US critics give Broadway honours

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Pulitzer Prize-winning play August: Osage County and musicals Young Frankenstein and Xanadu have taken theatre honours in the US.

August: Osage County took two awards from the Outer Critics Circle, including best director and best actress.

Young Frankenstein and Xanadu tied for the outstanding new musical award.

The Outer Critics Circle is an organisation of US journalists and critics who write outside New York.

The awards are often seen as indicators of who will win Broadway's top awards, the Tonys.

Those nominations will be announced on later on Tuesday.

Film flop

Anna D Shapiro, who directed August: Osage County picked up the award for outstanding director of a play and the production's Deanna Dunagan won outstanding actress in a play.

Xanadu - based on the 1980 film flop of the same name starring Olivia Newton John - and Young Frankenstein beat A Catered Affair and Cry-Baby The Musical to take joint musical honours.

Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific picked up four Outer Critics Circle awards - outstanding revival of a musical, outstanding director of a musical for Bartlett Sher, outstanding actor in a musical for Paulo Szot and outstanding featured actor in a musical for Danny Burstein.

The outstanding actress in a musical award was won by Patti LuPone for Gypsy and the outstanding revival of a play award went to The Homecoming.

Hollywood star Kevin Kline picked up the award for outstanding actor in a play for his leading role in Cyrano de Bergerac, opposite Jennifer Garner.

And Oscar-nominated James Earl Jones won outstanding featured actor in a play for his role in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Other winners included Laurie Metcalf, who won outstanding featured actress in a play for November, and Oscar-nominated Laurence Fishburne picked up outstanding solo performance prize for Thurgood.