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NY Drama Critics’ Circle Awards

The New York Drama Critics' Circle met on 9 May 2011, to determine the winners of its 76th annual awards. The results were as follows:

  • Best Play: Good People, by David Lindsay-Abaire
  • Best Foreign Play: Jerusalem, by Jez Butterworth
  • Best Musical: The Book of Mormon, by Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez
  • Special Citation: The Broadway revival of The Normal Heart; Mark Rylance for La Bête and Jerusalem; and the direction, design and puppetry of War Horse.
The first ballot for Best Play was radically fractured, with no single candidate garnering more than five of the 24 total votes. On the third (weighted) ballot, the race remained competitive, with 'Good People' and' Jerusalem' winning 23 points and 'Other Desert Cities' running just behind them with 22 points. Since no play reached the necessary threshold of 37 points, the Circle moved to a fourth ballot—newly approved in a bylaw change in January—that reduced the field to the third ballot's top four vote-getters (including 'The Motherf**ker with the Hat,' which had received 11 points, narrowly edging out such contenders as 'Bengal Tiger in the Baghdad Zoo,' 'The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity,' 'War Horse' and 'The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures'). On this ballot, in which previous proxy voters did not participate, 'Good People' won with 34 points, with 'Other Desert Cities' in second place with 30 points.

The Circle then moved to the award for Best Foreign Play. After narrowly failing to win a majority on the first ballot, winning 12 votes to 'War Horse's' eight, 'Jerusalem' won on the third ballot with 49 points to 'War Horse's' 37.

In the vote for Best Musical, 'The Book of Mormon' won a decisive majority in the first round of voting, with 17 of the 24 votes cast.

After a lively discussion of many eligible candidates, the Circle voted to award three Special Citations: to the production of 'The Normal Heart,' to actor Mark Rylance and to the direction, design and puppetry of 'War Horse.'

The awards will presented at a private ceremony at Angus McIndoe Restaurant on 16 May 2011.

Originally published on

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