New York Drama Critics Award: August: Osage County wins best play and Passing Strange wins Best musical

'August: Osage County,' by Tracy Letts, today (12 May 2008) won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award (NYDCC) for Best Play of the 2007-2008 season. The Best Musical award was given to 'Passing Strange' (book and lyrics by Stew and music by Stew and Heidi Rodewald).

No award was presented this year for Best Foreign Play.

The selections were made at the 73rd annual voting meeting of the organization today at the offices of Time Out New York in Manhattan.

The awards will be presented at a cocktail reception to be held on 19 May 2008, at the Algonquin Hotel, where the NYDCC was founded in 1935 by such legendary critics as Brooks Atkinson, Walter Winchell and Robert Benchley. Presenters will include Edward Albee and Marian Seldes.

The award for best play carries with it a cash prize of $2,500. The awards are made possible by a grant from the Lucille Lortel Foundation.

August: Osage County, written by Tracy Letts and directed by Anna D. Shapiro, opened at Broadway�s Imperial Theatre on 4 Dec 2007, and recently transfered to the Music Box Theatre, where it currently plays. It had its world premiere 28 June 2007 at Chicago�s Steppenwolf Theatre.

Passing Strange has book and lyrics by Stew and music by Stew and Heidi Rodewald. The musical, which is directed by and created in collaboration with Annie Dorsen, opened at Broadway�s Belasco Theatre February 28, 2008, where it currently plays. Its world premiere took place in October 2006 at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre and its New York premiere at the Public Theater where it opened 14 May 2007.

The New York Drama Critics� Circle comprises 22 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines, and wire services based in the New York metropolitan area. The New York Drama Critics' Circle Award is the nation's second-oldest theatre award, after the Pulitzer Prize for drama; it has been awarded every year since 1936 to the best new play of the season (with additional awards for musicals and foreign or American plays as well as citations for special achievement).