David Sheward

In a sign of an industry on the rebound, Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles is getting ready to announce a return of programming at the Mark Taper Forum, where production was paused last year while the organization went through a budget crunch. Additionally, following the casting of a Black actress in the role of Juliet, an upcoming West End production of Romeo and Juliet from the Jamie Lloyd Company started dealing with racist backlash online - we’ll show you how the company responded.

Two groups of critics (or, more precisely, one group of critics and one group of mostly critics) give theater awards each season. In this continuing series on theater’s awards, I look at the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards and Outer Critics Circle Awards. 

The New York Drama Critics' Circle has announced that Carolee Carmello, Harvey Fierstein, Audra McDonald, Laurie Metcalf, and Brandon Uranowitz will be the presenters of its 2023 awards.

The New York Drama Critics' Circle today named Bruce Norris’s Downstate best play of the 2022-23 season.

The winners of the 2023 New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards will be announced Monday, May 8 at 7pm. The selections will be made immediately beforehand at the organization's 87th annual voting meeting.

The New York Drama Critics' Circle today named Samuel D. Hunter’s A Case for the Existence of God best play of the 2021-22 season. The award for best musical went to David Lindsay-Abaire’s and Jeanine Tesori’s Kimberly Akimbo. The selections were made at the organization’s 86th annual voting meeting.

The winners of the 2022 New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards will be announced Thursday, May 12 at 6pm. The selections will be made immediately beforehand at the organization's 86th annual voting meeting.

This Saturday morning, June 6, two-time Tony-nominated actor LEWIS J. STADLEN ('The Producers,' the original 'Sunshine Boys'), will be a special guest on the 16th Annual TotalTheater Broadway Show. The videocast will air live, 9am-noon(Eastern) on Facebook (facebook.com/davesgoneby).

Jeremy O. Harris, Brian Stokes Mitchell, John Mulaney, Heidi Schreck and Michael Shannon will present the Drama Critics' Circle's 85th annual awards live on Wednesday, April 29 at 8pm as a special episode of the streaming series Stars in the House.

The New York Drama Critics' Circle today named Will Arbery's Heroes of the Fourth Turning best play of the 2019-20 season. The award for best musical went to Michael R. Jackson's A Strange Loop. The selections were made at the organization's 85th annual voting meeting on April 15.

The winners of the 2020 New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards will be announced on April 29, 2020 at 10am.

The New York Drama Critics' Circle today named The Ferryman by Jez Butterworth best play of the 2018-19 season. The award for best musical went to Tootsie. What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck was named best American play. The selections were made at the organization's 84th annual voting meeting.

The winners of the 2019 New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards will be announced Monday, May 6, 2019 at approximately 5:30pm. The selections will be made at the organization's 84th annual voting meeting.

In the last few decades, theater has become much bigger business than it used to be. However, in that same period of time, the coverage of it in mainstream media outlets has dwindled. Many of us may not remember a time that off-Broadway openings were covered on Entertainment Tonight, but it happened. In recent years, even in America's theater epicenter, theater is losing ground in major publications. Neither The New York Post or The New York Daily News has a critic on staff any longer. It is hard to even tally the amount of veteran theater writers from around the country that have lost their jobs in the last decade.

The New York Drama Critics' Circle awards were presented at a private cocktail reception last night. Thursday, May 10. The award for best play carries a cash prize of $2,500. The prize is made possible by a grant from the Lucille Lortel Foundation. BroadwayWorld attended the big night and you can check out photos below!

The New York Drama Critics' Circle today named Mary Jane by Amy Herzog best play of the 2017-18 season.  Hangmen by Martin McDonagh was named best foreign play. No award was given for best musical. The selections were made at the organization's 83rd annual voting meeting.

The winners of the 2018 New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards will be announced Thursday, May 3, 2018 at approximately 5:30pm. The selections will be made at the organization's 83rd annual voting meeting.

The American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) has named Airness by Chelsea Marcantel the winner of the 2018 M. Elizabeth Osborn New Play Award. The award, which recognizes an emerging playwright, will be presented at the Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville on April 7. Airness, which premiered at Humana, concerns a woman entering her first air guitar competition. There she discovers there's an art form at the center of what may seem on the surface like just people pretending to play instruments.

After lengthy deliberation, the American Theatre Critics Association has selected six finalists for the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award, recognizing playwrights for the best scripts that premiered professionally outside New York City during 2017.

Just yesterday, the New York Drama Critics' Circle gathered to honor their 2017 award winners at Feinstein's/54 Below- Best Play: Oslo and Best Musical: The Band's Visit. The award for best play carries a cash prize of $2,500. The prize is made possible by a grant from the Lucille Lortel Foundation.