Winners have been revealed for the Casting Society’s 2026 Artios Awards, which recognize excellence in casting. Casting professionals from several Broadway productions, as well as national tour and regional engagements, were honored at simultaneous ceremonies held on Feb. 26 in New York, Los Angeles and London.
The New York ceremony was hosted by Jeff Hiller at the Edison Ballroom, while Harvey Guillén served as host of the West Coast edition at the Beverly Hilton. The London ceremony was hosted by Jessica Gunning at One Moorgate Place.
Winners in the Broadway: Comedy or Drama category were the casting leads of the Tony Award-nominated and Pulitzer Prize-winning play “English” (casting director Stephen Kopel and associate casting director Sujotta Pace). In the Broadway: Musical category, a tie was declared between the casting teams behind the Tony-nominated “Buena Vista Social Club” (Xavier Rubiano and Tara Rubin and associate Frankie Ramirez) and the Tony-winning Best Musical “Maybe Happy Ending” (Craig Burns and associate Jimmy Larkin).
The Broadway-aimed staging of the Jason Robert Brown-scored musical “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” which was staged at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, won the Artios Award in Regional Theater (casting directors Lauren Port and Patrick Goodwin). The pre-Broadway run of “Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends,” at Center Theatre Group, took home the Artios Award in Los Angeles Theater (casting directors Rubin, Rubiano, Peter Van Dam and associate Louis DiPaolo).
Additionally, the casting team of MCC Theater’s Off-Broadway staging of “Shit. Meet. Fan.” (Bernard Telsey, Will Cantler and Destiny Lilly) was named the victor in the New York Theater: Comedy or Drama category. The winning casting directors in the corresponding New York Theater: Musical category were for the Off-Broadway production of “The Jonathan Larson Project” (Rachel Hoffman and associate Charlie Hano).
Burns was also awarded in the Theater Tours category for his work on casting the national tour of the Tony-winning “Parade” revival, while Geoff Josselson took home the trophy for Special Theatrical Performance for casting the Off-Broadway revival of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
During the New York ceremony, the annual special honor of the Marion Dougherty New York Apple Award was presented to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS in recognition of its commitment to the performing arts and humanitarian service. The Associate Casting Director Spotlight Award in New York was presented to Dustin Presley.
Presenters for the evening included several Main Stem stars, such as Tony winners Natalie Venetia Belcon, J. Harrison Ghee and Francis Jue.
Select theater-related categories can be found below, with winners noted in bold and preceded by an asterisk.
Broadway: Comedy or Drama
*“English”: Stephen Kopel and associate casting director Sujotta Pace
“Glengarry Glen Ross”: Will Cantler and Destiny Lilly
“Good Night, and Good Luck”: David Caparelliotis
“Othello”: Duncan Stewart
“Purpose”: JC Clementz, Paul Davis and Erica Jensen
“Yellow Face”: Carrie Gardner, Jillian Cimini and associate casting director Sujotta Pace
Broadway: Musical
*“Buena Vista Social Club”: Xavier Rubiano, Tara Rubin and associate casting director Frankie Ramirez
*“Maybe Happy Ending”: Craig Burns and associate casting director Jimmy Larkin
“Boop! The Musical”: Tara Rubin, Kevin Metzger-Timson and associate casting director Olivia Paige West
“Death Becomes Her”: Tara Rubin, Kevin Metzger-Timson and associate casting director Frankie Ramirez
“Real Women Have Curves”: Victor Vazquez and Duncan Stewart
“Sunset Boulevard”: Jim Carnahan, Jason Thinger and Stuart Burt
New York Theater: Comedy or Drama
*“Sh!t. Meet. Fan.”: Bernard Telsey, Will Cantler, Destiny Lilly
“Becoming Eve”: Claire Yenson
“Eurydice”: David Caparelliotis
“Ghosts”: Daniel Swee
“Grangeville”: David Caparelliotis
“The Antiquities”: Alaine Alldaffer, Lauren Port
New York Theater: Musical
*“The Jonathan Larson Project”: Rachel Hoffman and Charlie Hano (associate casting director)
“Big Gay Jamboree”: Stephen Kopel and associate casting director Neal Buckley
“Drag: The Musical”: Ryan Bernard Tymensky
“Empire Records”: Karyn Casl and Destiny Lilly
“Jersey Boys”: Claire Burke, Merri Sugarman and associate casting director Spencer Gualdoni
“We Live in Cairo”: Claire Yenson
Special Theatrical Performance
*“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”: Geoff Josselson
“Dreamgirls”: Destiny Lilly and Rashad Naylor
“Les Misérables”: Lindsay Levine and associate casting director Charlie Hano
“Nine”: Geoff Josselson
“Titanic”: Craig Burns and Rachel Hoffman
“Urinetown”: Kevin Metzger-Timson and associate casting director Louis DiPaolo
Los Angeles Theater
*“Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends”: Tara Rubin, Xavier Rubiano, Peter Van Dam and associate casting director Louis DiPaolo
“A Doll’s House, Part 2”: Ryan Bernard Tymensky
“Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead”: Zachary Spiegel
“Green Day’s American Idiot”: Beth Lipari
“La Cage aux Folles”: Ryan Bernard Tymensky
“Noises Off”: JC Clementz and Phyllis Schuringa
Regional Theater
*“Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” (Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois): Lauren Port and Patrick Goodwin
“A Little Night Music” (Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, Maine): Mark Brandon
“A Raisin in the Sun” (Court Theatre in Chicago, Illinois): Becca McCracken
“Appropriate” (Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California): David Caparelliotis
“Berlin” (Court Theatre in Chicago, Illinois): Becca McCracken
“Betrayal” (Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois): Lauren Port
“East Texas Hot Links” (Court Theatre in Chicago, Illinois): Becca McCracken
“English” (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park in Cincinnati, Ohio): Stephanie
Klapper
“Fat Ham” (Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois): Lauren Port
Theater Tours
*“Parade”: Craig Burns
“& Juliet”: Stephen Kopel, Carrie Gardner, Jillian Cimini, associate casting directors Neal Buckley and Sujotta Pace
“Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”: Kelly Gillespie, David Caparelliotis and Erica A. Hart
“Kimberly Akimbo”: Craig Burns and associate casting director Jimmy Larkin
“Shucked”: Stephen Kopel and associate casting director Neal Buckley
“The Wiz”: Olivia Paige West, Xavier Rubiano
