Last night, the Outer Critics Circle revealed the winners of their 62nd annual awards. The honor for best new Broadway musical went to Once, which also saw wins for director John Tiffany and bookwriter Enda Walsh, while Queen of the Mist was named best Off-Broadway musical. The Broadway production of Follies was named best musical revival, also taking honors for leading actor Danny Burstein. The award for leading actress went to Audra McDonald, appearing as Bess in the revival of Porgy and Bess, and the featured acting awards went to Michael McGrath and Judy Kaye, both appearing in Nice Work If You Can Get It.
Other winning musicals included Newsies (for Alan Menken and Jack Feldman’s score and Christopher Gattelli’s choreography), Spider-Man (for George Tsypin’s sets and Eiko Ishioka’s costumes), and Ghost (for Hugh Vanstone’s lighting).
Ed Kleban
The Kleban Foundation has announced the winners of its annual $100,000 prizes for lyricists and librettists. The award for lyric writing went to Marcy Heisler, who has written the musicals Junie B. Jones, Dear Edwina, and the upcoming Ever After with her longtime writing partner, composer Zina Goldrich. Their latest show, The Great American Mousical, with librettist Hunter Bell, will open at Goodspeed Musicals this fall.
The award for bookwriting was a tie between librettists Andrew Gerle and Matt Schatz. Gerle wrote the book for Meet John Doe, seen Off-Broadway earlier this season, as well as The Tutor, Brighter Things, and Gloryana. Schatz’s work includes Love Trapezoid, The Tallest Building in the World, Richie Farmer Will Have His Revenge on Durham with Diana Grisanti, Roanoke with Michael Lew, and Oh, Gastronomy!
This year’s judges included librettist Marshall Brickman (Jersey Boys), R&H head Ted Chapin, and actress Debra Monk. The prizes will be presented June 18 at ASCAP in New York.