The awards will be presented at a cocktail reception on May 14 at the Algonquin Hotel, where the NYDCC was founded in 1935 by the likes of Brooks Atkinson and Walter Winchell.

Last year, The History Boys, by Alan Bennett, was named Best Play. The Best Musical award went to The Drowsy Chaperone (book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar, music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison).

The New York Drama Critics' Circle comprises 21 drama critics from publications based in the New York area. The NYDCC has given out an award every year since 1936 to the best new play of the season, with optional awards for foreign or American plays, musicals and performers. The award touts itself as the nation's second oldest theatre award, after the Pulitzer Prize for drama.

The award for Best Play comes with a cash prize of $2,500. A cash award of $1,000 will go to the playwright who receives an award for best American or foreign play. The prizes are made possible by a grant from the Lucille Lortel Foundation.

Adam Feldman, theatre critic for Time Out New York, has served as president of the NYDCC since 2005. Frank Scheck of the New York Post serves as vice president; Michael Kuchwara of the Associated Press is treasurer. The other members of the New York Drama Critics' Circle are 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; Jacques le Sourd of Gannett Newspapers; Jeremy McCarter of New York; David Rooney of Variety; David Sheward of Back Stage; John Simon of Bloomberg News; Michael Sommers of The Star-Ledger/Newhouse Newspapers; Terry Teachout of The Wall Street Journal; Linda Winer of Newsday; and Richard Zoglin of Time.