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Barrymore Awards announce 2026 nominees for the best in Philly theater

Nominees include productions from more than 30 regional theater companies across 22 categories. Old City’s Arden Theatre Company led the nominations.

Connor McAndrews, Taylor J. Mitchell, Anna Faye Lieberman, Jessica Johnson, Madeleine Garcia in "Little Shop of Horrors" at People's Light. The production received 11 Barrymore Award nominations.
Connor McAndrews, Taylor J. Mitchell, Anna Faye Lieberman, Jessica Johnson, Madeleine Garcia in "Little Shop of Horrors" at People's Light. The production received 11 Barrymore Award nominations.Read moreMark Garvin

Theatre Philadelphia announced the nominees for the 2026 Barrymore Awards recognizing the best theatrical productions, actors, directors, behind-the-curtain designers, and artists in the Philly area, on Friday morning.

This year’s selection includes productions from more than 30 regional theater companies across 22 categories during the 2025-2026 season. Old City’s Arden Theatre Company led the nominations, receiving 20 nods, while People’s Light in Malvern trailed close behind with 19. Other theater companies with 10 or more nominations include Inis Nua Theatre Company, which stages productions from Ireland and the U.K. at the Drake in Center City, the Tony Award-winning Wilma Theater on Avenue of the Arts, and Norristown’s Theatre Horizon.

“In the 250th year of our nation, Philadelphia theaters gave us the fuel we needed to get out of our houses and filled our year with great theater,” said Darnelle Radford, executive director of Theatre Philadelphia, in an email to The Inquirer. “We laughed, we cried, we got fired up and while we are celebrating our nominees, we are really celebrating the resilience of Philadelphia theater and we want the region to know there is world-class theater in our world-class city!”

The 2025 production of the beloved classic Little Shop of Horrors, based on the 1960 monster comedy, was a clear favorite among Barrymore voters. Directed by Molly Rosa Houlahan and presented by People’s Light, the musical is up for 11 awards including outstanding overall production of a musical, direction, costume design, and props or puppetry design (a new Barrymore category this year).

Little Shop actors Anna Faye Lieberman and Jessica Money earned nods for lead performances in a musical while their supporting actors Mary Elizabeth Scallen and Andrew Cane were nominated in the corresponding category; they’re also in the running for outstanding musical ensemble.

Leading in the play categories’ nominations is The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, the Wilma’s staging of an irreverent early work from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright James Ijames (a previous Wilma coartistic director and actor).

The disarming satire follows a feverish Martha Washington who believes the people she and her husband enslaved are trying to kill her. The show ran this spring amid President Donald Trump’s contested but ultimately successful push to whitewash George Washington’s legacy of slavery at the President’s House.

Miz Martha received nine nominations, including outstanding production of a play, choreography/movement in a play (for Dominic Moore-Dunson), ensemble, and design categories in scenic, costume, and lighting. (Two other Ijames’ plays, the world premiere of Wilderness Generation and his 2023 play Good Bones, are also previous Barrymore nominees.)

Two theater artists, Pax Ressler and Jordan McCree, received three nominations each. For Girl Dolls: The American Musical, which they created with Jackie Soro in collaboration with Bearded Ladies Cabaret, Ressler is up for outstanding original music, music direction, and original production; McCree is also in the running in the original music category for their work on Miz Martha, in addition to two nods for outstanding sound design in Miz Martha and Philadelphia Theatre Company’s Caesar, respectively.

Seven artists received double nominations. Theatre Horizon’s incoming artistic director Amina Robinson was nominated for outstanding direction of a play for Primary Trust and of a musical for Ain’t Misbehavin’ while Brett Ashley Robinson received nods for her direction of Miz Martha and her lead performance in the role of narrator in The Greatest Play in the History of the World.

New this year: Stage managers for the nominees in outstanding overall productions in play and musical categories are now named in the Barrymore Awards nominations list. It’s part of the organizers’ efforts to spotlight the pivotal behind-the-scenes work that stage managers contribute to each show. (The awards recognize all participating artists for the winning productions.)

“As the shepherds of these creative teams, the stage managers facilitate and encourage the smooth cohesion of all the incredible artists, technicians and administrators from all corners of the theater that make these Overall Productions so outstanding,” said CJ Higgins, Theatre Philadelphia’s director of programming and operations, in an email.

Theatre Philadelphia also grants the Philadelphia Award for Social Insight, celebrating “the ability of theatre to illuminate the way we live and interact with others as we seek to build community,” reads the description. This year, 12 productions are nominated for the recognition, which comes with a $25,000 cash prize funded by the Virginia Brown Martin Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation.

The 2026 Barrymore Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre in Center City.

See the full list of nominees here:

Outstanding overall production of a play

  1. Patreshettarlini Adams — The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, The Wilma Theater

  2. Celia HuttonJohns — Same Team, Inis Nua Theatre Company

  3. Alexis Wells — La Otra, 1812 Productions

  4. Abby Sturgis — Walden, InterAct Theatre Company

  5. Brian Goldblatt — The Garbologists, Montgomery Theatre

  6. Jamel Baker — Primary Trust, Philadelphia Theatre Company

  7. Matthew Ryan Melchior — The Mountaintop, Arden Theatre Company

Outstanding overall production of a musical

  1. Jess McPhillips — Little Shop of Horrors, People’s Light

  2. CD Kincade — Girl Dolls: The American Musical, Bearded Ladies Cabaret

  3. Alec E. Ferrell — Wishing To Grow Up Brightly, Theatre Horizon

  4. Asher Vaglica — Spring Awakening, Relic Theatre Company

  5. Tom Shotkin — Falsettos, Arden Theatre Company

Outstanding direction of a play

  1. Kittson O’Neill — Same Team, Inis Nua Theatre Company

  2. Kimille Howard — Plantation Black, InterAct Theatre Company

  3. Brett Ashley Robinson — The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, The Wilma Theater

  4. Tanaquil Márquez — La Otra, 1812 Productions

  5. Amina Robinson — Primary Trust, Philadelphia Theatre Company

  6. Rebecca Wright — Class C, Azuka Theatre and Simpatico Theatre

  7. Kathryn MacMillan — Can’t Forget About You, Inis Nua Theatre Company

Outstanding ensemble in a play

  1. The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington — The Wilma Theater

  2. FIRE!! — Quintessence Theatre

  3. Plantation Black — InterAct Theatre Company

  4. Little Women — Hedgerow Theatre Company

  5. Same Team — Inis Nua Theatre Company

  6. La Otra — 1812 Productions

  7. The Woman Question — People’s Light

Outstanding leading performance in a play

  1. Ebony Pullum — Blues For an Alabama Sky, Lantern Theater Company

  2. Adam Howard — Why I Stuck a Flare Up My Arse For England, Inis Nua Theatre Company

  3. Noelle Diane Johnson — The Garbologists, Montgomery Theater

  4. David Pica — Class C, Azuka Theatre and Simpatico Theatre

  5. Leo Mock — Little Women, Hedgerow Theatre Company

  6. Travoye Joyner — Romeo and Juliet, Arden Theatre Company

  7. Kishia Nixon —The Mountaintop, Arden Theatre Company

  8. Newton Buchanan — Primary Trust, Philadelphia Theatre Company

  9. V. Sterling — Same Team, Inis Nua Theatre Company

  10. Phillip Brown — Dutchman and The Slave, Passage Theatre Company

  11. Page Whitman — Same Team, Inis Nua Theatre Company

  12. Brett Ashley Robinson — The Greatest Play in the History of the World, Inis Nua Theatre Company and Tiny Dynamite

  13. Matthew Pfeiffer — The Garbologists, Montgomery Theater

  14. Olive Gallagher — Little Women, Hedgerow Theatre Company

Outstanding supporting performance in a play

  1. Megan Bellwoar — Can’t Forget About You, Inis Nua Theatre Company

  2. Jared Delaney — Romeo and Juliet, Arden Theatre Company

  3. Minou Pourshariati — Little Women, Hedgerow Theatre Company

  4. David Ingram — Primary Trust, Philadelphia Theatre Company

  5. Taylor J. Mitchell — Blues For an Alabama Sky, Lantern Theater Company

  6. Jered McLenigan — The Hypochondriac, Quintessence Theatre

  7. Unissa Cruse — Muleheaded, or Zora and Langston Write a Play, Passage Theatre Company

  8. Frank Jimenez — Romeo and Juliet, Arden Theatre Company

  9. David M. Raine — La Otra, 1812 Productions

  10. Daniel Burgess — A Wrinkle in Time, Arden Theatre Company

  11. Walter DeShields — Good Bones, Arden Theatre Company

  12. Dave Johnson — Spinner, Delaware Theatre Company

  13. Brandon J. Pierce — The America Play, The Wilma Theater

Outstanding choreography/movement in a play

  1. Kittson O’Neill and Lane LaVonne — Same Team, Inis Nua Theatre Company

  2. Polanco Jones Jr., Quinton J. Alexander, and Bess Rowen — FIRE!!, Quintessence Theatre

  3. K. O’Rourke — Can’t Forget About You, Inis Nua Theatre Company

  4. Dominic Moore-Dunson — The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, The Wilma Theater

  5. Fatima Sowe — The Woman Question, People’s Light

  6. MK Tuomanen — The Presented, Chris Davis

  7. Ryk Lewis — Coloring Book, Fusion Performing Arts Center

Outstanding lighting design

  1. Shannon Zura — The Greatest Play in the History of the World, Inis Nua Theatre Company and Tiny Dynamite

  2. Lindsay Stevens — Walden, InterAct Theatre Company

  3. Shannon Zura — Good Bones, Arden Theatre Company

  4. Maria Shaplin — The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, The Wilma Theater

  5. Christopher Ash — Caesar, Philadelphia Theatre Company

  6. Lily Fossner — The Garbologists, Montgomery Theater

  7. Cat Tate Starmer — The Unexpected 3rd: A Radical, Rollicking Rumination on the Optimism of Staying Alive, People’s Light

Outstanding scenic design

  1. Chris Haig — Walden, InterAct Theatre Company

  2. Colin McIlvane — The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, The Wilma Theater

  3. Meghan Jones — The Garbologists, Montgomery Theater

  4. Reiko Huffman —The Mountaintop, Arden Theatre Company

  5. Nick Embree — Can’t Forget About You, Inis Nua Theatre Company

  6. Nina Ball — The Unexpected 3rd: A Radical, Rollicking Rumination on the Optimism of Staying Alive, People’s Light

  7. Andrew Robinson — Gemini, EgoPo Classic Theater

Outstanding costume design

  1. Nikki Delhomme — The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, The Wilma Theater

  2. Rebecca Kanach — Twelfth Night, People’s Light

  3. Tiffany Bacon — Muleheaded, or Zora and Langston Write a Play, Passage Theatre Company

  4. Ivania Stack and Bailey Hammett-Colwell — The Snow Queen, The Wilma Theater

  5. Camilla Dely — Little Shop of Horrors, People’s Light

  6. Nikki Delhomme — A Wrinkle in Time, Arden Theatre Company

  7. Tracy Christensen — Steel Magnolias, People’s Light

Outstanding sound design

  1. Larry Fowler — The America Play, The Wilma Theater

  2. Jordan McCree — The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, The Wilma Theater

  3. Natali Merrill — Walden, InterAct Theatre Company

  4. Carsen Joenk — Steel Magnolias, People’s Light

  5. Natali Merrill — JOB, Theatre Exile

  6. Jordan McCree — Caesar, Philadelphia Theatre Company

  7. Mel Hsu — A Wrinkle in Time, Arden Theatre Company

Outstanding media design

  1. Jorge Cousineau —The Mountaintop, Arden Theatre Company

  2. Taj Rauch — Wilderness Generation, Philadelphia Theatre Company

  3. Taj Rauch and Nia Benjamin — Girl Dolls: The American Musical, Bearded Ladies Cabaret

  4. Michael Long — La Otra, 1812 Productions

  5. Christopher Ash — Caesar, Philadelphia Theatre Company

Outstanding original music

  1. Jackie Soro and Pax Ressler — Girl Dolls: The American Musical, Bearded Ladies Cabaret

  2. Amanda Morton and Josh Totora — Wishing to Grow Up Brightly, Theatre Horizon

  3. Jordan McCree — The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, The Wilma Theater

  4. Liz Filios — Twelfth Night, People’s Light

  5. Selena Seballo and Jack Denman — The Chequerboard Watch: A New Musical, Delaware Theatre Company

  6. Adam Faulk — FIRE!!, Quintessence Theatre

Outstanding props or puppetry Ddsign

  1. Anton Volovsek and Camilla Dely — Little Shop of Horrors, People’s Light

  2. Paul Kuhn and Ren Bailey — Sacco & Vanzetti: A Tragedia Dell’ Arte, Curio Theatre Company

  3. Clare Wislar — Marsha Blovotnick and the Marvelous Magical Chicken Soup, Theatre Ariel

  4. Kelly McLaughlan — The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, Arden Theatre Company

  5. Jen Burkhart — Wishing to Grow Up Brightly, Theatre Horizon

  6. Ryan Canney — The Garbologists, Montgomery Theatre

  7. Colleen Murray — Lions, Lightning Rod Special

Outstanding direction of a musical

  1. Robi Hager — Spring Awakening, Relic Theatre Company

  2. MK Tuomanen — Girl Dolls: The American Musical, Bearded Ladies Cabaret

  3. Amina Robinson — Ain’t Misbehavin’, Theatre Horizon

  4. Molly Rosa Hulahan — Little Shop of Horrors, People’s Light

Outstanding ensemble in a musical

  1. Falsettos — Arden Theatre Company

  2. Little Shop of Horrors — People’s Light

  3. Spring Awakening — Relic Theatre Company

  4. Jelly’s Last Jam — Bristol Riverside Theatre

  5. Ain’t Misbehavin’ — Theatre Horizon

Outstanding leading performance in a musical

  1. Anna Faye Lieberman — Little Shop of Horrors, People’s Light

  2. Jessica Money — Little Shop of Horrors, People’s Light

  3. Felicity Mundy — Spring Awakening, Relic Theatre Company

  4. Evan Kaushesh — Dear Evan Hansen, Arden Theatre Company

  5. Steve Pacek — Falsettos, Arden Theatre Company

  6. Stanley Martin — Jelly’s Last Jam, Bristol Riverside Theatre

  7. Francesca Marchese — Fun Home, Media Theatre

  8. Sami Ma — Wishing to Grow Up Brightly, Theatre Horizon

Outstanding supporting performance in a musical

  1. Alison Ansorg — Fun Home, Media Theatre

  2. Katie Boren — Wishing to Grow Up Brightly, Theatre Horizon

  3. Katherine Fried — Falsettos, Arden Theatre Company

  4. Will Stephan Connell — Falsettos, Arden Theatre Company

  5. Mary Elizabeth Scallen — Little Shop of Horrors, People’s Light

  6. Andrew Kane — Little Shop of Horrors, People’s Light

  7. Dana Orange — Jelly’s Last Jam, Bristol Riverside Theatre

  8. Charlie Barney — Annie, Media Theatre

Outstanding choreography/movement in a musical

  1. Julianna Babb, Noelle Diane Johnson, and J. Oliver Donahue — Spring Awakening, Relic Theatre Company

  2. Melanie Cotton and Eli Lynn — Little Shop of Horrors, People’s Light

  3. yaTande Whitney V. Hunter and DeWitt Fleming Jr. — Jelly’s Last Jam, Bristol Riverside Theatre

  4. Eliana Pickney — Ain’t Misbehavin’, Theatre Horizon

Outstanding music direction of a musical

  1. Pax Ressler — Girl Dolls, Bearded Ladies Cabaret

  2. Brigitte Rottman — Little Shop of Horrors, People’s Light

  3. Brigitte Rottman — Wishing to Grow Up Brightly, Theatre Horizon

  4. Gina Giachero — Falsettos, Arden Theatre Company

Outstanding outdoor production

  1. A Bottom’s Dream — Shakespeare in Clark Park

  2. Twelfth Night, O Lo Que Quieras — Delaware Shakespeare

  3. Fraternity — Theatre in the X

Outstanding original production

  1. Jackie Soro and Pax Ressler — Girl Dolls: The American Musical, Bearded Ladies

  2. Chaz T. Martin — Class C, Azuka Theatre and Simpatico Theatre

  3. Alice Yorke and Scott R. Sheppard — Lions, Lightning Rod Special

  4. John Bellomo — Sacco & Vanzetti: A Tragedia Dell’ Arte, Curio Theatre Company

  5. Chris Davis — The Presented, Chris Davis

  6. Dan Kitrosser — Marsha Blovotnik and the Magical Chicken Soup, Theatre Ariel

  7. Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay — Seng’s Hair Salon, InterAct Theatre Company

The Philadelphia award for social insight

  1. Inheritors — Philadelphia Artists’ Collective

  2. Draw the Circle — Hedgerow Theatre Company

  3. Good Bones — Arden Theatre Company

  4. The White Chip — New Light Theatre

  5. Sacco & Vanzetti: A Tragedia dell’Arte — Curio Theatre Company

  6. Ain’t Misbehavin’ — Theatre Horizon

  7. The Woman Question — People’s Light

  8. The America Play — Wilma Theater

  9. Franklinland — Lantern Theater Company

  10. Same Team — Inis Nua Theatre Company

  11. The Great Privation — Theatre Exile

  12. 1 Pound 4 Ounces — Azuka Theatre and Simpatico Theatre

    Rosa Cartagena
    I write about arts, entertainment, and culture in Philly, covering everything from movies, TV, theater, and museums to local artists and fascinating art mysteries.