Winners of the 66th Annual Drama Desk Awards, presented since 1955, to honor outstanding achievement by professional theater artists and productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off Broadway – all considered together in the same competitive categories and voted on by theater critics, journalists, editors, and publishers covering the theater – were announced today.
Leading the awards were Clyde’s, Company, and Six, with four each, followed by Flying Over Sunset, MJ, and Prayer for the French Republic, each with three. The full list of Drama Desk Awards winners for 2022 is:
Outstanding Play: Prayer for the French Republic, by Joshua Harmon, Manhattan Theatre Club;
Outstanding Musical: Kimberly Akimbo, Atlantic Theater Company;
Outstanding Revival of a Play: How I Learned to Drive, Manhattan Theatre Club;
Outstanding Revival of a Musical: Company;
Outstanding Actor in a Play: Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Lackawanna Blues, Manhattan Theatre Club;
Outstanding Actress in a Play: Phylicia Rashad, Skeleton Crew, Manhattan Theatre Club;
Outstanding Actor in a Musical: Jaquel Spivey, A Strange Loop;
Outstanding Actress in a Musical: Joaquina Kalukango, Paradise Square;
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play: Ron Cephas Jones, Clyde’s, Second Stage Theater;
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play: Francis Benhamou, Prayer for the French Republic, Manhattan Theatre Club;
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical: Matt Doyle, Company;
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical: Patti LuPone, Company;
Outstanding Director of a Play: Rebecca Frecknall, Sanctuary City, New York Theatre Workshop;
Outstanding Director of a Musical: Marianne Elliott, Company;
Outstanding Choreography presented by LaDuca Dance Shoes: Bill T. Jones, Garrett Coleman, and Jason Oremus (Irish Hammerstep), Gelan Lambert and Chloe Davis (associates), Paradise Square;
Outstanding Music Presented by Music Theatre International: Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, Six;
Outstanding Lyrics Presented by Music Theatre International: Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, Six;
Outstanding Book of a Musical Presented by Music Theatre International: Bruce Sussman, Harmony, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene;
Outstanding Orchestrations: Jason Michael Webb and David Holcenberg, MJ;
Outstanding Music in a Play: Bill Sims Jr., Lackawanna Blues, Manhattan Theatre Club;
Outstanding Scenic Design for a Play: Takeshi Kata, Clyde’s, Second Stage Theater;
Outstanding Scenic Design for a Musical Presented by Hudson Scenic: Beowulf Boritt, Flying Over Sunset, Lincoln Center Theater;
Outstanding Costume Design for a Play: Jennifer Moeller, Clyde’s, Second Stage Theater;
Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical Presented by Production Resource Group: Gabriella Slade, Six;
Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play (tie): Christopher Akerlind, Clyde’s, Second Stage Theater; and Amith Chandrashaker, Prayer for the French Republic, Manhattan Theatre Club;
Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical (tie): Natasha Katz, MJ; and Bradley King, Flying Over Sunset, Lincoln Center Theater;
Outstanding Projection Design: 59 Productions, Flying Over Sunset, Lincoln Center Theater;
Outstanding Sound Design for a Play: Ben and Max Ringham, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Jamie Lloyd Company at Brooklyn Academy of Music;
Outstanding Sound Design for a Musical: Gareth Owen, MJ;
Outstanding Wig and Hair: David Brian Brown, Mrs. Doubtfire;
Outstanding Solo Performance: Kristina Wong, Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord, New York Theatre Workshop;
The Chase Award for Unique Theatrical Experience: Seven Deadly Sins, Tectonic Theater Project and Madison Wells Live;
Outstanding Adaptation: Merry Wives, by Jocelyn Bioh, The Public Theater Free Shakespeare in the Park;
Outstanding Puppet Design: James Ortiz, The Skin of Our Teeth, Lincoln Center Theater;
Harold Prince Lifetime Achievement Award: Playwright and actress Alice Childress (1912-1994);
Ensemble Award: Six, Adrianna Hicks, Andrea Macasaet, Brittney Mack, Abby Mueller, Samantha Pauly, and Anna Uzele;
The Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award: Actress Marjan Neshat (Selling Kabul and English);
Additional Special Awards: Costume designer Dede Ayite (Merry Wives, Seven Deadly Sins, The Last of the Love Letters, Chicken and Biscuits, Slave Play, Nollywood Dreams, American Buffalo, and How I learned to Drive); Scenic designer Adam Rigg (Cullud Wattah, On Sugarland, and The Skin of Our Teeth); and Composer Heather Christian (Oratorio for Living Things).
Congratulations to all the winners. The Drama Desk Awards will be presented during a ceremony at Sardi’s, 234 West 44th Street, NYC, on Tuesday, June 14, from 3-6 pm.
