Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show

The Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show is an award presented annually at the Lucille Lortel Awards to honor excellence in performance and writing for an Off-Broadway solo theatrical production since 2004.

Mike Birbiglia is the performer/author with the most nominations, with four, including one win. Sarah Jones, Anna Deavere Smith and David Cale follow with two nominations each.

Winners and nominees

Key

2000s

Year

Production

Author/Performer

Producers

Ref.

2004

I Am My Own Wife

Doug Wright

Playwrights Horizons

Sarah Jones: bridge & tunnel

Sarah Jones

Meryl Streep, The Culture Project, Robert Dragotta, Jayson Jackson, Michael Alden, Eric Falkenstein, Marcia Roberts, Jean Kennedy Smith, and Tom Wirtshafter

Women On Fire

Irene O’Garden

Cherry Lane Theatre

2005

Nine Parts of Desire

Heather Raffo

Manhattan Ensemble Theater

The Two and Only

Jay Johnson

Atlantic Theater Company, Roger Alan Gindi, Stewart F. Lane & Bonnie Conley, Dan Whitten, Herbert Goldsmith Productions, and wetrock Entertainment

2006

No award given.

2007

No Child...

Nilaja Sun

Scott Morfee, Tom Wirtshafter and Epic Theatre Center

¡El Conquistador!

Thaddeus Phillips, Tatiana Mallarino, and Victor Mallarino

New York Theatre Workshop

Wrecks

Neil LaBute

The Public Theater

2008

Dai (enough)

Iris Bahr

Bernie Kukoff, Jonathan Pollard, Jon Cutler in association with Highbrow Entertainment

Beyond Glory

Stephen Lang

Roundabout Theatre Company

Liberty City

Jessica Blank and April Yvette Thompson

New York Theatre Workshop

Tings Dey Happen

Dan Hoyle and Charlie Varon

Culture Project

2009

Humor Abuse

Lorenzo Pisoni and Erica Schmidt

Manhattan Theatre Club

Sleepwalk With Me

Mike Birbiglia

Eli Gonda, Ryan Scott Warren, Marc Turtletaub, Peter Saraf, and Nathan Lane

2010s

Year

Production

Author/Performer

Producers

Ref.

2010

A Boy and His Soul

Colman Domingo

Vineyard Theatre

Let Me Down Easy

Anna Deavere Smith

Second Stage Theatre

Nightingale

Lynn Redgrave

Manhattan Theatre Club

The Lady With All the Answers

David Rambo and Judith Ivey

Cherry Lane Theatre

Zero Hour

Jim Brochu

Kurt Peterson and Edmund Gaynes, and Peccadillo Theater Company

2011

Mike Birbiglia's My Girlfriend's Boyfriend

Mike Birbiglia

Ron Delsener, Mike Lavoie, Mike Berkowitz and Joe Birbiglia

Through the Night

Daniel Beaty

Daryl Roth and Jana Robbins

2012

An Iliad

Denis O’Hare, Stephen Spinella and Lisa Peterson

New York Theatre Workshop

The Devil's Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith

Angelo Parra

Penguin Rep Theatre, Edmund Gaynes, Lizanne and Don Mitchell

2013

All the Rage

Martin Moran

piece by piece productions, Rising Phoenix Repertory, and The Barrow Group

Jackie

Elfriede Jelinek and Gitta Honegger

Women's Project Theater

Title and Deed

Will Eno

Signature Theatre and Gare St. Lazare Players Ireland

2014

Buyer & Cellar

Jonathan Tolins and Michael Urie

Darren Bagert, Dan Shaheen, Ted Snowdon, Daryl Roth, Martin Massman, Pat Flicker Addiss, Doug Nevin, Joan Raffe & Jhett Tolentino, Andrew Tobias, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater

How I Learned What I Learned

August Wilson, Todd Kreidler, and Ruben Santiago-Hudson

Signature Theatre

Satchmo at the Waldorf

Terry Teachout and John Douglas Thompson

Long Wharf Theatre, Shakespeare and Company, Scott and Roxanne Bok, Roz and Jerry Meyer, Ronald Guttman, Shadowcatcher Entertainment, John LaMattina, Joey Parnes, S.D. Wagner, John Johnson

2015

Josephine and I

Cush Jumbo

The Public Theater

Every Brilliant Thing

Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe

Scott Morfee, Jean Doumanian, Tom Wirtshafter, Patrick Daly, Kelpie Arts LLC, Scott Rudin, Marc & Lisa Biales, Terry Allen Kramer, Michael Ostin

Just Jim Dale

Jim Dale

Roundabout Theatre Company

The Lion

Benjamin Scheuer

Manhattan Theatre Club

2016

Grounded

George Brant

The Public Theater

The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey

James Lecesne

Darren Bagert, Daryl Roth, Jane Dubin, Curtis Forsythe, Michael Mayer, Diane Procter, Seaview Productions and Minerva Productions/Joshua Goodman

Forever

Dael Orlandersmith

New York Theatre Workshop

Mike Birbiglia: Thank God For Jokes

Mike Birbiglia

Mike Berkowitz, Joseph Birbiglia, Ron Delsener and Mike Lavoie

2017

Notes from the Field

Anna Deavere Smith

Second Stage Theatre and American Repertory Theater

Chris Gethard: Career Suicide

Chris Gethard

Judd Apatow, Mike Berkowitz, Brian Stern, Mike Lavoie, and Carlee Briglia

Latin History for Morons

John Leguizamo

The Public Theater and Berkeley Repertory Theatre

The Outer Space

Ethan Lipton

Ethan Lipton, Vito Dieterle, Eben Levy, and Ian M. Riggs

Sell/Buy/Date

Sarah Jones

Manhattan Theatre Club

2018

Harry Clarke

David Cale and Billy Crudup

Vineyard Theatre and Audible

Who's Holiday!

Matthew Lombardo and Lesli Margherita

Whoville Theatrical, Scott and Jenny Beck, Jason Shaw, Ken Fakler, Drew Desky/Dane Levens, Darren Bagert

2019

FLEABAG

Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Annapurna Theatre, Megan Ellison, Sue Naegle, Skye Optican, Kevin Emrick, David Luff & Patrick Myles, Barbara Broccoli, Patrick Catullo, Diana DiMenna, Daryl Roth, Eric Schnall, Jayne Baron Sherman, DryWrite, Soho Theatre

Feeding the Dragon

Sharon Washington

Primary Stages in association with Jamie deRoy and Hartford Stage

Girls & Boys

Dennis Kelly and Carey Mulligan

Audible and The Royal Court Theatre

Mike Birbiglia's The New One

Mike Birbiglia and Jennifer Hope Stein

Joseph Birbiglia, Mike Lavoie, and Rebecca Crigler

My Life On a Diet

Renée Taylor and Joseph Bologna

Julian Schlossberg, Morris S. Levy, Rodger Hess, Harold Newman, Jim Fantaci, Andrew Tobias, Ronald Glazer and Sabrina Hutt

2020s

Year

Production

Author/Performer

Producers

Ref.

2020

Dana H.

Lucas Hnath and Deirdre O’Connell

Vineyard Theatre, Goodman Theatre, and Center Theatre Group

Bella Bella

Harvey Fierstein

Manhattan Theatre Club

the way she spoke

Isaac Gómez and Kate del Castillo

Audible

We’re Only Alive for A Short Amount of Time

David Cale

The Public Theater and Goodman Theatre

Where We Stand

Donnetta Lavinia Grays

WP Theater and Baltimore Center Stage

2021

No ceremony held due to COVID-19 pandemic.

2022

Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord

Kristina Wong

New York Theatre Workshop

LITTLE GIRL BLUE

Laiona Michelle

Rashad V. Chambers, Willette & Manny Klausner, E. Clayton Cornelious/Joshua Morgan, Victoria Bondoc, McCabe Productions LLC, Live & In Color, Kate Lear, Laban King, Marc Blakeman

2023

No award given.

2024

All The Devils Are Here – How Shakespeare Invented the Villain

Patrick Page

Mara Isaacs, Thomas M. Neff, Willette and Manny Klausner, 42nd Club, and Daryl Roth

I Love You So Much I Could Die

Mona Pirnot

New York Theatre Workshop

Make Me Gorgeous!

Donnie and Wade McCollum

triangle productions!

Sorry For Your Loss

Michael Cruz Kayne

Audible

Triple Threat

James T. Lane

Brendan Gaul, Brett Henenberg, James T. Lane, and T32 Theatrical

2025

Vanya

Andrew Scott and Simon Stephens

Wessex Grove, Gavin Kalin Productions, Kater Gordon, Roast Productions, Aleri Entertainment, Eilene Davidson Productions, Nicole Eisenberg, Grace Street Creative, Jim Kierstead, Lucille Lortel Theatre, Tilted, Tulchin Bartner Productions, Winkler & Smalberg, Executive Producers Sue Wagner, John Johnson, Jillian Robbins

300 Paintings

Sam Kissajukian

Vineyard Theatre

A Knock on the Roof

Khawla Ibraheem

New York Theatre Workshop, piece by piece productions, and Under the Radar

2026

I'm Assuming You Know David Greenspan

Mona Pirnot and David Greenspan

Atlantic Theatre Company

Hold Me in the Water

Ryan J. Haddad

Playwrights Horizons

Nothing Can Take You From The Hand Of God

Jen Tullock and Frank Winters

Playwrights Horizons

Other

Ari'el Stachel

LaChanze, Marc Platt, Marvin Krislov/Adam Cohen, Anna Jenefsky, Bob Stachel/Aaron Yeshayahu

The Unknown

David Cale and Sean Hayes

Seaview, ATG Productions, Pam Hurst-Della Pietra & Stephen Della Pietra, Mickey Liddell & Pete Shilaimon, Tom Tuft, Craig Balsam/Ken Levitan, Julie Boardman, Creative Partners Productions, Front Row Productions, Lloyd Tichio Productions, MarketStall, New Ventures Entertainment, Hayes Entertainment, Inc.

Performers/authors with multiple nominations

4 nominations
  • Mike Birbiglia
2 nominations
  • Sarah Jones
  • Anna Deavere Smith
  • David Cale

Producers with multiple wins

3 wins
  • Vineyard Theatre
  • Daryl Roth
2 wins
  • Playwrights Horizons
  • New York Theatre Workshop
  • The Public Theater

Producers with multiple nominations

7 nominations
  • New York Theatre Workshop
5 nominations
  • The Public Theater
  • Manhattan Theatre Club
  • Daryl Roth
4 nominations
  • Vineyard Theatre
  • Mike Lavoie
  • Audible
3 nominations
  • Tom Wirtshafter
  • Mike Berkowitz
  • Darren Bagert
2 nominations
  • Playwrights Horizons
  • The Culture Project
  • Cherry Lane Theatre
  • Roundabout Theatre Company
  • Second Stage Theatre
  • Signature Theatre Company
  • Goodman Theatre
  • piece by piece productions
  • Edmund Gaynes
  • Scott Morfee
  • Ron Delsener
  • Andrew Tobias
  • John Johnson
  • Willette and Manny Klausner

See also

  • Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Solo Performance
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance