Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Sound Design

Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Sound Design
Paul Arditti, 2025 winner
Awarded for	Outstanding Sound Design
Location	New York City
Presented by	Outer Critics Circle
Currently held by	Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow (2025)
Website	OuterCriticsCircle.org

The Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Sound Design is an honor presented at the Outer Critics Circle Awards, a ceremony established in 1950 for excellence in sound design on Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, to sound designers of any production. The category was added to the ceremony in 2017. ^[1]

Peter Hylenski has received the most nominations, with four, followed closely by Gareth Owen with three. No sound designer has won the award more than once.

Award winners and nominees

Key

  and bold indicates winner

2010s

Year	Name	Work	Ref.
2017
	Gareth Owen	Come From Away	[2] [3]
	Nevin Steinberg	Bandstand
	Matt Stine	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
	Nicholas Pope	Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812
	Gareth Fry and Pete Malkin	The Encounter
2018
	Gareth Fry	Harry Potter and the Cursed Child	[4] [5]
	Fitz Patton	Napoli, Brooklyn
	Darron L West	Mlima's Tale
	Marc Salzberg	My Fair Lady
	Kate Marvin	[Porto]
2019
	Peter Hylenski	King Kong	[6] [7]
	Eric Sleichim	Network
	Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz	Hadestown
	Drew Levy	Oklahoma!
	John Gromada	All My Sons

2020s

Year	Name	Work	Ref.
2020 (Hon.)	Simon Baker	A Christmas Carol	[8]
	Mikhail Fiksel	Dana H.
	Sanae Yamada	Is This A Room
	Peter Hylenski	Moulin Rouge!
	Daniel Kluger	The Sound Inside
2021	No award given due to COVID-19 pandemic.
2022
	Nick Powell and Dominic Bilkey	The Lehman Trilogy	[9]
	Ben Ringham and Max Ringham	Blindness
	André J. Pluess	The Minutes
	Matt Stine and Sam Kusnetz	Assassins
	Dan Moses Schreier	Harmony
2023
	Joshua D. Reid	A Christmas Carol	[10]
	Kai Harada	New York, New York
	Daniel Kluger	Epiphany
	John Gromada	Jasper
	André J. Pluess	Good Night, Oscar
2024
	Ryan Rumery	Stereophonic	[11]
	Gareth Owen	Back to the Future
		The Who's Tommy
	M.L. Dogg and Cody Spencer	Here Lies Love
	Tom Gibbons	Grey House
2025
	Paul Arditti	Stranger Things: The First Shadow	[12]
	Peter Hylenski	Maybe Happy Ending
		Death Becomes Her
	Adam Fisher	Sunset Boulevard
	John Shivers	Swept Away

Multiple nominations

4 nominations

• Peter Hylenski

3 nominations

• Gareth Owen

2 nominations

• Nevin Steinberg
• Matt Stine
• Gareth Fry
• John Gromada
• Daniel Kluger
• André J. Pluess

See also

• Tony Award for Best Sound Design of a Play
• Tony Award for Best Sound Design of a Musical
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Sound Design
• Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Sound Design

References

1. "Outer Critics Circle Awards 2017 – And the Winners Are…". New York Theatre Guide. October 19, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
2. Lefkowitz, Andy (May 8, 2017). "2017 Outer Critics Circle Awards: Come From Away & More Win Top Prizes". Broadway.com. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
3. "2016–2017 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
4. McPhee, Ryan (May 7, 2018). "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, My Fair Lady Win Big at 2018 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Playbill. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
5. "2017–2018 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
6. "'Hadestown' Tops 2019 Outer Critics Circle Awards". American Theatre. May 15, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
7. "2018–2019 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
8. "Maybe Happy Ending Leads 2025 Outer Critics Circle Awards; See the Full List of Winners". Playbill. Playbill. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
9. "The Lehman Trilogy Leads 2022 Outer Critics Circle Awards, Six Wins; See the Complete List of Winners". Playbill. Playbill. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
10. "Some Like It Hot Dominates 2023 Outer Critics Circle Awards; See the Full List of Winners". Playbill. Playbill. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
11. "Stereophonic Leads 2024 Outer Critics Circle Awards, Wins Best Play; See the Full List of Winners". Playbill. Playbill. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
12. "Maybe Happy Ending Leads 2025 Outer Critics Circle Awards; See the Full List of Winners". Playbill. Playbill. Retrieved 12 May 2025.