2021 Philadelphia Theater Critic’s Awards — The Nominees

Because of COVID, I saw only 22 plays in the Philadelphia area in 2021.

Usually, I present what I call “The Philadelphia Theater Critic’s Award” — Notice the placement of the apostrophe — in late January or February each year. 2022 has been, for me, like a year of Mercury retrograde; no system, however old or reliable seems to work. The platform on which NealsPaper appears has been uncomprehendingly dilatory about a situation that merely involves changing the e-mail with which I built my website in 2013 to a new e-address.

          Eureka!!  The glitch has been resolved.

I originally posted the nominees for the 2021 Philadelphia Theater Critic’s Award on Facebook.  Alas, few noticed.  Now that I’m back up and running, the nominee that would have been revealed in January are being presented here and now.

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I’m just in one of those moods, buoyed by seeing by now 72 productions since September and several wonderful concerts. (Sally Mayes and Andrew Polec — your return to live performance regenerated my being!!!)

Here are the nominees:

BEST PRODUCTION

THE CHINESE LADY, InterAct Theatre, Philadelphia

HAMILTON, National Tour, Academy of Music, Philadelphia

THE LITTLE MERMAID, Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia

MINOR CHARACTER, Wilma Theater, Philadelphia

WHEN DAY COMES, Crossroads Theatre, New Brunswick, N.J.

BEST DIRECTOR

GLENN CASALE, The Little Mermaid

JUSTIN JAIN, The Chinese Lady

THOMAS KAIL, Hamilton

RICARDO KHAN, When Day Comes

YURY URNOV, Minor Character

BEST ACTOR

ROSS BESCHLER, Minor Character

PIERRE JEAN GONZALEZ, Hamilton

JOE KINOSIAN, Murder For Two, Bristol Riverside Theatre

STEVEN RISHARD,* The Garbologists, Philadelphia Theatre Company

SEAN THOMPSON, The Little Mermaid

BEST ACTRESS

NGOZI ANYANWU, The Garbologists

SARAH GLIKO, Minor Character

MARILU HENNER, The Marilu Henner, Show, Bucks County Playhouse

BI JEAN NGO, The Chinese Lady

LISA STRUM, Skeleton Crew, Bristol Riverside Theatre

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

JUSTIN JAIN, Minor Character

DANA ORANGE, The Little Mermaid

PETE PRYOR,* The Weir, Hedgerow Theatre

STEPHEN PATRICK SMITH, The Weir

MARQUIS WOOD, Skeleton Crew

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

CAROL MAILLARD, When Day Comes

KRISTINE NIELSEN, It’s Only a Play, George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick, N.J.

STEPHANIE JAE PARK, Hamilton

MADELEINE RAUBE, Anastasia, National Tour, Academy of Music

REBECCA ROBBINS,* The Little Mermaid

Recipients will be announced later this week. At the same time, a list of the Top Ten in each category will be published.

• Previous recipients