Utopia, Spring Awakening, Radio Golf & Journey's End Honored by Drama Critics' Circle

The New York Drama Critics' Circle has chosen the winners of its 2007 awards. Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia was named Best Play, Spring Awakening was named Best Musical and Radio Golf, the final play by the late August Wilson, was chosen as the Best American Play, making Wilson the most awarded playwright by the Circle with eight wins. In addition, the current Broadway revival of Journey's End was awarded a special citation.

The awards will be presented at a cocktail reception on May 14 at the Algonquin Hotel, where the New York Drama Critics' Circle was founded in 1935 by such legendary critics as Brooks Atkinson, Walter Winchell and Robert Benchley.

The New York Drama Critics' Circle is comprised of 21 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 theater 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.

Adam Feldman, theater critic for Time Out New York, has served as president of the organization since 2005. Other members include Clive Barnes of the New York Post, Melissa Rose Bernardo of Entertainment Weekly, David Cote of Time Out New York, Joe Dziemianowicz of the Daily News, Michael Feingold of the Village Voice, Robert Feldberg of the Bergen Record, Elysa Gardner of USA Today, Eric Grode of the New York Sun, John Heilpern of The New York Observer, Michael Kuchwara of the Associated Press, Jacques le Sourd of Gannett Newspapers, Jeremy McCarter of New York, David Rooney of Variety, Frank Scheck of The New York Post, David Sheward of Backstage, John Simon of Bloomberg News, Michael Sommers of The Star-Ledger, Terry Teachout of The Wall Street Journal, Linda Winer of Newsday and Richard Zoglin of Time.

Interestingly, the Drama Critics' Circle published the votes each critic cast on each ballot on its website. It took three ballots for The Coast of Utopia to defeat Radio Golf for Best Play; Spring Awakening won Best Musical on the first ballot.