‘Oslo’, ‘The Band’s Visit’ Top Off-Broadway’s Lortel Awards

The Middle East dominated Sunday night’s Lucille Lortel Awards, as Lincoln Center Theater’s original off-Broadway production of Oslo, and the Atlantic Theater Company’s production of the musical The Band’s Visit took the top prizes. Named for the prolific late producer whose Greenwich Village theater bears her name, the Lortels are awarded for outstanding achievement in nonprofit and commercial off-Broadway venues. Winners were named in 19 categories, along with three honorary awards, in a ceremony at NYU Skirball Center hosted by ex-SNL cast member Taran Killam. This year’s event was once again a benefit for The Actors Fund.

Oslo, which has since moved to the Vivian Beaumont Theater and has multiple Tony Award nominations including best play, concerns the secret negotiations that led to the Oslo Accords between Israel and the PLO. The Band’s Visit, which was one of the most acclaimed musicals of last season, concerned an Egyptian military band’s unexpected overnight stay at a remote Israeli town. A site-specific revival of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was named best revival.

Here are the 2017 Lortel winners:

Outstanding Play
Oslo
Produced by Lincoln Center Theater
Written by J.T. Rogers

Outstanding Musical
The Band’s Visit
Produced by Atlantic Theater Company
Music and Lyrics by David Yazbek, Book by Itamar Moses, Based on the screenplay by Eran Kolirin

Outstanding Revival
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Produced by Rachel Edwards, Jenny Gersten, Seaview Productions, Nate Koch, Fiona Rudin, Barrow Street Theatre, Jean Doumanian, Rebecca Gold, and Tooting Arts Club

Outstanding Solo Show
Notes From The Field
Produced by Second Stage Theatre and American Repertory Theater
Created, Written and Performed by Anna Deavere Smith

Outstanding Director
Bartlett Sher, Oslo

Outstanding Choreographer
David Dorfman, Indecent

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play
Joe Morton, Turn Me Loose

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play
Jennifer Ehle, Oslo

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical
Ben Platt, Dear Evan Hansen

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical
Katrina Lenk, The Band’s Visit

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Michael Aronov, Oslo

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Randy Graff, The Babylon Line

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Joel Perez, Sweet Charity

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Rachel Bay Jones, Dear Evan Hansen

Outstanding Scenic Design
Laura Jellinek, A Life

Outstanding Costume Design
Susan Hilferty, Love, Love, Love

Outstanding Lighting Design
Mark Barton, Signature Plays: Edward Albee’s The Sandbox, María Irene Fornés’ Drowning, Adrienne Kennedy’s Funnyhouse of a Negro

Outstanding Sound Design
Mikhail Fiksel, A Life

Outstanding Projection Design
Jared Mezzocchi, Vietgone

Honorary Awards
Lifetime Achievement: Costume designer William Ivey Long

Playwrights’ Sidewalk Inductee: Lynn Nottage

Edith Oliver Service to Off-Broadway Award: Roundabout Theatre Company’s Harold Wolpert