Memphis, Red take Outer Critics awards
Written by on May 17th, 2010 in Latest News.
Montego Glover, shown in a scene from Memphis at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre in New York, has tied with Catherine Zeta-Jones for the Outer Critics Circle Award for best actress in a musical. (Joan Marcus/The Hartman Group/Associated Press)
Memphis, a musical about interracial like in the burgeoning 1950s music scene, has won the Outer Critics Circle Award for best new Broadway musical, while Red, a drama about artist Mark Rothko and his assistant, scooped up the prize for outstanding new Broadway play.
Both productions are also vying for the top prizes at the Tony Awards next month.
The 60th annual Outer Critics Circle Awards, announced in New York on Monday, featured ties in three categories:
- Montego Glover and Catherine Zeta-Jones tied for best actress in a musical – Glover for Memphis and Zeta-Jones for A Small Night Music.
- Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and The Scottsboro Boys tied for best new Off-Broadway musical.
- And Bill T. Jones and Sergio Trujillo tied in the choreography category – Jones for Fela! and Trujillo for Memphis.
Fences, the 1987 Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner by August Wilson, won the prize for best play revival, and its stars Denzel Washington and Viola Davis took the prizes for outstanding actor and actress in a play.
La Cage aux Folles took four awards: best musical revival; lead actor in a musical for Douglas Hodge; best director for Terry Johnson; and best costumes for Matthew Wright.
The Signature Theater Company and Hartford Stage’s co-production of Horton Foote’s Orphans’ Home Cycle won best new Off-Broadway play.
The awards will be presented on May 27 by the cast of the hit comedy God of Carnage at Sardi’s Restaurant in Manhattan.
The Outer Critics Circle Awards often provide hints of the upcoming Tony winners, which will be announced June 13 at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.
