New York Drama Critics' Circle

Last updated
New York Drama Critics' Circle logo and insignia New York Drama Critics' Circle.jpg
New York Drama Critics' Circle logo and insignia

The New York Drama Critics' Circle is made up of 21 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines and wire services based in the New York City metropolitan area. The organization is best known for its annual awards for excellence in theater. [1] [2]

Contents

The organization was founded in 1935 at the Algonquin Hotel by a group that included Brooks Atkinson, Walter Winchell, and Robert Benchley. Adam Feldman of Time Out New York has been President of the organization since 2005; Joe Dziemianowicz is currently Vice President, and Zachary Stewart of TheaterMania serves as Treasurer. [2] [3]

Member affiliations

The New York Times membership history

Although Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times was the first President of the NYDCC, Times critics are no longer permitted to be members of the group. In 1989, the newspaper's executive editor decreed that their critics could no longer participate in any awards voting. Times critics remained in the organization as non-voting members until 1997, when the newspaper reversed its policy and allowed its critics to resume voting for the awards. However, in 2003, the newspaper adopted a revised ethics policy that forbade its journalists from membership in an awards-voting body, and its critics withdrew from the NYDCC. [4] As of 2021, the Times's policy against membership remains in effect. [5]

New York Drama Critics' Circle Award

The New York Drama Critics' Circle meets twice a year. At the end of each theater season, it votes on the annual New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards, the second oldest playwriting award in the United States (after the Pulitzer Prize). The main award is for Best Play. If the winner of that award is American, the Circle then votes on whether to give an award for Best Foreign Play as well; if the Best Play winner is of foreign origin, the Circle may give out an award for Best American Play. The awards are later presented in a small ceremony. Since 1945, the Circle has also given out awards for Best Musical. Special Citations may also be awarded for actors, companies, or work of special merit. The award for Best Play includes a cash prize of $2,500, and a cash award of $1,000 is given to the playwright who receives the award for Best American or Foreign Play. [6]

Theatre awards and citation winners

Best Play

Best Foreign Play

Best American Play

Best Musical

Special awards and citations

Runners-up

YearShowAuthor(s)Nominated for
1936 Idiot's Delight Robert E. Sherwood Best American Play
1937 Johnny Johnson Kurt Weill and Paul Green Best Musical
1938 Our Town Thornton Wilder Best American Play
1941 The Beautiful People William Saroyan Best American Play
1941 Native Son Paul Green and Richard Wright Best American Play
1943 The Skin of Our Teeth Thornton Wilder Best American Play
1947 The Iceman Cometh Eugene O'Neill Best American Play
1949 Kiss Me, Kate Cole Porter, Bella Spewack, and Sam Spewack Best Musical
1951 Billy Budd Louis O. Coxe and Robert Chapman Best American Play
1951 The King and I Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II Best Musical
1952 Mrs. McThing Mary Coyle Chase Best American Play
1953 The Crucible Arthur Miller Best American Play
1954 The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial Herman Wouk Best American Play
1955 Bus Stop William Inge Best American Play
1962 Gideon Paddy Chayefsky Best American Play
1965 Luv Murray Schisgal Best Play
1965 The Odd Couple Neil Simon Best Play
1966 Philadelphia, Here I Come! Brian Friel Best Play
1966 The Royal Hunt of the Sun Peter Shaffer Best Play
1967 A Delicate Balance Edward Albee Best Play
1969 Hadrian the Seventh Peter Luke Best Play
1970 Indians Arthur Kopit Best American Play
1971 The Trial of the Catonsville Nine Daniel Berrigan Best American Play
1972 Sticks and Bones David Rabe Best Play
1972 Old Times Harold Pinter Best Foreign Play
1973 Seesaw Cy Coleman, Dorothy Fields, and Michael Bennett Best Musical
1973 Pippin Stephen Schwartz, Bob Fosse, and Roger O. Hirson Best Musical
1974 In the Boom Boom Room David Rabe Best American Play
1975 The Island Athol Fugard Best Play
1975 Seascape Edward Albee Best American Play
1977 No Man's Land Harold Pinter Best Play
1977 I Love My Wife Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart Best Musical
1981 Amadeus Peter Shaffer Best Play
1982 "Master Harold"...and the Boys Athol Fugard Best Play
1982 Torch Song Trilogy Harvey Fierstein Best American Play
1983 'night, Mother Marsha Norman Best Play
1983 Top Girls Caryl Churchill Best Foreign Play
1983 Quartermaine's Terms Simon Gray Best Foreign Play
1985 Biloxi Blues Neil Simon Best Play
1987 Me and My Girl Noel Gay, Douglas Furber, and L. Arthur Rose Best Musical
1988 M. Butterfly David Henry Hwang Best Play
1988 The Phantom of the Opera Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, and Richard Stilgoe Best Musical
1990 The Grapes of Wrath Frank Galati Best Play
1990 Prelude to a Kiss Craig Lucas Best Play
1991 The Secret Garden Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman Best Musical
1992 Marvin's Room Scott McPherson Best American Play
1994 Angels in America: Perestroika Tony Kushner Best Play
1997 The Life Cy Coleman, Ira Gasman, and David Newman Best Musical
1998 The Beauty Queen of Leenane Martin McDonagh Best Play
1998 Three Days of Rain Richard Greenberg Best American Play
1998 Ragtime Stephen Flaherty, Lynn Ahrens, and Terrence McNally Best Musical
2000 Contact John Weidman Best Musical
2001 The Play About the Baby Edward Albee Best American Play
2007 Radio Golf August Wilson Best Play
2007 Frost/Nixon Peter Morgan Best Play
2007 Dying City Christopher Shinn Best American Play
2007 Indian Blood A.R. Gurney Best American Play
2008 Adding Machine Jason Loewith and Joshua Schmidt Best Musical
2008 The Seafarer Conor McPherson Best Play
2008 Rock 'n' Roll Tom Stoppard Best Play
2009 Next to Normal Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey Best Musical
2009 Road Show Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman Best Musical
2009 God of Carnage Yasmina Reza Best Foreign Play
2009 Blasted Sarah Kane Best Foreign Play

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan Lane</span> American actor (born 1956)

Nathan Lane is an American actor. Since 1975, he has been seen on stage and screen in both comedic and dramatic roles. Lane has received numerous awards, including three Tony Awards, six Drama Desk Awards, two Obie Awards, the Olivier Award, three Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Lane received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006 and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2010, The New York Times hailed Lane as "the greatest stage entertainer of the decade".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patti LuPone</span> American actress and singer

Patti Ann LuPone is an American actress and singer best known for her work in musical theater. After starting her professional career with The Acting Company in 1972 she soon gained acclaim for her leading performances on the Broadway and West End stage. She has won three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, and two Grammy Awards, and was a 2006 inductee to the American Theater Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drama Desk Award</span> New York theater awards

The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Following the 1964 renaming as the Drama Desk Awards, Broadway productions were included beginning with the 1968–69 award season. The awards are considered a significant American theater distinction.

The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by The Village Voice newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after the 2014 ceremony, the American Theatre Wing became the joint presenter and administrative manager of the Obie Awards. The Obie Awards are considered off-Broadway's highest honor, similar to the Tony Awards for Broadway productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judy Kuhn</span> American actress and singer (born 1958)

Judy Kuhn is an American actress, singer and activist, known for her work in musical theatre. A four-time Tony Award nominee, she has released four studio albums and sang the title role in the 1995 film Pocahontas, including her rendition of the song "Colors of the Wind", which won its composers the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jefferson Mays</span> American actor

Lewis Jefferson Mays is an American actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Tony Award, a Helen Hayes Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, two Drama Desk Awards, two Outer Critics Circle Awards and three Obie Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine Ebersole</span> American actress and singer (b. 1953)

Christine Ebersole is an American actress and singer. She has appeared in film, television, and on stage. She starred in the Broadway musicals 42nd Street and Grey Gardens, winning two Tony Awards. In 1984, she appeared as Caterina Cavalieri in the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Directors Guild of America Award-winning period biographical drama film Amadeus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephanie J. Block</span> American actress and singer (born 1972)

Stephanie Janette Block is an American actress and singer, best known for her work on the Broadway stage.

The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newspapers, digital and national publications, and other media beyond Broadway. The awards were first presented during the 1949–50 theater season, celebrating their 70th anniversary in 2020. David Gordon, Editor-in-Chief at TheaterMania.com, currently serves as president.

<i>Grey Gardens</i> (musical) Musical

Grey Gardens is a musical with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel, and lyrics by Michael Korie, produced in 2006 and based on the 1975 documentary of the same title about the lives of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale by Albert and David Maysles. The Beales were Jacqueline Kennedy's aunt and cousin, respectively. Set at Grey Gardens, the Bouviers' mansion in East Hampton, New York, the musical tracks the progression of the two women's lives from their original status as rich and socially polished aristocrats to their eventual largely isolated existence in a home overrun by cats and cited for repeated health code violations. However, its more central purpose is to untangle the complicated dynamics of their dysfunctional mother/daughter relationship.

The Drama League Awards, created in 1922, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing. Each May, the awards are presented by The Drama League at the Annual Awards Luncheon with performers, directors, producers, and Drama League members in attendance. The Drama League membership comprises the entire theater community, including award-winning actors, designers, directors, playwrights, producers, industry veterans, critics and theater-going audiences from across the U.S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Maxwell</span> American actress

Janice Elaine Maxwell was an American stage and television actress. She was a five-time Tony Award nominee and two-time Drama Desk Award winner. In a career spanning over thirty years, Maxwell was one of the most celebrated and critically acclaimed stage actresses of her time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Ashford</span> American stage director and choreographer

Rob Ashford is an American stage director and choreographer. He is a Tony Award, Olivier Award, Emmy Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award winner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Timbers</span> American writer and director

Alex Timbers is an American writer and director best known for his work on stage and television. He has received numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Drama Desk Award, as well as nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Grammy Award. Timbers received the Drama League Founder's Award for Excellence in Directing and the Jerome Robbins Award for Directing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Sanders (producer)</span> American TV, film and theatre producer

Scott Sanders is an American television producer, film producer and theatre producer. His theatrical musical version of Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple, for which he was a lead producer alongside co-producers Oprah Winfrey and Quincy Jones, premiered on Broadway in 2005, garnering 11 Tony Award Nominations including Best Musical.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Baldwin</span> American singer

Katherine Baldwin is an American singer and actress known for her work in musical theater. She received a Tony Award nomination for her work in the 2009 Broadway revival of Finian's Rainbow. She also co-starred opposite Bette Midler, David Hyde Pierce, and Gavin Creel in the Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!, for which she received Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle award nominations for her work as the saucy millineress Irene Molloy. Baldwin continued with the production until it closed in August 2018.

Jessica Ruth Mueller is an American actress and singer. She started her acting career in Chicago and won two Joseph Jefferson Awards in 2008 and 2011 for her roles as Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel and Amalia Balash in She Loves Me. In 2011, she moved to New York City to star in a Broadway revival of musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her performance as Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. She went on to receive two additional Best Actress in a Musical Tony Award nominations for her leading roles in Waitress (2016) and the Broadway revival of Carousel (2018).

Amy Herzog is an American playwright. She is known for her poignant and character-driven plays that explore themes of family dynamics, personal relationships, and the complexities of human experience. She has received a Drama Desk Award as well as a nomination for a Tony Award.

<i>Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike</i> 2012 comedy play by Christopher Durang

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is a comedy play written by Christopher Durang. The story revolves around the relationships of three middle-aged single siblings, two of whom live together, and takes place during a visit by the third, Masha, who supports them. They discuss their lives and loves, argue, and Masha threatens to sell the house. Some of the show's elements were derived from works of Anton Chekhov, including several character names and sibling relationships, the play's setting in a country house with a vestigial cherry orchard, the performance of an "avant-garde" play by one of the main characters, and the themes of old vs. new generations, real vs. assumed identities, the challenges of a woman growing older after successes in a career that seems to be ending, the hope and carelessness of youth, intrafamilial rivalries, and the possible loss of an ancestral home.

The Humans is a one-act play written by Stephen Karam. The play opened on Broadway in 2016 after an engagement Off-Broadway in 2015. The Humans was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play.

References

  1. Jones, Kenneth. Passing Strange and August: Osage County Win 2007–08 NY Drama Critics Circle Award", playbill.com, May 12, 2008. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Hetrick, Adam. "NY Drama Critics' Circle Awards Matilda and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike With Top Honors" playbill.com, May 3, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  3. "Current Membership" dramacritics.org. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  4. Simonson, Robert (February 7, 2003). "Times' Brantley and Weber Exit New York Drama Critics Circle". Playbill . Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  5. Brownstein, Matthew (November 22, 2021). "Why Times Reporters Don't Vote for M.V.P. (Or the Hall of Fame or the Tonys)" . The New York Times . Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  6. Gans, Andrew. " 'Good People', 'Book of Mormon', 'Jerusalem' Named Winners of New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards" playbill.com, May 9, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Jones, Kenneth. "Andrew Garfield, John Guare, Lin-Manuel Miranda Present NY Drama Critics' Circle Awards May 14" playbill.com, May 14, 2012. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  8. Gans,Andrew. "New York Drama Critics' Circle Names 'Orphans' Home Cycle' Best Play" playbill.com, April 30, 2010. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  9. Feldman, Adam. "No award this year for Best Musical" twitter.com, May 3, 2018. Retrieved May 26, 2018.

Notes