Tuesday, June 16, 2015

The Sixth Annual David Desk Awards

Pocatello at Playwrights Horizons, winner of the David Desk Award
for one of the best plays of the 2014-15 season.
Now that the Tonys, Drama Desks, Lortels, Outer Critics, and Obies are over, I have made the choices for my own awards--the David Desks--for the best in NY theater, on or Off-Broadway. This is totally unofficial and all about my own preferences of everything I've seen for the season. Like the DDs, Broadway and Off-Broadway are together. The DDs have now stretched their categories from six to seven in some cases, and so have the Emmys. So I have too. You may see many repeats from the other awards but I have a few faves of my own including Samuel D. Hunter's Pocatello which had a relatively brief run at Playwrights Horizons. I was the only member of the NY Drama Critics Circle to vote for it for Best Play on the first ballot. The play deals with the lonely manager of a chain restaurant in the titular Idaho city. His story and those of his employees symbolize the struggle of most Americans with few marketable skills and a loss of community. I had also actually eaten in the Pocatello Ruby Tuesdays in the parking lot of the Best Western, similar to the play's Olive Garden. Rob McClure of the short-lived Honeymoon in Vegas was unfairly overlooked as well in the other awards.

So here they are the David Desks, enjoy, let me know if you love or hate them:   

Play
Airline Highway (Lisa D’Amour)
Between Riverside and Crazy (Stephen Adly Guirgis)
The City of Conversation (Anthony Giardina)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Simon Stephens)
Indian Ink (Tom Stoppard)
Pocatello (Samuel D. Hunter)
Wolf Hall, Parts One and Two (Mike Poulton)

Musical
An American in Paris
The Fortress of Solitude
Hamilton
Something Rotten!
The Visit

Revival of a Play
Ghosts
The Iceman Cometh
Macbeth (Park Ave. Armory)
Tamburlaine, Parts I and II
The Wayside Motor Inn
You Can’t Take It With You

Revival of a Musical
Allegro
Into the Woods
The King and I
On the Town
On the Twentieth Century
Side Show

Actor in a Play
Kenneth Branagh, Macbeth
Bradley Cooper, The Elephant Man
Stephen McKinley Henderson, Between Riverside and Crazy
T. R. Knight, Pocatello
John Lithgow, A Delicate Balance
Bill Pullman, Sticks and Bones
Alex Sharp, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Helen Mirren adds a David Desk Award
to her many accolades
Actress in a Play
Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Grand Concourse
Lesley Manville, Ghosts
Jan Maxwell, The City of Conversation
Helen Mirren, The Audience
Carey Mulligan, Skylight
Ruth Wilson, Constellations

Actor in a Musical
Adam Chanler-Berat, The Fortress of Solitude
Robert Fairchild, An American in Paris
Brian d’Arcy James, Something Rotten!
Rob McClure, Honeymoon in Vegas
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton

Actress in a Musical
Kristin Chenoweth, On the Twentieth Century
Leanne Cope, An American in Paris
Erin Davie, Emily Padget, Side Show
Kelli O’Hara, The King and I
Chita Rivera, The Visit

Featured Actor in a Play
Brian Dennehy, The Iceman Cometh
K. Todd Freeman, Airline Highway
Richard McCabe, The Audience
Jacob Ming-Trent, Father Comes Home from the Wars, Parts 1, 2, and 3
Stephen Ouimette, The Iceman Cometh
Nathaniel Parker, Wolf Hall, Parts One & Two
Lance Coadie Williams, Bootycandy

Featured Actress in a Play
Annaleigh Ashford, You Can’t Take It With You
Kristen Bush, The City of Conversation
Rebecca Henderson, The Wayside Motor Inn
Judith Ivey, The Audience
Lydia Leonard, Wolf Hall, Parts One & Two
Stacy Sargeant, Our Lady of Kihebo and Big Love
Julie White, Airline Highway

Featured Actor in a Musical
Kyle Beltran, The Fortress of Solitude
Christian Borle, Something Rotten!
Andy Karl, On the Twentieth Century
Kevin Mambo, The Fortress of Solitude
Patrick Mulryan, Into the Woods
Leslie Odom, Jr., Hamilton
Max von Essen, An American in Paris

Featured Actress in a Musical
Elizabeth A. Davis, Allegro
Jackie Hoffman, On the Town
Ruthie Ann Miles, The King and I
Jill Paice, An American in Paris
Alysha Umphress, On the Town
Mary Louise Wilson, On the Twentieth Century
Emily Young, Into the Woods

Director of a Play
Rob Ashford, Kenneth Branagh, Macbeth
Michael Boyd, Tamburlaine, Parts I and II
Marianne Elliott, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Robert Falls, The Iceman Cometh
Michael Greif, Our Lady of Kibeho
Jeremy Herrin, Wolf Hall, Parts One & Two
Ivo Van Hove, Scenes from a Marriage

Director of a Musical
Daniel Aukin, The Fortress of Solitude
Noah Broady, Ben Steinfeld, Into the Woods
John Doyle, Allegro
Thomas Kail, Hamilton
Casey Nicholaw, Something Rotten!
John Rando, On the Town
Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris

Choreography
Joshua Bergasse, On the Town
Andy Blankenbuelher, Hamilton
Warren Carlyle, On the Twentieth Century
Steven Hoggett, The Last Ship
Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris

Book of a Musical
Karey Kirkpatrick, John O’Farrell, Something Rotten!
Itamar Moses, The Fortress of Solitude

Music
Michael Friedman, The Fortress of Solitude
John Kander, The Visit
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Sting, The Last Ship

Lyrics
Fred Ebb, The Visit
Michael Friedman, The Fortress of Solitude
Wayen Kirkpatrick, Karey Kirkpatrick, Something Rotten!
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton

Orchestrations
Christopher Austin, An American in Paris
Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Allegro
Mark Galgano, Matt Castle, Into the Woods
Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton

Set Design
Bunny Christie, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Lauren Helpern, Pocatello
Ricardo Hernandez, The Invisible Hand
Scott Pask, Airline Highway
David Rockwell, Side Show, On the Twentieth Century
Walt Spangler, Between Riverside and Crazy

Costume Design
Bob Crowley, The Audience
Jess Goldstein, On the Town
Bretta Gerecke, Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allen Poe
William Ivey Long, On the Twentieth Century
Christopher Oram, Wolf Hall, Parts One & Two
Anita Yavich, Big Love
Catherine Zuber, Gigi, The King and I

Lighting Design
Christopher Akerlind, The Last Ship
Howell Binkley, Hamilton
Paule Constable, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Paule Constable, David Platter, Wolf Hall, Parts One & Two
Natasha Katz, The Iceman Cometh, An American in Paris
Ben Stanton, Our Lady of Kibeho
Japhy Weideman, The Oldest Boy, Airline Highway, The Visit

Video/Projection Design
59 Productions, An American in Paris
Finn Ross, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Austin Switser, Big Love

Sound Design
Ian Dickinson for Autograph, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Fitz Patton, Airline Highway
Matt Tierney, Our Lady of Kibeho, Pocatello

Music in a Play
John Browne, The Events
Arthur Solari, Tamburlaine, Parts I and II
Adrian Sutton, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Stephen Warbeck, Wolf Hall, Parts One & Two

Solo Performance
Christine Bianco, Application Pending
Jim Dale, Just Jim Dale
Jonny Donahoe, Every Brilliant Thing

Unique Theatrical Experience
The Events
The Illusionists: Witness the Impossible
Queen of the Night



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