NEW YORK CITY: The New York Drama Critics’ Circle has announced the winners of three awards for the 2018-19 season: best play, awarded to Jez Butterworth’s The Ferryman; best musical, awarded to Robert Horn and David Yazbek’s Tootsie; and best American play, awarded to Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me. The award for best play includes a cash prize of $2,500, and the award for best American play carries a $1,000 cash prize.
The Ferryman, written by Jez Butterworth and directed by Sam Mendes, is a family drama set in 1980s Northern Ireland. The play had its world premiere at London’s Royal Court Theatre in 2017 and received its U.S. premiere at New York’s Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on Oct. 21, 2018, where it currently plays.
Tootsie, a stage adaptation of the 1982 film, features book by Robert Horn, music and lyrics by David Yazbek, and direction by Scott Ellis. The musical had its world premiere at Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre in late 2018 and its New York premiere at the Marquis Theatre on April 23, 2019, where it currently plays.
What the Constitution Means to Me, written by Heidi Schreck and directed by Oliver Butler, reflects on women’s relationship with the U.S. Constitution. The play had its Off-Broadway premiere at New York Theatre Workshop in late 2018 and its Broadway premiere on March 31, 2019 at the Hayes Theatre, where it currently plays.
Special citations were given to Irish Repertory Theatre and Page 73, as well as the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene production of Fiddler on the Roof.
