The 14th Annual David Desk Awards

Operation Mincemeat deserved better
in this season's award-giving, IMHO.
Credit: Julieta Cervantes

The Tonys, Drama Desks, NY Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics, etc. are all long over. So it is time to deliver my own accolades with my choices for the best of the 2024-25 Broadway and Off-Broadway season. I was not as enamored with Maybe Happy Ending as all the major theater awards. Operation Mincemeat got my vote for Best Musical but Happy Ending won everything in spite of my opposition. I also felt Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends, Smash and We Had a World were unfairly overlooked for nominations.

Outstanding Play
The Antiquities, Jordan Harrison
Grangeville, Samuel D. Hunter
The Hills of California, Jez Butterworth
Liberation, Bess Wohl
Purpose, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Vladimir, Erika Sheffer
We Had a World, Joshua Harmon

Outstanding Musical

The Big Gay Jamboree

Death Becomes Her

Operation Mincemeat

Smash

Outstanding Revival of a Play

Eureka Day

A Streetcar Named Desire

Yellow Face

Outstanding Revival of a Musical

Cats: The Jellicle Ball

Gypsy

Sunset Blvd.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play

George Clooney, Good Night and Good Luck

Adam Driver, Hold On to Me Darling

Jon Michael Hill, Purpose

Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Paul Mescal, A Streetcar Named Desire

Paul Sparks, Grangeville

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play

Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California

Francesca Faridany, Vladimir

Patsy Ferran, A Streetcar Named Desire

Lily Rabe, Ghosts

Jeanine Serralles, We Had a World

Equity Foundation Awards

Nicholas Barasch, Ramin Karimloo, and
Jinkx Monsoon in Pirates! The Penzance Musical.
Credit: Joan Marcus

The winners of the Equity Foundation Awards have been announced. The Clarence Derwent Awards for rising talent in supporting roles go to Julia Lester of All-Nighter and Nicholas Barasch of Pirates! The Penzance Musical. The Richard Seff Awards for stage veterans in supporting roles go to Jessica Hecht of Eureka Day and Francis Jue of Yellow Face. The Joseph A. Callaway Awards for classical roles go to Steve Epp (Henry IV) and Kimber Elayne Sprawl for Othello. 

The winners will be presented with their accolades at an upcoming Equity regional meeting. 

The Judges Panel for the seasonal performance awards included: Joe Dziemianowicz, New York Theatre Guide; Adam Feldman, Time Out New York; Elysa Gardner, New York Sun, New York Stage Review; Harry Haun, The Observer; Kobi Kassal, Theatrely; and Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter, New York Stage Review.

Kathryn Gallagher, Julia Lester, and
Havana Rose Liu in All Nighter.
Credit: Evan Zimmerman

Theater World Award Winners Announced

Louis McCartney, seen here at
the Outer Critics Circle's
75th Anniversary party,
is among this year's
Theater World Award winners.

The winners of the 79th annual Theater World Awards for outstanding performers making their Broadway or Off-Broadway debut have been announced. The awards will be presented on June 2 at the Hard Rock Cafe Times Square in a ceremony hosted by theater critic Peter Filichia. Here is a list of the winners:

Alana Arenas, Purpose
Kit Connor, Romeo & Juliet
Patsy Ferran, A Streetcar Named Desire
Tom Francis, Sunset Boulevard
Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat
Paul Mescal, A Streetcar Named Desire
Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Marjan Neshat, English
Jasmine Amy Rogers, Boop!
Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Boulevard
Helen J. Shen, Maybe Happy Ending
Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray

In addition, Tony winner Leslie Uggams will receive the 12th annual John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater, Shailene Woodley (Cult of Love) will receive the 16th annual Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater, and George Clooney will receive a special TWA for his Broadway debut as performer and playwright for Good Night, and Good Luck.

The Theatre World Award honorees are chosen by the Theatre World Awards Committee which is comprised of Linda Armstrong (Amsterdam News), David Cote (The Observer), Joe Dziemianowicz (New York Theatre Guide), Peter Filichia (Broadway Radio), David Finkle (New York Stage Review), Elysa Gardner (The New York Sun), Harry Haun (Observer.com), Cary Wong (The Interested Bystander), and Frank Scheck (New York Stage Review/ The Hollywood Reporter).

Class Is Head of the Class at Lortels

The cast of Our Class

Our Class, Tadeusz Slobodzianek's epic play about a 1941 massacre of Jews in a Polish village as seen through the eyes of 10 classmates, was the big winner at the Lortel Awards, winning four. The play which was produced at BAM last season and revived at CSC this season, won for Outstanding Revival, Ensemble, Director, and Scenic Design. The 40th annual awards for excellence in Off-Broadway theater named for the legendary producer Lucille Lortel were presented on May 4 at NYU Skirball. Presenters included Kandi Burruss, Lea DeLaria, Jay Ellis, Stephanie Nur, J. Harrison Ghee, Ilana Glazer, Maya Hawke, and Alaska Thunderfuck.

Here There Are Blueberries, another play dealing with the Holocaust, was named Outstanding Play and Three Houses won for Outstanding Musical. Kara Young and Michael Rickshawn of Table 17 were named Outstanding Lead and Featured Performers in a Play. Sarin Monae West of Medea: Re-Versed and Paris Nix of The Big Gay Jamboree won for Outstanding Lead and Featured Performers in a Musical.

A list of winners followed:

Drama League Nominations

Cats: The Jellicle Ball is among the
Drama League Award nominees.
Credit: Evan Zimmerman

Theater award season continues with the nominations for the Drama League Awards, announced on April 22 at the Lincoln Center's New York Public Library for the Performing Arts by Sarah Hyland (The Great Gatsby, Modern Family) and country music star Orville Peck (Cabaret). The awards will be presented on May 18 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom. 

The Drama League previously announced the 2025 Special Recognition Award Recipients: Tony and Olivier Award winner Lea Salonga will receive the Award for Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater; Director Whitney White (and multiple 2025 Drama League Award Nominee) will be honored with the Founders Award for Excellence in Directing; Kate Navin and Audible Theater will receive the Contribution to the Theater Award; and The Gratitude Award will be presented to acclaimed producers Robert Greenblatt and Neil Meron, whose groundbreaking work across television, film, and theatre has garnered numerous accolades, including Tonys, Emmys, Golden Globes, and a Best Picture Oscar. This season they are the lead producers of the new musical Smash.

Founded in 1922, and formalized in 1935, the Drama League Award is the oldest theatrical honor in America, and is voted on by a cross-section of industry professionals, producers, artists, audiences, and critics.

Orville Peck and Sarah Hyland
announced the Drama League nominees.
Credit: Catalin Stelian

A complete list of the nominees follows:

Drag, Houses, and Our Class Lead Lortel Award Noms

Jujubee, Jan Sport, Alaska Thunderf*ck, and
Nick Laughlin in Drag: The Musical.
Credit: Matthew Murphy

Let theater awards season begin with the Lortel nominations, the first prize-dispensing of the season. Drag: The Musical, Three Houses and Our Class received the most Lortel Award nominations for Off-Broadway with a total of six each. The nominations were read by Francis Jue (Yellow Face) and Krysta Rodriguez (Smash) on April 2. The awards will be presented on May 4 at NYU Skirball. The event is open to the public and tickets may be purchased at Tickets.nyu.edu and at the NYU Skirball box office. The awards are named for legendary producer Lucille Lortel. They are presented by the Off-Broadway League and the Lortel Theater with support from TDF. The nominations are determined and the winners voted on by a committee of representatives of unions, the Off-Broadway League, theater journalists, academics and other Off-Broadway professionals. 70 productions from the 2024-25 season were considered eligible. A complete list of the nominees follows:

Outstanding Play
Here There Are Blueberries
Liberation
Sumo
The Antiquities
We Had a World

Outstanding Musical
Drag: The Musical
Medea: Re-Versed
The Big Gay Jamboree
Three Houses
We Live in Cairo

Charles Busch and Cats: Jellicle Ball Among Obie Winners

Charles Busch, in his play Ibsen's Ghost,
received a lifetime achievement Obie Award.

Playwright-performers Charles Busch and Cole Escola and the director, choreographer and ensemble of Cats: The Jellicle Ball were among the winners of the 68th annual Obie Awards, announced on Feb. 1 on NY-1 News. Rather than holding an awards ceremony, the American Theater Wing will present grants to the 35 winners totaling $250,000. There will be a private event to toast the winners on Feb. 10. The awards cover shows opening from Sept. 1, 2023 to Aug. 31, 2024. The Obies are now the only major NYC-based theater award to make their presentations in February rather than in late May-June when all the others including the Tonys, Drama Desks and Outer Critics are handed out.

The 68th Obie Awards recognizes the outstanding contributions made throughout the 2023-2024 Off- and Off- Off-Broadway theatre season in New York City. The complete panel of judges for the current Obie Awards season are: Aya Ogawa, award-winning writer, director, translator and performer; David Greenspan, Obie-winning playwright and actor; Diep Tran, Editor in Chief of Playbill; Heather Alicia Simms, actor most recently seen in the Pulitzer Prize winning production of Fairview and Broadway’s Purlie Victorious; Modesto “Flako” Jimenez, multi-hyphenate artist; Nikiya Mathis, recipient of the Henry Heard Design Award and The Antonio Award; Ryan J. Haddad, actor and playwright; and Taylor Reynolds, Obie Award winning director. Returning to the Obie panel are Wilson Chin, scenic designer for theater, opera, film, and television; and Obie-winning playwright Haruna Lee. Lee and Chin serve as co-chairs of the panel, as well. The judges thoroughly evaluated over 300 productions, engaged in thoughtful discussions, and, through their votes, selected the recipients.

A full list of winners follows:

2024 Drama Desk Awards

Stereophonic, winner of 7 Drama
Desk Awards.
Credit: Chelcie Perry

Stereophonic, Water for Elephants and Dead Outlaw won the top honors at the 68th Drama Desk Awards, presented June 10 at NYU's Skirball Center. Stereophonic won the most accolades with seven including Outstanding Play. Water took the most musical prizes with four including Jessica Stone's direction. Dead Outlaw won Outstanding Musical, Lyrics, and Book. Outlaw is only the fifth Off-Broadway musical to take the DD's top prize (previous OB winners were Little Shop of Horrors, Hamilton, A Strange Loop, and Kimberly Akimbo). Unlike the Broadway-only Tonys, the Deskies consider Broadway and Off-Broadway in all of its multiple categories. There are whisperings that with all the prizes it has won (Outer Critics Circle and NY Drama Critics Circle), Dead Outlaw is planning a Broadway transfer.

Sutton Foster and Aaron Tveit
hosting the DD Awards

Tony winners Sutton Foster and Aaron Tveit who just completed a run co-starring in Sweeney Todd hosted the event. The ceremony opened with a funny specialty number reviewing the highlights of the past season working in a desk into the lyrics. (For Drama Desk, get it?) Andrew Rannells, Josh Breckinridge, Taylor Marie Daniel, Raymond J. Lee and Lindsay Joans joined Foster and Tveit in the opening. The ceremony was long at three hours, but never felt tedious thanks to smooth direction by Lorin Latarro and a witty script by Steve Rosen and David Rossmer. Executive producers Staci Levine and Jessica R. Jensen delivered a proficient event. At the midway point, Foster and Tveit announced the audience was in need of a sugar rush and threw Halloween-size candy packages to them (I copped a Peanut M&Ms.) Brenda Braxton supplied voice-overs, reading all of the nominees whose photos were displayed on a giant screen (Ido Levran is credited with video design). Braxton also had a funny segment announcing parody awards such as Outstanding Bathroom in a Broadway Theater (the winner was the renovated James Earl Jones Theater) and Outstanding Performance in a Made-Up Production (disgraced ex-Congressman George Santos in Starlight Express.)

The winners of the acting categories were almost all women. Last year, the Drama Desk joined the Lortel and Outer Critics Circle Awards by eliminating gender in all acting divisions due to the increasing number of non-binary performers. Except for the Solo Performance award, two winners are chosen in the acting slot with more than two winners possible in the case of ties. Only two males won--Patrick Page for his solo show All the Devils Are Here and Brian d'Arcy James of Days of Wine and Rose, co-winning Leading Performance in a Musical with his co-star Kelli O'Hara and Maleah Joi Moon of Hell's Kitchen. 

Presenters included newly-elected Equity president Brooke Shields, Laura Benanti, Matthew Broderick, Andrew Rannells, Debra Messing, Brian d’Arcy James, Montego Glover, Lena Hall, Ruthie Ann Miles, Seth Rudetsky, Shoshana Bean, James Lapine, Corbin Bleu, Sarah Hyland, Miriam Silverman, Steven Pasquale, James Monroe Inglehart, DD winner Kecia Lewis, and (via audio) Carol Burnett. There were several musical numbers. Nikki M. James performed "Wait My Turn" from Suffs. Kelli O'Hara delivered an impassioned performance of "This Nearly Was Mine" from South Pacific in tribute to William Wolf Award winner Andre Bishop, artistic director of Lincoln Center Theater. Santino Fontana introduced the Harold Prince Award for Lifetime Achievement by singing a clever medley of phrases from the many shows Prince directed and/or produced. Matthew Broderick then introduced the recipient, his Lion King voice-over, Producers and Odd Couple co-star Nathan Lane who quipped, "This is the third Lifetime Achievement Award I've received recently. I'm beginning to think there's something my doctors aren't telling me... How did I suddenly get to be Angela Lansbury? Next after Lifetime Achievement, you wind up in the In Memorial segment. It's the Show-Biz Circle of Life." 

Kara Young (Featured Performance in a Play 
for Purlie Victorious) and
Irene Gandy (Special Award for 
Career Achievement)

Hell's Kitchen, Stereophonic Are Lucky 13 with Tony Noms

Hell's Kitchen dominates the 2024
Tony noms.
Credit: Joan Marcus

Hell's Kitchen, Alicia Keys' semi-autobiographical musical, and Stereophonic, David Adjmi's play about a Fleetwood Mac-like band recording a crucial album, are tied for the most 2023-24 Tony Award nominations with 13 apiece. Both are transfers from Off-Broadway productions earlier this season. The nomination announcement was made by Tony winners Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Renee Elsie Goldsberry on April 30, first on CBS Mornings with six major categories and then the remainder on the Tony Awards' YouTube channel. The awards will be presented on June 16 on CBS in a ceremony at the David Koch Theater in Lincoln Center hosted by Oscar winner Ariana DeBose. A pre-show will air on Pluto TV.

Hell's Kitchen and Stereophonic are followed by The Outsiders with 12, Cabaret with 9 and Appropriate with 8. Among currently running shows, The Wiz and The Heart of Rock and Roll were shut out completely. 

Sarah Pidgeon, Juliana Canfield, and Tom Peckina
are all Tony-nominated for
Stereophonic which received 13 noms.
Credit: Julieta Cervantes

There were some oddities in the list. Mary Jane, Amy Herzog's play about a single mother dealing with medically changed child, was considered a new play while Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Appropriate, concerning a white family finding disturbing racist artifacts in their late father's home, was deemed a revival, even though both have had previous productions Off-Broadway. 

Several designers were double or triple nominees for their work on multiple productions. David Zinn received three nods for the sets of Jaja's African Hair Braiding and Stereophonic and the costumes for An Enemy of the People. Another triple nominee, Dede Ayite was recognized for her costumes for Hell's Kitchen, Appropriate and Jaja's African Hair Braiding.

Here's a complete list of the nominees:

Best Musical
Hell’s Kitchen
Illinoise
The Outsiders
Suffs
Water for Elephants

Dead Outlaw Lives with 9 OCC Noms

Andrew Durand and Jeb Brown
are both nominated for OCC Awards
for Dead Outlaw.
Credit: Matthew Murphy

Dead Outlaw, the Off-Broadway musical tracing the true history of a mummified corpse found in an amusement ride, received the most Outer Critics Circle Award nominations with 9. Stereophonic got the most for Broadway productions with 7. The nominations were announced on April 23 by Merrily We Roll Along stars Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez at the Museum of Broadway. Groff and Mendez won OCC awards last year for the show's Off-Broadway run. 

Founded during the 1949-50 Broadway season by respected theater journalist John Gassner, the Outer Critics Circle's membership includes writers working for more than 90 newspapers, magazines, broadcast stations, and online news organizations worldwide. David Gordon leads the group as president, with a board of directors that also includes Richard Ridge, Joseph Cervelli, Patrick Hoffman, David Roberts, Cynthia Allen, Harry Haun, Dan Rubins, Janice Simpson, and Doug Strassler. The board also serves as the nominating committee.

The OCC considers both Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, in some categories together and in others separately. Beginning last year, the organization eliminated gender-specific acting categories.

The winners will be announced on May 13 with a ceremony to follow on May 23 at the Bruno Walter Auditiorium of the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts.

Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez and
Daniel Radcliffe announced the OCC noms
at the Museum of Broadway.
Credit: Matthew Cubillos / The Museum of Broadway

A complete list of the nominees follows:

2024 OUTER CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD NOMINATIONS

 
Outstanding New Broadway Play
Jaja's African Hair Braiding by Jocelyn Bioh
Mother Play: A Play in Five Evictions by Paula Vogel
Patriots by Peter Morgan
Stereophonic by David Adjmi
The Shark Is Broken by Joseph Nixon and Ian Shaw
 

Drama League Nominations

Lindsay Mendez, Jonathan Groff, and
Daniel Radcliffe of Merrily We Roll Along
are all nominated for the Distinguished Performance
Drama League Award.
Credit: Joan Marcus

Theater award season is now in full throttle. The nominees for the 90th annual Drama League Awards were announced  by Vanessa Williams and Bebe Neuwirth on Mon. April 22 at the Lincoln Center's NY Public Library for the Performing Arts. The awards for outstanding work on and Off-Broadway, will be presented on May 17 at 12 noon at the Ziegfeld Ballroom. First awarded in 1922 and formalized in 1935, The Drama League Awards are the oldest theatrical honors in America. They are the only major theater awards chosen by a cross-section of the theater community — the industry professionals, producers, artists, audiences, and critics who are Drama League members nationwide. The Outer Critics Circle Award noms will be announced tomorrow and the Drama Desk and Tony noms will be next week.

2024 DRAMA LEAGUE AWARDS NOMINATIONS

 
OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF A PLAY
 
THE COMEUPPANCE 
 
FLEX
 
GRIEF HOTEL
 
THE HUNT
 
JAJA’S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING 
 
MOTHER PLAY
 
OH, MARY!
 
PATRIOTS
 
PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC
 
STEREOPHONIC
 
WET BRAIN

Off-B'way Update: Obies on NY-1

Obie judge/Costume designer
Dede Ayite

The Obie Awards, presented for distinguished work in Off- and Off-Off-Broadway theater will forgo their usual ceremony and will present their 67th annual prizes instead on NY-1's On Stage program with Emmy winner Frank DeLella hosting on Sat. Jan. 27 at 7:30 pm. The awards were originally presented by the Village Voice and are now under the aegis of the American Theater Wing. Since the Wing is saving money by not staging a ceremony, the awards will be accompanied by grants ranging from $1,000-$5,000. Select winners will be announced in the categories of Playwriting, Direction and Performance for the 2022-23 Off and Off-Off-Broadway season. There will also be an in-depth look at the Obies' history and appearances by Tony Award nominee and Obie Award winner Kara Young (Purlie Victorious, Cost of Living); President and CEO of The American Theatre Wing Heather Hitchens; and Tony & Obie Award-winning playwright and librettist David Henry Hwang, who is also a former Chair of The American Theatre Wing.