NEW YORK CITY: The New York Drama Critics’ Circle named Oslo and The Band’s Visit as the best play and best musical of the 2016-17 season. The selections were made May 8 at the organization’s annual voting meeting, and the awards will be presented at a reception on May 18.
J.T. Rogers’s Oslo will take home a cash prize of $2,500 funded by the Lucille Lortel Foundation for the best play award. Directed by Bartlett Sher, Oslo had its world premiere at Lincoln Center Theater’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater in 2016 and transferred to Broadway in April at LCT’s Vivian Beaumont Theater. Other nominees for the prize include Sweat by Lynn Nottage, Indecent by Paula Vogel, A Life by Adam Bock, and A Doll’s House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath.
The Band’s Visit, by Itamar Moses with music and lyrics by David Yazbek, received the best musical award. The musical premiered in a production directed by David Cromer at the Atlantic Theater Company in December 2016 and closed in January.
Special citations were awarded to Taylor Mac for A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, Ruben Santiago-Hudson and the cast of Jitney, and to playwright Paula Vogel for career achievement.
The Drama Critics’ Circle includes 22 critics from various publications based in New York City. Since 1986, the award has been presented to the best new play of the previous season, with awards occasionally given to foreign plays, musicals, and performers.
