Outer Critics Circle Award - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

and Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...

and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets outside of New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. Simon Saltzman, a long-time member of the OCC executive committee and theatre reviewer, serves as president.

The first awards (for 1949-50) were: The Cocktail Party
The Cocktail Party
The Cocktail Party is a play by T. S. Eliot. Elements of the play are based on Alcestis, by the Ancient Greek playwright Euripides. The play was the most popular of Eliot's seven plays in his lifetime, although his 1935 play, Murder in the Cathedral, is better remembered today.The Cocktail Party...

(Play); The Consul
The Consul
The Consul is an opera in three acts with music and libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti, his first full-length opera. Its first performance was on March 1, 1950, at the Shubert Theatre in Philadelphia with Patricia Neway as the lead heroine Magda Sorel, Gloria Lane as the secretary of the consulate,...

(Musical); Sheila Guyse, Performances in Supporting Roles for Lost in the Stars
Lost in the Stars
Lost in the Stars is a musical with book and lyrics by Maxwell Anderson and music by Kurt Weill, based on the novel Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton...

, and Daniel Reed

Daniel Reed (screenwriter)

Daniel Reed was an American director, screenwriter and actor.-Biography:Reed was born July 12, 1892 in Colorado, USA. He died February 9, 1978.-Film credits:*Maybe It's Love...

, Performances in Supporting Roles for Come Back, Little Sheba
Come Back, Little Sheba (play)
Come Back, Little Sheba is a 1950 play by the American dramatist William Inge. The play was Inge's first, written while he was a teacher at Washington University in St...

.

The nominees are announced each April. The presentation of awards is made in late May at Sardi's

Sardi's

Sardi's is a restaurant in New York City's theater district at 234 West 44th Street in Manhattan. Known for the hundreds of caricatures of show-business celebrities that adorn its walls, Sardi's opened at its current location on March 5, 1927....

Restaurant in Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

, New York City

New York City

and precedes the Tony Award

Tony Award

The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

s by about two weeks.

The nominees for 2010-11 were announced on April 26, 2011 by Tyne Daly

Tyne Daly

Tyne Daly is an American stage and screen actress, widely known for her work as Detective Mary Beth Lacey in the television series Cagney & Lacey and as Maxine Gray in the television series Judging Amy. She is also known for her role as Alice Henderson in television series Christy...

and Brian d'Arcy James

Brian d'Arcy James

Brian d'Arcy James is an American actor and musician.-Personal life:James was born in Saginaw, Michigan, the son of Mary , a seller of children's books, and a lawyer father, Thomas F. James. Brian's maternal grandfather was Harry F. Kelly, former Governor of the state of Michigan...

. Winners were announced on May 16, with the ceremony on May 26.

Award categories

Awards are currently given in the following categories:

Outstanding Broadway Play

Outstanding Broadway Musical

Outstanding Off-Broadway Play

Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical

Outstanding New Score

Outstanding Revival of a Play

Outstanding Revival of a Musical

Outstanding Actor in a Play

Outstanding Actress in a Play

Outstanding Actor in a Musical

Outstanding Actress in a Musical

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical

Outstanding Solo Performance

Outstanding Direction of a Play

Outstanding Direction of a Musical

Outstanding Choreography

Outstanding Set Design

Outstanding Costume Design

Outstanding Lighting Design

John Gassner Award, Presented for an American play, preferably by a new playwright

2010-2011 season

The nominees, announced on April 26, 2011, included nine nominations for the musical Sister Act, the most of any show. Anything Goes
Anything Goes
Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London...

received eight nominations. The Special Achievement Awards were also announced: Ellen Barkin

Ellen Barkin

Ellen Barkin is an American film, television and theatre actress.-Early life:She was born Ellen Rona Barkin in Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York, the daughter of Evelyn , a hospital administrator who worked at Jamaica Hospital, and Sol Barkin, a chemical salesman...

, Outstanding Broadway Debut in The Normal Heart
The Normal Heart
The Normal Heart is a largely autobiographical play by Larry Kramer. It focuses on the rise of the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City between 1981 and 1984, as seen through the eyes of writer/activist Ned Weeks, the gay Jewish-American founder of a prominent HIV advocacy group...

; and Adrian Kohler with Basil Jones for Handspring Puppet Company

Handspring Puppet Company

The Handspring Puppet Company is a puppetry performance and design company established in 1981 by Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones, situated in Cape Town, South Africa. Thys Stander is the company's chief puppet maker.-History:...

Puppet Design, Fabrication and Direction for War Horse
War Horse (play)
War Horse is a play based on the book of the same name by acclaimed children's writer Michael Morpurgo, adapted for stage by Nick Stafford. Originally Morpurgo thought "they must be mad" to try to make a play from his best-selling 1982 novel. He was proved wrong by the play's instant success...

.

Award winners
Source:BroadwayWorld

Outstanding New Broadway Musical - The Book of Mormon (which also won Outstanding New Score)
Outstanding New Broadway Play - War Horse
Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play - Other Desert Cities (by Jon Robin Baitz
Jon Robin Baitz
Jon Robin Baitz is an American playwright, screenwriter, television producer and sometime actor.-Life and career:Baitz was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Edward Baitz, an executive of the Carnation Company. Baitz was raised in Brazil and South Africa before the family returned to...

)
Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical - The Kid
The Kid (musical)
The Kid is a musical with a book by Michael Zam, music composed by Andy Monroe and lyrics by Jack Lechner. The comic story concerns an open adoption process by a same-sex couple. It is based on the 1999 non-fiction book by Dan Savage, The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go...

(book by Michael Zam, music by Andy Monroe, lyrics by Jack Lechner)
Outstanding Revival Of A Musical - Anything Goes
Outstanding Revival Of A Play - The Normal Heart
Outstanding Director of a Musical - Casey Nicholaw
Casey Nicholaw
Casey Nicholaw is an American theatre director, choreographer and performer. He has been nominated for Tony Awards for directing and choreographing The Drowsy Chaperone , for choreographing Monty Python's Spamalot , and choreographing The Book of Mormon , as well as winning for his co-direction...

and Trey Parker
Trey Parker
Trey Parker is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short...

(Book of Mormon)
Outstanding Director of a Play - Marianne Elliott
Marianne Elliott (director)
Marianne Elliott is a British theatre director.-Early life:Marianne Elliott was born in 1966 in London, the daughter of Michael Elliott, the theatre director and co-founder of the Royal Exchange theatre in Manchester and the actress Rosalind Knight. The family moved to Manchester when she was 8...

and Tom Morris
Tom Morris (director)
Tom Morris is a British theatre director, writer and producer. He was the Associate Director at the National Theatre in London, before taking over as Artistic Director of the Bristol Old Vic theatre in 2009.-Early life:...

(War Horse)
Outstanding Choreographer - Kathleen Marshall
Kathleen Marshall
Kathleen Marshall is an American choreographer, director, and creative consultant.-Life and career:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Marshall graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School and Smith College. She worked in the Pittsburgh theatre scene when she was younger, performing with such...

(Anything Goes)
Outstanding Costume Design - Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner (Priscilla)
Outstanding Lighting Design - Paule Constable (War Horse)
Outstanding Set Design - Neil Murray (Brief Encounter)
Outstanding Actress in a Musical - Sutton Foster
Sutton Foster
Sutton Lenore Foster is an American actress, singer and dancer. Foster has received two Tony Awards, in 2002 for her role of Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie and in 2011 for her role of Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes...
Outstanding Actor in a Musical - Josh Gad
Josh Gad
Joshua “Josh” Gad is an American film-, television-, and stage-actor best known for playing Elder Arnold Cunningham in the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon and the role of Ryan Church in the television series Back to You. Gad has also appeared in episodes of ER, The Daily Show, Modern Family...
Outstanding Actor in a Play - Mark Rylance
Mark Rylance
Mark Rylance is an English actor, theatre director and playwright.As an actor, Rylance found success on stage and screen. For his work in theatre he has won Olivier and Tony Awards among others, and a BAFTA TV Award...
Outstanding Actress in a Play - Nina Arianda
Nina Arianda
Nina Arianda is an American theatre and film actress.-Early life and education:Arianda grew up in Clifton, New Jersey and Heidelberg, Germany...

and Frances McDormand
Frances McDormand
Frances Louise McDormand is an American film and stage actress. She has starred in a number of films, including her Academy Award-winning performance as Marge Gunderson in Fargo, in 1996...

(tie)
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play - Brian Bedford
Brian Bedford
Brian Bedford is an English actor. He has appeared on the stage and in film, and is known for both acting in and directing Shakespeare.-Life and career:...
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play - Elizabeth Rodriguez
Elizabeth Rodriguez
Elizabeth Rodriguez is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Carmen Morales on All My Children .-Filmography:-External links:...
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical - Laura Benanti
Laura Benanti
Laura Benanti is an American actress of television, film and Broadway theatre noted for her award winning performance as Louise in the 2008 production of Gypsy.-Early years:...
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical - Adam Godley

2009-2010 season

Nominees for the 2009-2010 season were announced on April 26, 2010 by siblings Sutton Foster

Sutton Foster

Sutton Lenore Foster is an American actress, singer and dancer. Foster has received two Tony Awards, in 2002 for her role of Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie and in 2011 for her role of Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes...

and Hunter Foster

Hunter Foster

Hunter Foster is an American musical theatre actor/singer, librettist and playwright.-Early life:Foster was born in Lumberton, North Carolina, but raised in Augusta, Georgia and Troy, Michigan. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre Studies from the University of Michigan in 1992...

, with winners announced on May 17. Seven nominations each were received by the musical Memphis
Memphis (Musical)
Memphis is a musical by David Bryan and Joe DiPietro . It is loosely based on Memphis disc jockey Dewey Phillips, one of the first white DJs to play black music in the 1950s...

and the revival of The Royal Family, the most of any production. The Scottsboro Boys
The Scottsboro Boys (musical)
The Scottsboro Boys is a musical with a book by David Thompson, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. Based on the Scottsboro Boys trial, the musical is one of the last collaborations between Kander and Ebb prior to the latter's death...

was nominated for six awards, including Best Off-Broadway musical. Shows receiving five nominations were The Addams Family
The Addams Family (musical)
The Addams Family is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. The show is based upon The Addams Family characters created by Charles Addams in his single-panel gag cartoons, which depict a ghoulish American family with an affinity for...

, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson is a rock musical with music and lyrics written by Michael Friedman, and a book by its director Alex Timbers.The show is a comedic Wild West rock musical about the founding of the Democratic Party...

, The Orphans' Home Cycle
The Orphans' Home Cycle
The Orphans' Home Cycle is a 3-play drama written by Horton Foote. Each of the three plays in the trilogy comprises three one-act plays. They are The Story of a Childhood , The Story of a Marriage , and The Story of a Family .The plays focus on Horace Robedaux, whose character was inspired by...

, and Promises, Promises
Promises, Promises
Promises, Promises is a musical based on the 1960 film The Apartment. The music is by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, and book by Neil Simon. Musical numbers for the original Broadway production were choreographed by Michael Bennett; Robert Moore directed and David Merrick produced...

. Finian's Rainbow
Finian's Rainbow
Finian's Rainbow is a musical with a book by E.Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy, lyrics by Harburg, and music by Burton Lane. The 1947 Broadway production ran for 725 performances. Several revivals and a 1968 film version followed. A Broadway revival ran from October 8, 2009 until January 17, 2010...

, La Cage aux Folles
La Cage aux Folles
La Cage aux Folles is a musical with a book by Harvey Fierstein and lyrics and music by Jerry Herman. Based on the 1973 French play of the same name by Jean Poiret, it focuses on a gay couple: Georges, the manager of a Saint-Tropez nightclub featuring drag entertainment, and Albin, his romantic...

, Lend Me A Tenor
Lend Me a Tenor
Lend Me a Tenor is a comedy by Ken Ludwig. The play was produced on both the West End and Broadway . Although it received seven Tony Award nominations, it won only one, for Best Actor. A Broadway revival opened in 2010. Lend Me a Tenor has been translated into sixteen languages and produced in...

, and Sondheim on Sondheim
Sondheim on Sondheim
Sondheim on Sondheim is a musical revue consisting of music and lyrics written by Stephen Sondheim for his many shows. It is conceived and directed by James Lapine. The revue had a limited run on Broadway in 2010.-Background:...

each received four nominations.

The Outstanding New Broadway Musical award was won by Memphis, which won a total of four awards. Other winners included: Outstanding New Broadway Play - Red
Red (play)
Red is a play by American writer John Logan about artist Mark Rothko first produced by the Donmar Warehouse, London in December 2009. The original production was directed by Michael Grandage and performed by Alfred Molina as Rothko and Eddie Redmayne as his assistant Ken.The production, with its...

and Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play - The Orphans' Home Cycle
The Orphans' Home Cycle
The Orphans' Home Cycle is a 3-play drama written by Horton Foote. Each of the three plays in the trilogy comprises three one-act plays. They are The Story of a Childhood , The Story of a Marriage , and The Story of a Family .The plays focus on Horace Robedaux, whose character was inspired by...

, which won two awards. The Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical was a tie, won by Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and The Scottsboro Boys. La Cage aux Folles won four awards: Outstanding Revival Of A Musical, Outstanding Actor In A Musical (Douglas Hodge

Douglas Hodge

Douglas Hodge is an English actor, director, and musician who trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.Hodge is a council member of the National Youth Theatre for whom, in 1989, he co-wrote Pacha Mama's Blessing about the Amazon rain forests staged at the Almeida...

), Director (Terry Johnson), and Costume Design (Matthew Wright). Montego Glover

Montego Glover

Montego Glover is an American stage actress and singer. She has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in the musical Memphis and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical.-Biography:...

(Memphis) and Catherine Zeta-Jones

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Catherine Zeta-Jones, CBE, is a British actress. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of United Kingdom and United States television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as the 1998 action film The Mask of...

(A Little Night Music) tied for Outstanding Actress In A Musical.

2008-09 season

Billy Elliot the Musical
Billy Elliot the Musical
Billy Elliot the Musical is a musical based on the 2000 film Billy Elliot. The music is by Sir Elton John, and book and lyrics are by Lee Hall, who wrote the film's screenplay. The plot revolves around motherless Billy, who trades boxing gloves for ballet shoes...

and Shrek the Musical each received ten nominations, the most of any show. The winners were announced on May 11, 2009, with an awards dinner on May 21 at Sardi's Restaurant.

Billy Elliot the Musical won seven awards, including Outstanding New Broadway Musical, followed by Shrek the Musical with four. The award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical was a tie between Sutton Foster

Sutton Foster

and Josefina Scaglione

Josefina Scaglione

Josefina Scaglione is an Argentinian musical theatre actress, best known for her performance as Maria in the 2009 Broadway revival of West Side Story, for which she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical....

. Brian d'Arcy James

Brian d'Arcy James

won for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. Outstanding New Broadway Play was won by God of Carnage
God of Carnage
God of Carnage is a play by Yasmina Reza. It is about two pairs of parents, one of whose child has hurt the other at a public park, who meet to discuss the matter in a civilized manner. However, as the evening goes on, the parents become increasingly childish, resulting in the evening devolving...

.

The John Gassner Award (presented for an American play, preferably by a new playwright) was won by Gina Gionfriddo

Gina Gionfriddo

Gina Gionfriddo is an American playwright and television writer.For her writing she has received an Obie Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She has written for both the stage and for television...

for Becky Shaw
Becky Shaw
Becky Shaw is a 2008 play written by Gina Gionfriddo.The play had its world premiere at the 2008 Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, Kentucky...

, and the Special Achievement Award was given to the three actors who share the role of Billy Elliot, David Alvarez

David Álvarez

David Álvarez is the creator of the comic strip "Yenny" and illustrator and storyboard artist for DC Comics Looney Tunes series, Disney and other companies.-Early years:...

, Trent Kowalik

Trent Kowalik

Trent Kowalik is an American actor, dancer, and singer. Kowalik made his theatrical debut as "Billy" in the West End production of Billy Elliot the Musical on December 17, 2007...

, and Kiril Kulish

Kiril Kulish

Kiril Kulish is an American actor, dancer, and singer. Beginning his ballet training at the age of five, Kulish became a Tony Award winner at the age of fifteen as Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his role as one of the original Billys in the Broadway production of Billy Elliot the Musical.-...

in Billy Elliot the Musical.

All winners and nominees

The complete list of winners and nominees is at the Outer Critics Official Site.

External links