This afternoon at 12:50, on Spectrum News NY1, Norm Lewis, along with anchor Rocco Vertuccio and On Stage host Frank DiLella, announced the nominations in four of the 31 categories for the 69th annual Drama Desk Awards, the only major NYC theater awards for which Broadway, Off- Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions compete in the same categories, with all performance categories gender-neutral. Each of those has twice as many nominees as the former gendered categories, voters will cast two votes in each, and each will have two winners. In the case of a tie, there may be more than two winners in a category. To be eligible for the 2025 awards, voted on by theater critics, journalists, editors, and publishers, productions must have opened between April 26, 2024-April 27, 2025.
Leading the nominations is BOOP! The Musical with eleven, followed by Just in Time and Maybe Happy Ending with nine each. Winners will be announced at a ceremony co-hosted by Debra Messing and Tituss Burgess on Sunday, June 1, at NYU Skirball. For the first time this year, 100% of the net proceeds from the Drama Desk Awards will benefit the Entertainment Community Fund.
And the nominees are:
Outstanding Play – Blood of the Lamb, by Arlene Hutton; Deep Blue Sound, by Abe Koogler; Grangeville, by Samuel D. Hunter; John Proctor is the Villain, by Kimberly Belflower; Liberation, by Bess Wohl; and Purpose, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins;
Outstanding Musical – BOOP! The Musical; Death Becomes Her; Just in Time; Maybe Happy Ending; and Music City;
Outstanding Revival of a Play – Eureka Day; Garside’s Career; Home; Wine in the Wilderness; and Yellow Face;
Outstanding Revival of a Musical – Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”; Floyd Collins; Gypsy; Once Upon a Mattress; See What I Wanna See; and Sunset Blvd.;
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play – Betsy Aidem, The Ask; Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California; Patsy Ferran, A Streetcar Named Desire; Danny J. Gomez, All of Me; Doug Harris, Redeemed; Patrick Keleher, Fatherland; Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow; Lily Rabe, Ghosts; Jay O. Sanders, Henry IV (Theatre for a New Audience); Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray; Paul Sparks, Grangeville; and Olivia Washington, Wine in the Wilderness;
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical – Tatianna Córdoba, Real Women Have Curves; Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending; Sutton Foster, Once Upon a Mattress; Tom Francis, Sunset Blvd.; Jonathan Groff, Just in Time; Grey Henson, Elf; Jeremy Jordan, Floyd Collins; Audra McDonald, Gypsy; Jasmine Amy Rogers, BOOP! The Musical; Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Blvd.; Helen J. Shen, Maybe Happy Ending; and Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her;
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play – Greg Keller, Pre-Existing Condition; Julia Lester, All Nighter; Adrienne C. Moore, The Blood Quilt; Deirdre O’Connell, Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.; Maria-Christina Oliveras, Cymbeline; Maryann Plunkett, Deep Blue Sound; Michael Rishawn, Table 17; Jude Tibeau, Bad Kreyòl; Anjana Vasan, A Streetcar Named Desire; Frank Wood, Hold On to Me Darling; Amalia Yoo, John Proctor is the Villain; and Kara Young, Purpose;
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical – Brooks Ashmanskas, Smash; Nicholas Barasch, Pirates! The Penzance Musical; André De Shields, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”; John El-Jor, We Live in Cairo; Jason Gotay, Floyd Collins; Gracie Lawrence, Just in Time; Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat; Lesli Margherita, Gypsy; Zachary Noah Piser, See What I Wanna See; Jenny Lee Stern, Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song; Michael Urie, Once Upon a Mattress; and Natalie Walker, The Big Gay Jamboree;
Outstanding Solo Performance – David Greenspan, I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan; Ryan J. Haddad, Hold Me in the Water; Sam Kissajukian, 300 Paintings; Mark Povinelli, The Return of Benjamin Lay; and Andrew Scott, Vanya;
Outstanding Direction of a Play – David Cromer and Caitlin Sullivan, The Antiquities; Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, Stranger Things: The First Shadow; Tyne Rafaeli, Becoming Eve; Jack Serio, Grangeville; Danya Taymor, John Proctor is the Villain; Whitney White, Liberation; and Kip Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray;
Outstanding Direction of a Musical – Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending; Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”; Jamie Lloyd, Sunset Blvd.; Jerry Mitchell, BOOP! The Musical; Alex Timbers, Just in Time; and George C. Wolfe, Gypsy;
Outstanding Choreography – Camille A. Brown, Gypsy; Warren Carlyle, Pirates! The Penzance Musical; Jakob Karr, Ain’t Done Bad; Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”; Jerry Mitchell, BOOP! The Musical; and Sergio Trujillo, Real Women Have Curves;
Outstanding Music – Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending; David Foster, BOOP! The Musical; Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez, Real Women Have Curves; Zoe Sarnak, The Lonely Few; and The Lazours, We Live in Cairo;
Outstanding Lyrics – Gerard Alessandrini, Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song; Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending; David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts, Operation Mincemeat; Adam Gwon, All the World’s a Stage; Marla Mindelle and Philip Drennen, The Big Gay Jamboree; and Luis Quintero, Medea: Re-Versed;
Outstanding Book of a Musical – Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending; David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts, Operation Mincemeat; Warren Leight and Isaac Oliver, Just in Time; Bob Martin, BOOP! The Musical; Marla Mindelle and Jonathan Parks-Ramage, The Big Gay Jamboree; and Marco Pennette, Death Becomes Her;
Outstanding Orchestrations – Will Aronson, Maybe Happy Ending; Doug Besterman, BOOP! The Musical; Joseph Joubert and Daryl Waters, Pirates! The Penzance Musical; Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber, Just in Time; and Michael Starobin, All the World’s a Stage;
Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play – Miriam Buether, Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.; Miriam Buether, and Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher (illusions and visual effects), Stranger Things: The First Shadow; Gabriel Hainer Evansohn and Grace Laubacher, Life and Trust; Rob Howell, The Hills of California; Johan Kølkjær, Dark Noon; Grace Laubacher, Life and Trust; and Matt Saunders, Walden;
Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical – Clifton Chadick, Music City; Rachel Hauck, Swept Away; Dane Laffrey and George Reeve, Maybe Happy Ending (includes video design); Derek McLane, Just in Time; and David Rockwell and Finn Ross (projections), BOOP! The Musical;
Outstanding Costume Design of a Play – Brenda Abbandandolo, The Antiquities; Dede Ayite, Our Town; Christopher Ford, The Beastiary; Camilla Lind, Dark Noon; and Karl Ruckdeschel, Twelfth Night;
Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical – Gregg Barnes, BOOP! The Musical; Sarah Cubbage, The Big Gay Jamboree; Toni-Leslie James, Gypsy; Qween Jean, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”; Paul Tazewell, Death Becomes Her; and Catherine Zuber, Just in Time;
Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play – Isabella Byrd, Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.; Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow; Natasha Katz, John Proctor is the Villain; Tyler Micoleau, The Antiquities; and Paul Whitaker, SUMO;
Outstanding Lighting Design of a Musical – Kevin Adams, Swept Away; Adam Honoré, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”; Jack Knowles, Sunset Blvd.; Philip S. Rosenberg, BOOP! The Musical; and Scott Zielinski and Ruey Horng Sun (projections), Floyd Collins;
Outstanding Sound Design of a Play – Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow; Johnny Gasper, Two Sisters Find a Box of Lesbian Erotica in the Woods; Matt Otto, All of Me; Bray Poor, Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.; Clemence Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray; and Fan Zhang, Good Bones;
Outstanding Sound Design of a Musical – Adam Fisher, Sunset Blvd.; Peter Hylenski, Just in Time; Scott Lehrer, Gypsy; Mick Potter, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends; and Dan Moses Schreier, Floyd Collins;
Outstanding Projection and Video Design – Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom, Sunset Blvd.; Jake Barton, McNeal; David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian Gray; Jesse Garrison, The 7th Voyage of Egon Tichy [redux]; and Hana S. Kim, Redwood;
Outstanding Wig and Hair – Alberto “Albee” Alvarado, SUMO; Charles G. LaPointe, Death Becomes Her; Sabana Majeed, BOOP! The Musical; Nikiya Mathis, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”; and Nikiya Mathis, Liberation;
Outstanding Puppetry – Dorothy James, Bill’s 44th; Tom Lee, See What I Wanna See; Simple Mischief Studio, Small Acts of Daring Invention; Amanda Villalobos, Becoming Eve; and Kirjan Waage, Dead as a Dodo;
Outstanding Fight Choreography – Drew Leary, Romeo + Juliet; Chelsea Pace and James Yaegashi, SUMO; Rick Sordelet and Christian Kelly-Sordelet, Pirates! The Penzance Musical; and Bret Yount, King Lear;
Outstanding Adaptation – Becoming Eve, by Emil Weinstein; Cymbeline, by Andrea Thome; Medea: Re-Versed, by Luis Quintero; Pirates! The Penzance Musical, by Rupert Holmes; and The Devil’s Disciple, by David Staller;
Outstanding Revue – Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song; Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now!; The Jonathan Larson Project; and The World According to Micki Grant;
Unique Theatrical Experience – Odd Man Out; The 7th Voyage of Egon Tichy [redux]; The Picture of Dorian Gray; The Voices in Your Head; and The Wind and the Rain: A story about Sunny’s Bar.
In addition to the competitive categories, the following special awards will also be presented:
Ensemble Award – The ensemble of Roundabout Theatre Company’s Liberation (Betsy Aidem, Audrey Corsa, Kayla Davion, Susannah Flood, Kristolyn Lloyd, Irene Sofia Lucio, Charlie Thurston, and Adina Verson);
Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award – The incredibly versatile Stephen Michael Spencer for his electric and empathetic performances in two of this season’s strongest new Off-Broadway musicals;
Additional Special Awards – Pregones/PRTT, the 2014 merging of Pregones (founded in 1979) and the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater (founded in 1967) to become a powerhouse producer of Latinx shows on two NYC stages; lighting designer Stacey Derosier for her deeply intimate and consistently gorgeous work across this season’s Off-Broadway stages; and the team behind Danger and Opportunity (playwright Ken Urban, director Jack Serio, and ensemble Juan Castano, Julia Chan, and Ryan Spahn) for their genuinely serious, deeply moving consideration of the messy implications of a three-way relationship.
Congratulations to all the nominees and special award winners.
The Drama Desk Awards will be presented on Sunday, June 1, 2025, at 6:15 pm, at NYU Skirball, 566 LaGuardia Place, NYC. For tickets (priced at $250-1500, a portion of which is tax deductible), go online.
