Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play
| Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play | |
|---|---|
| Description | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play |
| Location | United States |
| Presented by | The Off-Broadway League[1][2] |
| Currently held by | Quincy Tyler Bernstine for Marys Seacole (2019) |
| Website | lortelaward |
The Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play is an award presented annually at the Lucille Lortel Awards to honor an actress for excellence in a leading role in an Off-Broadway production. The categories were split into Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical in 2014.[3]
Nominees and recipients
indicates the recipients
1990s
| Year | Actress | Play | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Eileen Atkins | A Room of One’s Own | Virginia Woolf |
| 1993 | Anna Deavere Smith | Fires in the Mirror | All |
| 1994 | Myra Carter | Three Tall Women | A |
| 1995 | Linda Lavin (Tie) | Death Defying Acts | Dorothy/Carol |
| Eileen Atkins (Tie) | Vita & Virginia | Virginia Woolf | |
| 1996 | Uta Hagen | Mrs. Klein | Mrs. Klein |
| 1997 | Mary-Louise Parker | How I Learned to Drive | Li'l Bit |
| 1998 | Cherry Jones | Pride’s Crossing | Mabel Tidings/Bigelow |
| 1999 | Kathleen Chalfant | Wit | Vivian Bearing, Ph.D. |
2000s
| Year | Actress | Play | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Eileen Heckart | The Waverly Gallery | |
| 2001 | Mary-Louise Parker | Proof | Catherine |
| Eileen Atkins | The Unexpected Man | The Woman | |
| Janie Dee | Comic Potential | Jacie Triplethree | |
| Mary Beth Fisher | Boy Gets Girl | N/A | |
| Marian Seldes | The Play About the Baby | Woman | |
| 2002 | Linda Emond | Homebody/Kabul | The Homebody |
| Ruby Dee | Saint Lucy’s Eyes | N/A | |
| Martha Plimpton | Hobson’s Choice | Maggie Hobson | |
| Phylicia Rashad | Blue | Peggy Clark | |
| Elaine Stritch | Elaine Stritch At Liberty | N/A | |
| 2003 | Tovah Feldshuh | Golda's Balcony | Golda Meir |
| S. Epatha Merkerson | Fucking A | Hester Smith | |
| Kate Mulgrew | Tea at Five | Katharine Hepburn | |
| Pamela Payton-Wright | Fifth of July | Sally Friedman | |
| Parker Posey | Fifth of July | Gwen Landis | |
| 2004 | Tonya Pinkins | Caroline, or Change | Caroline Thibodeaux |
| Lisa Emery | Iron | Fay | |
| Jayne Houdyshell | Well | Ensemble | |
| Swoosie Kurtz | Frozen | Nancy | |
| Zilah Mendoza | Living Out | Ana Hernandez | |
| 2005 | Cherry Jones | Doubt | Sister Aloysius |
| Ashlie Atkinson | Fat Pig | Helen | |
| Viola Davis | Intimate Apparel | Esther | |
| Judy Kaye | Souvenir | Florence Foster Jenkins | |
| Elizabeth Marvel | Hedda Gabler | Hedda Gabler | |
| 2006 | Lois Smith | The Trip to Bountiful | Carrie Watts |
| Jennifer Jason Leigh | Abigail's Party | Beverly | |
| S. Epatha Merkerson | Birdie Blue | Birdie | |
| Julie White | The Little Dog Laughed | Diane | |
| Dianne Wiest | Third | Laurie Jameson | |
| 2007 | Gloria Reuben | Stuff Happens | Condoleezza Rice |
| Rebecca Brooksher | Dying City | Kelly | |
| Jill Clayburgh | The Busy World Is Hushed | Hannah | |
| Patricia Heaton | The Scene | Stella | |
| Laila Robins | Sore Throats | Judy | |
| 2008 | Elizabeth Franz | The Piano Teacher | Mrs. K |
| Lisa Gay Hamilton | Ohio State Murders | Suzanne Alexander | |
| Jayne Houdyshell | The Receptionist | Beverly Wilkins | |
| Alison Pill | Blackbird | Una | |
| Lynn Redgrave | Grace | Grace | |
| 2009 | Saidah Arrika Ekulona | Ruined | Mama Nadi |
| Ellen Burstyn | The Little Flower of East Orange | Therese Marie | |
| Carmen M. Herlihy | crooked | Maribel | |
| Kellie Overbey | The Savannah Disputation | Melissa | |
| Annie Parisse | Becky Shaw | Becky |
2010s
| Year | Actress | Play | Character | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Judith Ivey | The Glass Menagerie | Amanda Wingfield | |
| Nina Arianda | Venus in Fur | Vanda | ||
| Jayne Houdyshell | Coraline | Coraline | ||
| Cristin Milioti | Stunning | Lily Schwecky | ||
| Sherie Rene Scott | Everyday Rapture | N/A | ||
| 2011 | Laurie Metcalf | The Other Place | Juliana | |
| Tracee Chimo | Bachelorette | Regan | ||
| Edie Falco | This Wide Night | Lorraine | ||
| Elizabeth Marvel | The Little Foxes | Regina Giddens | ||
| Michele Pawk | A Small Fire | Emily Bridges | ||
| 2012 | Sanaa Lathan | By the Way, Meet Vera Stark | Vera Stark | |
| Cristin Milioti | Once | Girl | ||
| Carey Mulligan | Through a Glass Darkly | Karin | ||
| Molly Ranson | Carrie | Carrie | ||
| Mary Testa | Queen of the Mist | Annie Edson Taylor | ||
| 2013 | Roslyn Ruff | The Piano Lesson | Berniece | [4] |
| Quincy Tyler Bernstine | Neva | Masha | ||
| America Ferrera | Bethany | Crystal | ||
| Vanessa Redgrave | The Revisionist | Maria | ||
| Sharon Washington | Wild With Happy | Adelaide/Aunt Glo | ||
| 2014 | Tracee Chimo | Bad Jews | Daphna | |
| Diane Davis | The Model Apartment | Debby | ||
| Carolyn McCormick | The Open House | N/A | ||
| Laurie Metcalf | Domesticated | Judy | ||
| Andrus Nichols | Bedlam's Hamlet and Saint Joan | Actor #2/Gertrude/Ophelia/Joan/Others | ||
| 2015 | Tonya Pinkins | Rasheeda Speaking | Jaclyn | [5] |
| Quincy Tyler Bernstine | Grand Concourse | Shelly | ||
| Anna Gunn | Sex With Strangers | Olivia | ||
| Jan Maxwell | The City of Conversation | Hester Ferris | ||
| S. Epatha Merkerson | While I Yet Live | Maxine | ||
| 2016 | Phylicia Rashad | Head of Passes | Shelah | [6] |
| Ito Aghayere | Familiar | Nyasha | ||
| Georgia Engel | John | Mertis Katherine Graven | ||
| Jayne Houdyshell | The Humans | Deirdre | ||
| Chinasa Ogbuagu | Sojourners | Abasiama | ||
| 2017 | Jennifer Ehle | Oslo | Mona | [7] |
| Johanna Day | Sweat | Tracey | ||
| Jennifer Kidwell | Underground Railroad Game | N/A | ||
| Kecia Lewis | Marie and Rosetta | Sister Rosetta Tharpe | ||
| Maryann Plunkett | Women of a Certain Age | N/A | ||
| 2018 | Carrie Coon | Mary Jane | Mary Jane | [8] |
| Quincy Tyler Bernstine | The Amateurs | Hollis | ||
| MaameYaa Boafo | School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play | Paulina Sarpong | ||
| Cristin Milioti | After the Blast | Anna | ||
| Karen Pittman | Pipeline | Nya | ||
| 2019 | Quincy Tyler Bernstine | Marys Seacole | Mary | [9] |
| Ako | God Said This | Masako | ||
| Marin Ireland | Blue Ridge | Alison | ||
| Zainab Jah | Boesman and Lena | Venus | ||
| Charlayne Woodard | Daddy | Zora |
Multiple awards
- Eileen Atkins, 2 awards for Lead Actress [10]
- Cherry Jones, 2 Awards for Lead Actress
- Mary-Louise Parker, 2 awards for Lead Actress
Most nominations without a win
- Jayne Houdyshell (4 nominations)
- S. Epatha Merkerson (3 nominations)
- Cristin Milioti (2 nominations) (Plus one for Lead Actress in a Musical)
See also
- Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress (Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play (Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway)
References
- ^ The League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers
- ^ The Off-Broadway League
- ^ Actoing Categories Split into Musicals and Plays
- ^ "Dogfight, The Whale and The Piano Lesson Are Lortel Award Winners". Playbill. May 5, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
- ^ "'Hamilton,' Tonya Pinkins Honored at 30th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards". Backstage. May 11, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
- ^ "FUTURITY, Guards at the Taj and Robber Bridegroom Earn Top Lucille Lortel Awards". Playbill. May 1, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
- ^ "'Oslo,' 'The Band's Visit' Lead 2017 Lortel Award Recipients". American Theater. May 8, 2017. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
- ^ "2018 Lucille Lortel Award Winners". Broadway World. May 6, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
- ^ "2019 Lucille Lortel Award Winners". Broadway World. May 5, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
- ^ Previous Nominees and Recipients