Jeremy O. Harris, Brian Stokes Mitchell, John Mulaney, Heidi Schreck and Michael Shannon will present the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards live on Wednesday, April 29, at 8 p.m. as a special episode of the streaming series Stars in the House.
The 85th annual awards will also be streamed on The Actors Fund YouTube channel.
(l to r) Antwayn Hopper and Larry Owens in ‘A Strange Loop.’ (Photo: Joan Marcus)
This year’s winners of the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards are Will Arbery for Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Best Play) and Michael R. Jackson for A Strange Loop (Best Musical). Special citations will be awarded to David Byrne and the Broadway production of American Utopia, Deirdre O’Connell for career excellence, including her performance in Dana H., and the New York theater community for perseverance in the face of loss during the COVID-19 pandemic.
New York Drama Critics’ Circle president Adam Feldman, theater critic and editor for Time Out New York, will host the awards ceremony.
Stars in the House is a twice-daily talk show created by Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley that benefits the Actors Fund and its services for those most vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19. The show is executive produced by Rudetsky, Wesley, and Margie Verdon and is produced by Blake Ross.
The New York Drama Critics’ Circle comprises 20 drama critics from newspapers, magazines, wire services and websites based in the New York metropolitan area. The New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, which has been awarded every year since 1936 to the best new play of the season (with optional awards for foreign or American plays, musicals and special achievements), is the nation’s second-oldest theater award, after the Pulitzer Prize for drama.
The members of the New York Drama Critics’ Circle are David Cote, Vinson Cunningham, Joe Dziemianowicz (vice president), Adam Feldman (president), David Finkle, Jeremy Gerard, Charles Isherwood, Chris Jones, Christopher Kelly, Soraya Nadia McDonald, David Rooney, Frank Scheck, Alexandra Schwartz, Helen Shaw, David Sheward, Marilyn Stasio, Zachary Stewart (treasurer), Terry Teachout, Elisabeth Vincentelli and Matt Windman. Emeritus members include Melissa Rose Bernardo, Michael Feingold, Robert Feldberg, Elysa Gardner, Brian Scott Lipton, Jesse Oxfeld, Michael Sommers, Steven Suskin, Linda Winer and Richard Zoglin.
