Clarissa Marzán
The 61st Outer Critics Circle Awards
"Anything Goes" and "The Book of Mormon"
received the most accolades from the Outer Critics Circle Awards when the
results were released on Monday May 16, preceding the celebratory awards
dinner to be held on May 26 at Sardi's Restaurant in Midtown Manhattan.
With both productions winning four awards apiece, "Anything Goes"
won Outstanding Revival of a Musical and "The Book of Mormon"
received Outstanding New Broadway Musical. The Outstanding New Broadway
Play award went to "War Horse," which also won two other awards.
The prize for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play was conferred to "Other
Desert Cities," while "The Kid" received the Outstanding
New Off-Broadway Musical award. The new movie-to-musical "Sister Act"
appeared set to receive much praise, having led the competition with nine
nominations, yet failed to receive any honors.
The Outer Critics Circle, created in 1949, serves as an outlet for out-of-town
theater to recognize New York plays, with writers ranging local to national
publications in print and online. The awards seek to honor both Broadway
and Off-Broadway productions, not only for Best Play, but also for notable
theater production and creative elements. Shortly after releasing their
list of nominees on April 26, however, the Outer Critics Circle came under
fire in the New York Times's ArtsBeat blog and its commentators for having
ignored critically and commercially well-received productions, such as "Driving
Miss Daisy" with acclaimed actors Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones.
Sutton Foster of "Anything Goes" this year received her third
award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical, having won in 2009 and 2002
for "Shrek: The Musical" and "Thoroughly Modern Millie,"
respectively. Mutiple Olivier-award nominee Adam Godley was awarded Outstanding
Featured Actor in a Musical for "Anything Goes." The prize for
Outstanding Choreographer was presented to the musical's director and choreographer
Kathleen Marshall, who has also been praised in other awards for her choreography
in "The Pajama Game" and "Wonderful Town."
Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker won Outstanding Director of a Musical for
"The Book of Mormon," a new musical by Parker and Matt Stone,
the creators of the "South Park" TV show. Parker, Stone, and "Avenue
Q" composer Robert Lopez were recognized for Outstanding New Score.
The production's lead actor Josh Gad picked up the award for Outstanding
Actor in a Musical.
Larry Kramer's "The Normal Heart" was awarded Outstanding Revival
of a Play, having moved from Off-Broadway to Broadway in 2011. The show
features Ellen Barkin, who was awarded Outstanding Broadway Debut. "War
Horse" directors Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris received the Lucille
Lortel Award for Outstanding Director of a Play. Mark Rylance won Outstanding
Actor in a Play for his work in "Jerusalem" and both Frances McDormand
and Nina Arianda received Outstanding Actress in a Play for their respective
performances in "Good People" and "Born Yesterday."
The award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play was given to Brian Bedford
for "The Importance of Being Earnest" and Outstanding Featured
Actress to Elizabeth Rodriguez for "The Motherf**ker with the Hat."
Laura Benanti received the Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical award
for "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown."
John Leguizamo won the Outstanding Solo Performance award for "Ghetto
Klown;" he had previously won an Outer Critics award for his performance
in the Off-Broadway production "Mambo Mouth." For his New York
debut of "The Whipping Man," Matthew Lopez was awarded the John
Gassner Playwrighting Award. The Special Achievement Award was presented
to Adrian Kohler with Basil Jones of Handspring Puppet Company for puppet
design, fabrication and direction of "War Horse."
Neil Murray's work in "Brief Encounter" was recognized for Outstanding
Set Design. The award for Outstanding Costume Design went to Tim Chappel
and Lizzy Gardiner for their work in "Priscilla Queen of the Desert
the Musical." Paule Constable won Outstanding Lighting Design for "War
Horse."
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