Nominations for the 64th annual Drama Desk Awards were announced this afternoon for the 2018-19 season, honoring the outstanding achievements of professional theater artists on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway. The nominees will be celebrated and the winners named at a live ceremony on Sunday, June 2, beginning at 8 pm, at The Town Hall. The event will be hosted for the fourth consecutive year by Michael Urie, most recently seen on Broadway in the starring role of Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song at the Helen Hayes Theatre.
Leading the list with twelve nominations is the Broadway revival of Oklahoma!, followed closely by the new musical stage adaptation of Tootsie with eleven, and Be More Chill – which was an internet sensation before it became an Off-Broadway smash hit that soon transferred to Broadway – with eight. The nominees by category (with no distinction made by the Drama Desk between productions on and off Broadway) include:
Outstanding Play – Fairview by Jackie Sibblies Drury; The Ferryman by Jez Butterworth; Lewiston/Clarkston by Samuel D. Hunter; Usual Girls by Ming Peiffer; What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck
Outstanding Musical – Be More Chill; The Hello Girls; The Prom; Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future; Tootsie
Outstanding Revival of a Play – Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine; Henry VI: Shakespeare’s Trilogy in Two Parts; Our Lady of 121st Street; Summer and Smoke; The Waverly Gallery; Uncle Vanya
Outstanding Revival of a Musical – Carmen Jones; Fiddler on the Roof; Kiss Me, Kate; Merrily We Roll Along; Oklahoma!
Outstanding Actor in a Play – Jeff Biehl, Life Sucks; Edmund Donovan, Lewiston/Clarkston; Raúl Esparza, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui; Russell Harvard, I Was Most Alive With You; Jay O. Sanders, Uncle Vanya
Outstanding Actress in a Play – Midori Francis, Usual Girls; Zainab Jah, Boesman and Lena; Elaine May, The Waverly Gallery; Laurie Metcalf, Hillary and Clinton; Heidi Schreck, What the Constitution Means to Me
Outstanding Actor in a Musical – Brooks Ashmanskas, The Prom; Andrew R. Butler, Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future; Damon Daunno, Oklahoma!; Santino Fontana, Tootsie; Steven Skybell, Fiddler on the Roof
Outstanding Actress in a Musical – Stephanie J. Block, The Cher Show; Beth Leavel, The Prom; Rebecca Naomi Jones, Oklahoma!; Anika Noni Rose, Carmen Jones; Stacey Sargeant, Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play – Charles Browning, Fairview; Arnie Burton, Lewiston/Clarkston; Hampton Fluker, All My Sons; Tom Glynn-Carney, The Ferryman; Brandon Uranowitz, Burn This
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play – Harriett D. Foy, The House That Will Not Stand; Megan Hill, Eddie and Dave; Celia Keenan-Bolger, To Kill A Mockingbird; Ruth Wilson, King Lear; Alison Wright, Othello
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical – Corbin Bleu, Kiss Me, Kate; André De Shields, Hadestown; Sydney James Harcourt, Girl from the North Country; George Salazar, Be More Chill; Patrick Vaill, Oklahoma!
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical – Stephanie Hsu, Be More Chill; Leslie Kritzer, Beetlejuice; Soara-Joye Ross, Carmen Jones; Sarah Stiles, Tootsie; Ali Stroker, Oklahoma!; Mary Testa, Oklahoma!
Outstanding Director of a Play – Sarah Benson, Fairview; Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, The Jungle; Sam Mendes, The Ferryman; Tyne Rafaeli, Usual Girls; Taylor Reynolds, Plano; Jeff Wise, Life Sucks
Outstanding Director of a Musical – Noah Brody, Merrily We Roll Along; Rachel Chavkin, Hadestown; Scott Ellis, Tootsie; Daniel Fish, Oklahoma!; Joel Grey, Fiddler on the Roof
For a full list of nominees, along with special awards and recognitions, see Broadway News, which presents the awards. Congratulations to all of the artists recognized by the Drama Desk for their outstanding work.
The Drama Desk Awards will be presented on Sunday, June 2, 2019, at The Town Hall – 123 West 43rd Street, NYC. For tickets, call (800) 982-2787, or purchase them online.
