Drama Desk Award Winners Announced
June 12, 2024
The winners of the Drama Desk Awards were announced last night in a ceremony held at NYU's Skirball Center, hosted by Sutton Foster and Aaron Tveit. The Drama Deak is an organization of critics, journalists, editors, and photographers who regularly cover the New York theatre. The award categories take in Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions.
In the categories of most interest to readers of LSA, David Zinn won for the scenic design of the 1970s music industry drama Stereophonic while Paul Tate dePoo III was cited for the scenic design (which includes projections) of the musical The Great Gatsby. You can read about the design of The Great Gatsby in LSA's future July issue.
In the lighting design category, Jane Cox won for the dysfunctional family drama Appropriate. (You can read about her work and the scenic design of the collective known as dots in LSA's May issue. Brian MacDevitt and projection designer Hana S. Kim were cited for the musical The Outsiders, based on S. E. Hinton's popular young adult novel. There was one award for projection/video design, which went to Peter Nigrini for the Alicia Keys musical Hell's Kitchen.
Ryan Rumery won the outstanding sound design award for Stereophonic; the June issue LSA features and in-depth look at Rumery's work. There was a rare three-way tie for sound design of a musical: Nick Lidster for Autograph for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Cody Spencer for The Outsiders, and Walter Trarbach for the circus musical Water for Elephants.
Costume design awards went to Enver Chakartash for Stereophonic and Paul Tazewell for the musical Suffs, about the women's suffrage movement in the years before World War I. Nikiya Mathis took the award for outstanding wig and hair featured in the comedy-drama Jaja's African Hair Braiding.
In addition, a special citation went to lighting designer Isabella Byrd, which noted her work this season on a Broadway revival of An Enemy of the People, the musical Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, and the Off-Broadway dramas Primary Trust and Infinite Life.
The full list of winners is below:
Outstanding Play
Stereophonic, by David Adjmi, Playwrights Horizons
Outstanding Musical
Dead Outlaw
Outstanding Revival of a Play
Appropriate, Second Stage Theater
Outstanding Revival of a Musical
I Can Get It for You Wholesale, Classic Stage Company
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play
Jessica Lange, Mother Play, Second Stage Theater
Sarah Paulson, Appropriate, Second Stage Theater
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical
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
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play
Celia Keenan-Bolger, Mother Play, Second Stage Theater
Kara Young, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical
Kecia Lewis, Hell's Kitchen
Bebe Neuwirth, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Outstanding Direction of a Play
Daniel Aukin, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons
Outstanding Direction of a Musical
Jessica Stone, Water for Elephants
Outstanding Choreography
Justin Peck, Illinoise, Park Avenue Armory
Outstanding Music
Shaina Taub, Suffs
Outstanding Lyrics
David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna, Dead Outlaw
Outstanding Book of a Musical
Itamar Moses, Dead Outlaw
Outstanding Orchestrations
Marco Paguia, Buena Vista Social Club, Atlantic Theater Company
Outstanding Music in a Play
Will Butler, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons
Outstanding Revue
Amid Falling Walls, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene
Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play
David Zinn, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons
Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical
Paul Tate dePoo III, The Great Gatsby (includes projections)
Outstanding Costume Design of a Play
Enver Chakartash, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons
Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical
Paul Tazewell, Suffs
Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play
Jane Cox, Appropriate, Second Stage Theater
Outstanding Lighting Design of a Musical
Brian MacDevitt and Hana S. Kim (projections), The Outsiders
Outstanding Projection and Video Design
Peter Nigrini, Hell's Kitchen
Outstanding Sound Design of a Play
Ryan Rumery, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons
Outstanding Sound Design of a Musical
Nick Lidster for Autograph, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Cody Spencer, The Outsiders
Walter Trarbach, Water for Elephants
Outstanding Wig and Hair
Nikiya Mathis, Jaja's African Hair Braiding, Manhattan Theatre Club
Outstanding Solo Performance
Patrick Page, All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain
Unique Theatrical Experience
Grenfell: in the words of survivors, St. Ann's Warehouse, National Theatre, and KPPL Productions
Outstanding Fight Choreography
Cha Ramos, Water for Elephants
Outstanding Adaptation
An Enemy of the People, by Amy Herzog
Outstanding Puppetry
Ray Wetmore, JR Goodman, and Camille Labarre, Water for Elephants
In addition to Byrd, special awards went to the ensemble cast of Stereophonic; Cole Escola, writer and star of the hit comedy Oh, Mary!; the autistic representation team of the Broadway musical How to Dance in Ohio; and the press agent and producer Lady Irene Gandy.
Among multiple winners, Stereophonic led with seven awards followed by Water for Elephants with four, and Appropriate, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Dead Outlaw, and Hell's Kitchen with three apiece.
For the full list of nominees and winners, go to www.dramadeskaward.com/nominations-1.