The 2012 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway were handed out this evening to recipients in 14 categories and 4 special honors. Some of the best in New York theatre came out to NYU Skirball Center and the Rosenthal Pavilion to celebrate Off-Broadway and benefit the Actors Fund. A complete list of the nominees and winners follows.

The show began with a rousing dance number and a hilarious opening monologue from host Mario Cantone, the celebrated New York stage actor and stand-up comedian. Lortel Award recipients for Outstanding Alternative Theatrical Experience, Voca People, performed a high-energy version of “The History of Music”; The Broadway Boys thrilled with a medley of some of the greatest songs from Broadway musicals that began their journey Off-Broadway, including “Beautiful City” from Godspell, “Seasons of Love” from Rent and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” from Rock of Ages; and Tony® Award winner Laura Benanti brought the house down with a performance of “Something Good” from The Sound of Music, in honor of Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, producer Richard Frankel.

Presenters at this year’s Lucille Lortel Awards included some of the best and brightest from the New York stage and screen: Alexis Bledel, Christian Borle, Michael Cerveris, Will Chase, Anna Chlumsky, Oliver Chris, Hugh Dancy, Paige Davis, Tate Donovan, Halley Feiffer, Steve Guttenberg, Rose Hemingway, Steve Kazee, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Fran Kranz, Lucy Liu, Constantine Maroulis, Cristin Milioti, Patrick Page, Annie Parisse, Sarah Paulson, Condola Rashad, Jeremy Shamos, Michelle Trachtenberg and Josh Young.

Blood and Gifts

Produced by Lincoln Center Theater

Written by J. T. Rogers

Milk Like Sugar

Produced by Playwrights Horizons and Women’s Project Theater

Written by Kirsten Greenidge

Sons of the Prophet

Produced by Roundabout Theatre Company

Written by Stephen Karam

The Big Meal

Produced by Playwrights Horizons

Written by Dan LeFranc

The School For Lies

Produced by Classic Stage Company

Written by David Ives

Once

Produced by New York Theatre Workshop

Book by Enda Walsh

Music and Lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová

Queen of the Mist

Produced by Transport Group

Words and Music by Michael John LaChiusa

SILENCE! The Musical

Produced by Victoria Lang, Rich Affannato, Donna Trinkoff in association with Scott Kirschenbaum, Theater Mogul, Kitefliers Studio, Terry Schnuck and John Arthur Pinckard

Music and Lyrics by Jon Kaplan and Al Kaplan

Book by Hunter Bell

Adapted from the screenplay Silence! The Musical by Jon and Al Kaplan

The Blue Flower

Produced by Second Stage Theatre

By Jim Bauer and Ruth Bauer

The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World

Produced by Playwrights Horizons and New York Theatre Workshop

Book by Joy Gregory

Music by Gunnar Madsen

Lyrics by Joy Gregory and Gunnar Madsen

Story by Joy Gregory, Gunnar Madsen, and John Langs

Blood Knot

Produced by Signature Theatre

Written by Athol Fugard

Edward Albee’s The Lady from Dubuque

Produced by Signature Theatre

Written by Edward Albee

Look Back in Anger 

Produced by Roundabout Theatre Company

Written by John Osborne

The Cherry Orchard

Produced by Classic Stage Company

Written by Anton Chekhov

Translated by John Christopher Jones

The Maids

Produced by Red Bull Theater

Written by Jean Genet

Translated by Bernard Frechtman

An Iliad

Produced by New York Theatre Workshop

Written by Denis O’Hare and Lisa Peterson

Performed by Denis O’Hare and Stephen Spinella

Based on Homer’s The Iliad translated by Robert Fagles

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

Produced by Penguin Rep Theatre and Edmund Gaynes in association with Lizanne and Don Mitchell

Written by Angelo Parra

Performed by Miche Braden

Jo Bonney, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark

David Cromer, Tribes

Sam Gold, The Big Meal

John Tiffany, Once

Chase Brock, The Blue Flower

Bill Castellino, Ionescopade

Christopher Gattelli, SILENCE! The Musical

Annie-­B Parson, The Broken Heart

Russell Harvard, Tribes

Hamish Linklater, The School For Lies

Jefferson Mays, Blood and Gifts

Jay O. Sanders, Titus Andronicus

Cristin Milioti, Once

Carey Mulligan, Through a Glass Darkly

Molly Ranson, Carrie

Mary Testa, Queen of the Mist

David Wilson Barnes, The Big Meal

Alvin Epstein, The Cherry Orchard

Peter Francis James, Edward Albee’s The Lady from Dubuque

Jeff Perry, Tribes

Anita Gillette, The Big Meal

Kimberly Hébert Gregory, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark

Marin Mazzie, Carrie

Mare Winningham, Tribes

Bob Crowley, Once

Andrew Lieberman, Look Back in Anger

Adrianne Lobel, Galileo

David Zinn, The Select (The Sun Also Rises)

Toni-Leslie James, Milk Like Sugar

William Ivey Long, The School For Lies

Ilona Somogyi, Maple and Vine

Catherine Zuber, Death Takes a Holiday

Keith Parham, Tribes

Justin Townsend, Unnatural Acts

David Weiner, Through a Glass Darkly

Scott Zielinski, An Iliad

Mark Bennett, An Iliad

Clive Goodwin, Once

Daniel Kluger, Tribes

David Van Tieghem, Through a Glass Darkly

Lifetime Achievement Award
Richard Frankel

Playwrights’ Sidewalk Inductee
Richard Foreman

Service to Off-Broadway Award
Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY)

Outstanding Alternative Theatrical Experience
Voca-People

Produced by Doron Lida, Revital Kalfo, Leeorna Solomons and Eva Price