GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics 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
Frank J. Avella (Industry Liaison), Edge Media Network, Awards Daily
Kerensa Cadenas, GQ
Chris Carpenter, Rage magazine
Murtada Elfadl, The A.V. Club
Adam Feldman, Time Out
Brian Herrera, StinkyLulu Says podcast
James Kleinmann, The Queer Review
Naveen Kumar, Variety
Stacy Lambe, ET Online
Brian Scott Lipton, Cititour
Soraya McDonald, Andscape
Charles O’Keefe, E! News
Dan Meyer, Theatrely
Abby Monteil, them
Michael Musto, The Village Voice
Louis Peitzman, High Drama newsletter (Substack)
Juan Michael Porter II, The Body, TDF Stages
Juan A. Ramirez, Theatrely
Mathew Rodriguez, them
Nathaniel Rogers, The Film Experience
Gillian Russo, New York Theatre Guide
Michael Schulman, The New Yorker
Tim Teeman, The Daily Beast
Kyle Turner, Slant
Lindsey Weber, Not Broadway newsletter (Substack)
Abbey White, Variety
Curtis Wong, HuffPost
Follow @DorianAwards on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Visit the society’s official website at GALECA.org.
Main image: Broadway Backwards 2023 – One Day More Cast photo by Rebecca J. Michelson