2024 Drama Desk Awards WINNERS

 

Winners for the 2024 Annual Drama Desk Awards were announced this evening at NYU Skirball Center (556 LaGuardia Pl). Tony Award Winners Sutton Foster and Aaron Tveit hosted the ceremony.

 

In keeping with the Drama Desk's mission, the nominators considered shows that opened on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off Broadway during the 2023-2024 season for this year’s awards. Shows were eligible with 21 or more unique live performances. 

 

The Drama Desk Awards are the only major New York City theater awards for which productions on Broadway, Off Broadway, and Off Off Broadway compete against each other in the same categories. David Barbour and Charles Wright are The Drama Desk co-presidents.

 

The Drama Desk Awards were executive produced by Staci Levine and Jessica R. Jenen.

 

As was the case last year, all performance categories are gender-free. The updated gender-free categories are: Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play, Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical, Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play, and Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical. 

 

Each of these categories had twice as many nominees as the former gendered categories and these categories have two winners each.

 

What sets the Drama Desk Awards apart is that they are voted on and bestowed by critics, journalists, editors, and publishers covering theater. The Drama Desk Awards honor all aspects of New York’s professional theater.

 

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About The Drama Desk

The Drama Desk was founded in 1949 to explore key issues in the theater and to bring together critics and writers in an organization to support the ongoing development of theater in New York. The organization began presenting its awards in 1955, and it is the only critics’ organization to honor achievement in the theater with competition among Broadway, Off Broadway, and Off-Off Broadway productions in the same categories.

 

All Drama Desk officers and nominating committee members perform their various services for the organization on a voluntary basis. The organization takes pride in announcing that the awards are then voted on “by impartial media people only,” without any vested interests in the results. Today, 100 New York theater critics, reporters, writers, and arts editors vote on the awards.

 

The 2023-2024 Drama Desk Nominating Committee is composed of: Martha Wade Steketee (Chair; freelance: UrbanExcavations.com), Linda Armstrong (New York Amsterdam News), Dan Dinero (Theatre is Easy), Peter Filichia (Broadway Radio), Kenji Fujishima (freelance: Theatermania), Margaret Hall (Playbill) and Charles Wright, ex-officio.

 

 

2024 DRAMA DESK WINNERS:

(winners are highlighted and starred)

 

Outstanding Play

Infinite Life, by Annie Baker, Atlantic Theater Company

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, by Jocelyn Bioh, Manhattan Theatre Club

Mother Play, by Paula Vogel, Second Stage Theater

***Stereophonic, by David Adjmi, Playwrights Horizons

Swing State, by Rebecca Gilman, Goodman Theatre

The Ally, by Itamar Moses, The Public Theater

 

Outstanding Musical

***Dead Outlaw

Illinoise, Park Avenue Armory

Lizard Boy, Prospect Theater Company

Teeth, Playwrights Horizons

The Connector, MCC Theater

The Outsiders

 

Outstanding Revival of a Play

***Appropriate, Second Stage Theater

Doubt: A Parable, Roundabout Theatre Company

Philadelphia, Here I Come!, Irish Repertory Theatre

Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch

Uncle Vanya, OHenry Productions

 

Outstanding Revival of a Musical

Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club

Gutenberg! The Musical!

***I Can Get It for You Wholesale, Classic Stage Company

 

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play

Nicole Cooper, Macbeth (an undoing), Theatre for a New Audience, Rose Theatre, and Royal

Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh

William Jackson Harper, Primary Trust, Roundabout Theatre Company

***Jessica Lange, Mother Play, Second Stage Theater

Rachel McAdams, Mary Jane, Manhattan Theatre Club

Tobias Menzies, The Hunt, St. Ann’s Warehouse and Almeida Theatre

Leslie Odom, Jr., Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch

***Sarah Paulson, Appropriate, Second Stage Theater

A.J. Shively, Philadelphia, Here I Come!, Irish Repertory Theatre

Juliet Stevenson, The Doctor, Park Avenue Armory

Michael Stuhlbarg, Patriots

 

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical *(There are 3 winners in this category as it includes a tie)*

Andrew Durand, Dead Outlaw

Santino Fontana, I Can Get It for You Wholesale, Classic Stage Company

Brody Grant, The Outsiders

***Brian d’Arcy James, Days of Wine and Roses, Atlantic Theater Company

***Maleah Joi Moon, Hell’s Kitchen

***Kelli O’Hara, Days of Wine and Roses, Atlantic Theater Company

Liam Pearce, How to Dance in Ohio

Gayle Rankin, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club

Ben Levi Ross, The Connector, MCC Theater

Ricky Ubeda, Illinoise, Park Avenue Armory

 

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play

Brittany Adebumola, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, Manhattan Theatre Club

Marylouise Burke, Infinite Life, Atlantic Theater Company

Michael Esper, Appropriate, Second Stage Theater

Marin Ireland, Uncle Vanya, OHenry Productions

Will Keen, Patriots

***Celia Keenan-Bolger, Mother Play, Second Stage Theater

Conrad Ricamora, Oh, Mary!

Sheila Tousey, Manahatta, The Public Theater

Bubba Weiler, Swing State, Goodman Theatre

***Kara Young, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch

 

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical

Shoshana Bean, Hell’s Kitchen

Natalie Venetia Belcon, Buena Vista Social Club, Atlantic Theater Company

Dorian Harewood, The Notebook

Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, Monty Python’s Spamalot

***Kecia Lewis, Hell’s Kitchen

***Bebe Neuwirth, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club

Steven Pasquale, Teeth, Playwrights Horizons

Maryann Plunkett, The Notebook

Thom Sesma, Dead Outlaw

Emily Skinner, Suffs

 

Outstanding Direction of a Play

***Daniel Aukin, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons

Rupert Goold, The Hunt, St. Ann’s Warehouse and Almeida Theatre

Kenny Leon, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch

Lila Neugebauer, Appropriate, Second Stage Theater

Ciarán O'Reilly, Philadelphia, Here I Come!, Irish Repertory Theatre

 

Outstanding Direction of a Musical

David Cromer, Dead Outlaw

Rebecca Frecknall, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club

Daisy Prince, The Connector, MCC Theater

***Jessica Stone, Water for Elephants

Danya Taymor, The Outsiders

 

Outstanding Choreography

Camille A. Brown, Hell’s Kitchen

Graciela Daniele and Alex Sanchez, The Gardens of Anuncia, Lincoln Center Theater

Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman, The Outsiders (includes fight choreography)

Lorin Latarro, The Heart of Rock and Roll

***Justin Peck, Illinoise, Park Avenue Armory

Jesse Robb and Shana Carroll, Water for Elephants (includes circus choreography)

 

Outstanding Music

Jason Robert Brown, The Connector, MCC Theater

Justin Huertas, Lizard Boy, Prospect Theater Company

Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay & Zach Chance) and Justin Levine, The Outsiders

***Shaina Taub, Suffs

David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna, Dead Outlaw

 

Outstanding Lyrics

Rachel Bloom, Eli Bolin, and Jack Dolgen, Rachel Bloom: Death, Let Me Do My Show

Jason Robert Brown, The Connector, MCC Theater

Michael R. Jackson, Teeth, Playwrights Horizons

Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay & Zach Chance) and Justin Levine, The Outsiders

***David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna, Dead Outlaw

 

Outstanding Book of a Musical

Justin Huertas, Lizard Boy, Prospect Theater Company

Michael R. Jackson and Anna K. Jacobs, Teeth, Playwrights Horizons

Michael John LaChiusa, The Gardens of Anuncia, Lincoln Center Theater

Rebekah Greer Melocik, How to Dance in Ohio

***Itamar Moses, Dead Outlaw

 

Outstanding Orchestrations

Timo Andres, Illinoise, Park Avenue Armory

Will Butler and Justin Craig, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons

Andy Evan Cohen, The Greatest Hits Down Route 66, New Light Theater Project

***Marco Paguia, Buena Vista Social Club, Atlantic Theater Company

Erik Della Penna, Dean Sharenow, and David Yazbek, Dead Outlaw

Michael Starobin, Shaina Taub (vocal arrangements), and Andrea Grody (vocal arrangements),

Suffs

 

Outstanding Music in a Play

Michael “Mikey J” Asante, The Effect, The Shed

S T A R R Busby and JJJJJerome Ellis, (pray), Ars Nova and National Black Theatre

***Will Butler, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons

Dionne McClain-Freeney, The Harriet Holland Social Club Presents The 84th Annual Star-Burst

Cotillion in the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel, New Georges and The Movement Theatre Company

Ben Steinfeld, Pericles, Classic Stage Company and Fiasco Theater

 

Outstanding Revue

***Amid Falling Walls, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene

 

Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play

Es Devlin, The Hunt, St. Ann’s Warehouse and Almeida Theatre

dots, Appropriate, Second Stage Theater

Derek McLane, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch

Scott Pask, Grey House

***David Zinn, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons

 

Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical

AMP featuring Tatiana Kahvegian, The Outsiders

***Paul Tate dePoo III, The Great Gatsby (includes projections)

Riccardo Hernández, Suffs

Arnulfo Maldonado, Dead Outlaw

Grace Smart, Good Vibrations: A Punk Rock Musical, Irish Arts Center

 

Outstanding Costume Design of a Play

Alex Berry, Macbeth (an undoing), Theatre for a New Audience, Rose Theatre, and Royal

Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh

Karen Boyer, Warrior Sisters of Wu, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre

***Enver Chakartash, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons

Lux Haac, Manahatta, The Public Theater

Rodrigo Muñoz, Sally & Tom, The Public Theater

 

Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical

Dede Ayite, Buena Vista Social Club, Atlantic Theater Company

Márion Talán de la Rosa, The Connector, MCC Theater

Loren Elstein, Once Upon a One More Time

David Israel Reynoso, Water for Elephants

***Paul Tazewell, Suffs

 

Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play

***Jane Cox, Appropriate, Second Stage Theater

Stacey Derosier, Uncle Vanya, OHenry Productions

Natasha Katz, Grey House

Lizzie Powell, Macbeth (an undoing), Theatre for a New Audience, Rose Theatre, and

Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh

Eric Southern, Swing State, Goodman Theatre

 

Outstanding Lighting Design of a Musical

Lap Chi Chu, Suffs

Heather Gilbert, Dead Outlaw

Bradley King, Water for Elephants

***Brian MacDevitt and Hana S. Kim (projections), The Outsiders

Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, The Connector, MCC Theater

 

Outstanding Projection and Video Design

Eric Dunlap, Our Class, MART Foundation and Arlekin Players Theatre

Jared Mezzocchi, Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy, Vineyard Theatre

***Peter Nigrini, Hell’s Kitchen

Olivia Sebesky, Melissa Etheridge: My Window

Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, The Connector, MCC Theater

 

Outstanding Sound Design of a Play

Adam Cork, The Hunt, St. Ann’s Warehouse and Almeida Theatre

Tom Gibbons, Grey House

Palmer Hefferan, The Comeuppance, Signature Theatre

Bray Poor and Will Pickens, Appropriate, Second Stage Theater

***Ryan Rumery, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons

 

Outstanding Sound Design of a Musical *(3-way tie)*

Jason Crystal, Suffs

Kai Harada and Joshua Millican, Dead Outlaw

***Nick Lidster for Autograph, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club

***Cody Spencer, The Outsiders

***Walter Trarbach, Water for Elephants

 

Outstanding Wig and Hair

J. Jared Janas and Cassie Williams, Sally & Tom, The Public Theater

Charles G. LaPointe, Suffs

***Nikiya Mathis, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, Manhattan Theatre Club

Nikiya Mathis, The Harriet Holland Social Club Presents The 84th Annual Star-Burst Cotillion in

the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel, New Georges and The Movement Theatre Company

Robert Pickens and Katie Gell, Stereophonic, Broadway Production

 

Outstanding Solo Performance

Michael Cruz Kayne, Sorry for Your Loss

Madeleine MacMahon, Breathless, Theatre Royal Plymouth

Wade McCollum, Make Me Gorgeous!, The True Story of Kenneth “Mr. Madam” Marlowe, triangle productions!

Robert Montano, SMALL, Penguin Rep Theatre

***Patrick Page, All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain

 

Unique Theatrical Experience

A Eulogy for Roman, Through the Tollbooth Co.

A Simulacrum, Atlantic Theater Company

ADRIFT: A Medieval Wayward Folly, Happenstance Theater

I Love You So Much I Could Die, New York Theatre Workshop

***Grenfell: in the words of survivors, St. Ann’s Warehouse, National Theatre, and KPPL Productions

 

Outstanding Fight Choreography

Michael G. Chin, Warrior Sisters of Wu, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre

***Cha Ramos, Water for Elephants

Steve Rankin, The Who’s Tommy

 

 Outstanding Adaptation

***An Enemy of the People, by Amy Herzog

Macbeth (an undoing), by Zinnie Harris, Theatre for a New Audience, Rose Theatre,

and Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh

The Comedy of Errors, by Rebecca Martínez and Julián Mesri, The Public Theater Mobile Unit

The Doctor, by Robert Icke, Park Avenue Armory

The Hunt, by David Farr, St. Ann’s Warehouse and Almeida Theatre

The Whole of Time, by Romina Paula, Joben Studios

 

Outstanding Puppetry

Matt Acheson, Hotel Happy, Houses on the Moon Theater Company

Adrian Kohler and Handspring Puppet Company, Life & Times of Michael K, St. Ann’s Warehouse,

Baxter Theatre Centre, and Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus

***Ray Wetmore, JR Goodman, and Camille Labarre, Water for Elephants

David Valentine, Poor Yella Rednecks, Manhattan Theatre Club

 

 

SPECIAL AWARDS

 

Ensemble Award

The cast of Stereophonic – Will Brill, Andrew R. Butler, Juliana Canfield, Eli Gelb, Tom Pecinka, Sarah Pidgeon, and Chris Stack – who execute David Adjmi’s hypernaturalistic text with extraordinary care and precision, while also performing Will Butler’s music with the freshness and life that makes us believe we are witnessing, first-hand, the creation of a new American classic.

 

 

Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award

Cole Escola, who both wrote and stars in one of this season’s biggest hits Off Broadway, Oh, Mary! Following in the long legacy of queer artists who write themselves into American history, Escola’s new “gay fantasia on national themes” is a hilarious reminder of why we must continue to interrogate our past.

 

 

ADDITIONAL SPECIAL AWARDS

 

How to Dance in Ohio Authentic Autistic Representation Team – Sammi Cannold, Nicole D'Angelo, Becky Leifman, Ava Xiao-Lin Rigelhaupt, Liz Weber, and Jeremy Wein – for their steadfast support of autistic theatermakers, and their strides toward true accessibility for neurodiverse individuals both on and offstage.

 

Lighting designer Isabella Byrd, whose self-described technique as a “darkness designer” has earned her a cache of nominations and awards in the United States and abroad. During this season, Byrd illuminated two Broadway shows done in the round, An Enemy of the People and Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club. Off Broadway, her spotlight on quiet, small-scale stories both enchanted us in Primary Trust and mesmerized us in Infinite Life, with a parking-lot sky that marked the passage of time.

 

Lady Irene Gandy, for career achievement. A press agent extraordinaire for over five decades, Lady Irene has always demonstrated her passion, dedication, and love for theater. A Broadway producer and Sardi's honoree, she is a zealous advocate for inclusion, diversity, and equity in the arts. 

 

SHOWS WITH MULTIPLE WINS

(*notates a show that received a special Drama Desk Award, which is part of the win count)

 

7 *Stereophonic

4 Water for Elephants

3 Appropriate

*Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club

Dead Outlaw

Hell’s Kitchen

2 *An Enemy of the People

Days of Wine and Roses

Mother Play

Suffs

The Outsiders