The Eighth Annual David Desk Awards

Annaleigh Ashford and Jake Gyllenhaal in
Sunday in the Park with George
Credit: Matthew Murphy

The Tonys, Drama Desks, Outer Critics, Lortels, Obies and all those other theatre awards have been handed out long ago. Now it's time for the Eighth Annual David Desks, the high points from the past theater season on and Off-Broadway. Unlike the Tonys, Drama Desks and OCC, I am including Sunday in the Park with George. The producers of the Sondheim revival declared the show ineligible for all theater accolades because their run was so short and they did not wish to give comp tickets to the various voters which would eat into their profit margin. Since I am the sole judge of these awards and I saw the show, I am free to include it. I have tried to limit the number of honorees in each category to six, but there are a few instances where I have stretched it to seven, just like the Emmys. The Drama Desks have also not been strict about the number of nominees in the categories. In previous years, they ballooned to as many as seven and this year, some were only five and some six. Like the DDs and OCCs, I considered Dear Evan Hansen last season for its Off-Broadway run. Among the honorees who were largely ignored by the other award dispensers are Annette O'Toole in Tracey Letts' Man from Nebraska, cast members from Hadestown, and Janet McTeer, brilliant as always in Les Liaisons Dangereuses.

Play

The Antipodes (Annie Baker)

A Doll’s House, Part 2 (Lucas Hnath)

Indecent (Paula Vogel)

Man from Nebraska (Tracey Letts)

Oslo (J.T. Rogers)

Sweat (Lynn Nottage)

Vietgone (Qui Nguyen)

Musical

The Band’s Visit

Bandstand

Come from Away

Groundhog Day

Hadestown

Play Revival

The Hairy Ape

Jitney

The Little Foxes

Othello

Six Degrees of Separation

Musical Revival 

Hello, Dolly!

Sunday in the Park with George

Sweeney Todd

Sweet Charity

Actor (Play)

Bobby Cannavale, The Hairy Ape

Daniel Craig, Othello

Jefferson Mays, Oslo

David Oyelowo, Othello

Richard Roxburgh, The Present

Actress (Play)

Cate Blanchett, The Present

Janie Dee, Linda

Allison Janey, Six Degrees of Separation

Laura Linney, The Little Foxes

Janet McTeer, Les Liaisons Dangereuses

Laurie Metcalf, A Doll’s House Part 2

Actor (Musical)

Corey Cott, Bandstand

Jake Gyllenhaal, Sunday in the Park with George

Andy Karl, Groundhog Day

Jeremy Secomb, Sweeney Todd

Actress (Musical)

Christine Ebersole, War Paint

Sutton Foster, Sweet Charity

Katrina Lenk, The Band’s Visit

Patti LuPone, War Paint

Bette Midler, Hello, Dolly!

Siobhan McCarthy, Sweeney Todd

Featured Actor (Play)

Michael Aronov, Oslo

Danny DeVito, The Price

Dave Hearn, The Play That Goes Wrong

Justice Smith, Yen

Richard Thomas, The Little Foxes

Annette O'Toole and Reed Birney in Man from Nebraska
Credit: Joan Marcus

Featured Actress (Play)

Randy Graff, The Babylon Line

Ari Graynor, Yen

Kristine Nielsen, Present Laughter

Cynthia Nixon, The Little Foxes

Annette O’Toole, Man from Nebraska

Nicole Rodenburg, The Antipodes

Featured Actor (Musical)

Gavin Creel, Hello, Dolly!

Patrick Page, Hadestown

Chris Sullivan, Hadestown

Featured Actress (Musical)

Stephanie J. Block, Falsettos

Jenn Colella, Come from Away

Beanie Feldstein, Hello, Dolly!

Amber Gray, Hadestown

Betsy Morgan, Sweeney Todd

Caroline O’Connor, Anastasia

Director (Play)

Sam Gold, Othello

Richard Jones, The Hairy Ape

Lila Neugebauer, The Antipodes, Everybody

Bartlett Sher, Oslo

Rebecca Taichman, Indecent

Director (Musical)

Bill Buckhurst, Sweeney Todd

Rachel Chavkin, Hadestown

David Cromer, The Band’s Visit

Pam McKinnon, Amelie

Matthew Warchus, Groundhog Day

Jerry Zaks, Hello, Dolly!

Choreography

Andy Blankenbuehler, Bandstand

Warren Carlyle, Hello, Dolly!

Denis Jones, Holiday Inn

Music

Tim Minchin, Groundhog Day

Anais Mitchell, Hadestown

Irene Sankoff, David Hein, Come from Away

David Yazbek, The Band’s Visit

Lyrics

Tim Minchin, Groundhog Day

Michael Korie, War Paint

Irene Sankoff, David Hein, Come from Away

David Yazbek, The Band’s Visit

Book

Itamar Moses, The Band’s Visit

Danny Rubin, Groundhog Day

Irene Sankoff, David Hein, Come from Away

Set Design

David Gallo, Jitney

Nigel Hook, The Play That Goes Wrong

Rob Howell, Groundhog Day

Simon Kinney, Sweeney Todd

Stuart Laing, The Hairy Ape

Derek McLane, The Price

Costume Design

Jane Greenwood, The Little Foxes

Clint Ramos, Sweet Charity, Sunday in the Park with George

David Zinn, Amelie

Catherine Zuber, War Paint

Lighting Design

Jane Cox, Mark Barton, Amelie

Jeff Croiter, Bandstand

Bradley King, Hadestown

Amy Mae, Sweeney Todd

Mimi Jordan Sherin, The Hairy Ape

Sound Design

Sarah Angliss, The Hairy Ape

Gareth Fry, Pete Malkin, The Encounter

Shane Rettig, Vietgone

Projection Design

59 Productions, Oslo

Jared Mezzocchi, Vietgone

Jeff Sugg, Sweat

Solo Performance

Simon McBurney, The Encounter

Anna Deavere Smith, Notes from the Field

Special Award

Sound Operator Team from The Encounter