2022 Drama Desk Award nominations announced
Six on Broadway leads with 10 nods.
The nominations have been announced for the 2022 Drama Desk Awards ahead of the ceremony on May 31. The Drama Desk Awards award excellence in both Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre, with both types of shows going up against each other in the competitive categories. A total of 115 shows were considered for awards this year, opening between summer 2021 (with the return of in-person theatre to New York) and May 1, 2022.
Actor George Takei announced the nominations on NY1 this afternoon. Six on Broadway leads the Drama Desk nominations with 10, including nine competitive nominations and one special Ensemble Award. Kimberly Akimbo off Broadway comes in second for nominations with 9.
In addition to the competitive nominees, multiple special awardees were announced. Tectonic Theater Project and Madison Wells Live's Seven Deadly Sins, one of the first in-person New York shows in summer 2021 that was performed in storefronts in the Meatpacking District, received the Chase Award for Unique Theatrical Experience. The playwright Alice Childress, whose plays Trouble in Mind and Wedding Band played on and off Broadway, respectively, this season, posthumously won the Harold Prince Lifetime Achievement Award.
Actor Marjan Neshat won the Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award for performing in Selling Kabul and English off Broadway. Costume designer Dede Ayite and set designer Adam Rigg both won special awards for their prolific work both on and off Broadway this season. Finally, Heather Christian won a special award for creating the acclaimed, "category-defying" Oratorio for Living Things at Ars Nova.
Elements of productions that were previously eligible for previous years' Drama Desks were not eligible this year. For example, since the Off-Broadway production of A Strange Loop was considered (and won) in 2020, the show was not eligible this year, except in the Leading Actor category.
Read a full list of Drama Desk Award nominees below.
Outstanding Play
Outstanding Musical
- Harmony
- Intimate Apparel
- Kimberly Akimbo
- Six
- The Hang
Outstanding Revival of a Play
- for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf
- How I Learned to Drive
- Lackawanna Blues
- Skeleton Crew
- Trouble in Mind
- Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992
Outstanding Revival of a Musical
Outstanding Actor in a Play
- Brandon J. Dirden - Skeleton Crew
- Jesse Tyler Ferguson - Take Me Out
- Jacob Ming-Trent - Merry Wives
- Ruben Santiago-Hudson - Lackawanna Blues
- John Douglas Thompson - The Merchant of Venice
Outstanding Actress in a Play
- Tala Ashe - English
- Ruth Negga - Macbeth
- Andrea Patterson - Cullud Wattah
- Phylicia Rashad - Skeleton Crew
- Shannon Tyo - The Chinese Lady
- Michelle Wilson - Confederates
Outstanding Actor in a Musical
- Billy Crystal - Mr. Saturday Night
- Myles Frost - MJ The Musical
- Rob McClure - Mrs. Doubtfire
- Jaquel Spivey - A Strange Loop
- Chip Zien - Harmony
Outstanding Actress in a Musical
- Kearstin Piper Brown - Intimate Apparel
- Victoria Clark - Kimberly Akimbo
- Sharon D Clarke - Caroline, or Change
- Jeanna de Waal - Diana
- Joaquina Kalukango - Paradise Square
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
- Joshua Boone - Skeleton Crew
- Chuck Cooper - Trouble in Mind
- Daniel K. Isaac - The Chinese Lady
- Billy Eugene Jones - On Sugarland
- Ron Cephas Jones - Clyde's
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
- Francis Benhamou - Prayer for the French Republic
- Stephanie Berry - On Sugarland
- Sonnie Brown - what you are now
- Page Leong - Out of Time
- Kenita R. Miller - for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf
- Kara Young - Clyde's
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
- Justin Austin - Intimate Apparel
- Justin Cooley - Kimberly Akimbo
- Matt Doyle - Company
- Jared Grimes - Funny Girl
- Tavon Olds-Sample - MJ The Musical
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
- Judy Kuhn - Assassins
- Tamika Lawrence - Black No More
- Patti LuPone - Company
- Bonnie Milligan - Kimberly Akimbo
- Jennifer Simard - Company
Outstanding Director of a Play
- Knud Adams - English
- Saheem Ali - Merry Wives
- Rebecca Frecknall - Sanctuary City
- Taibi Magar - Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992
- Whitney White - On Sugarland
Outstanding Director of a Musical
- John Doyle - Assassins
- Marianne Elliott - Company
- Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage - Six
- Bartlett Sher - Intimate Apparel
- Jessica Stone - Kimberly Akimbo
Outstanding Choreography
- Ayodele Casel (tap choreography) - Funny Girl
- Carrie-Anne Ingrouille - Six
- Bill T. Jones, Garrett Coleman, and Jason Oremus (Irish Hammerstep), Gelan Lambert and Chloe Davis (associates) - Paradise Square
- Liam Steel - Company
- Christopher Wheeldon and Michael Balderrama (associate), Rich and Tone Taleuega (Michael Jackson movement) - MJ The Musical
Outstanding Music
- Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss - Six
- Jason Howland - Paradise Square
- Matt Ray - The Hang
- Carrie Rodriguez - ¡Americano!
- Jeanine Tesori - Kimberly Akimbo
Outstanding Lyrics
- Amanda Green - Mr. Saturday Night
- Taylor Mac - The Hang
- Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss - Six
- David Lindsay-Abaire - Kimberly Akimbo
- Lynn Nottage - Intimate Apparel
- Shaina Taub - Suffs
Outstanding Book of a Musical
- Billy Crystal, Lowell Ganz, and Babaloo Mandel - Mr. Saturday Night
- Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss - Six
- Lynn Nottage - Intimate Apparel
- Bruce Sussman - Harmony
Outstanding Orchestrations
- Tom Curran - Six
- Greg Jarrett - Assassins
- Mark Hartman and Yasuhiko Fukuoka - The Streets of New York
- Jason Michael Webb and David Holcenberg - MJ The Musical
Outstanding Music in a Play
- Te'La and Kamauu - Thoughts of a Colored Man
- Bill Sims Jr. - Lackawanna Blues
- Michael Thurber and Farai Malianga (drum compositions) - Merry Wives
Outstanding Scenic Design for a Play
- Beowulf Boritt - Merry Wives
- Wilson Chin - Pass Over
- Marsha Ginsberg - English
- Takeshi Kata - Clyde's
- Junghyun Georgia Lee - Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord
Outstanding Scenic Design for a Musical
- Emma Bailey - Six
- Beowulf Boritt - Flying Over Sunset
- Bunny Christie - Company
- David Zinn - Kimberly Akimbo
Outstanding Costume Design for a Play
- Linda Cho - The Chinese Lady
- Gregory Gale - Fairycakes
- Tilly Grimes - The Alchemist
- Qween Jean - On Sugarland
- Jennifer Moeller - Clyde's
Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical
- Machine Dazzle - The Hang
- Susan Hilferty - Funny Girl
- Santo Loquasto - The Music Man
- Gabriella Slade - Six
- Catherine Zuber - Intimate Apparel
Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play
- Christopher Akerlind - Clyde's
- Reza Behjat - English
- Isabella Byrd - Sanctuary City
- Amith Chandrashaker - Prayer for the French Republic
- Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew - Cullud Wattah
Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical
- Natasha Katz - Diana
- Natasha Katz - MJ
- Bradley King - Flying Over Sunset
- Jennifer Tipton - Intimate Apparel
Outstanding Projection Design
- 59 Productions - Flying Over Sunset
- David Bengali - Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992
- Stephania Bulbarella and Alex Basco Koch - Space Dogs
- Shawn Duan - The Chinese Lady
- Sven Ortel - Thoughts of a Colored Man
Outstanding Sound Design for a Play
- Tyler Kieffer - Seven Deadly Sins
- Hidenori Nakajo and Ryan Rumery - Autumn Royal
- Ben and Max Ringham - Cyrano de Bergerac
- Mikaal Sulaiman - Sanctuary City
- Lee Kinney - Selling Kabul
Outstanding Sound Design for a Musical
- Ian Dickinson for Autograph - Company
- Paul Gatehouse - Six
- Kai Harada - Kimberly Akimbo
- Gareth Owen - MJ
Outstanding Wig and Hair
- Matthew B. Armentrout - Paradise Square
- David Brian Brown - Mrs. Doubtfire
- Paul Huntley - Diana
- Charles LaPointe - MJ The Musical
Outstanding Solo Performance
- Alex Edelman - Just for Us
- Arturo Luís Soria - Ni Mi Madre
- Kristina Wong - Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord
Outstanding Adaptation
- Merry Wives - by Jocelyn Bioh
- The Alchemist - by Jeffrey Hatcher
Outstanding Puppet Design
- Amanda Villalobos - Wolf Play
- James Ortiz - The Skin of Our Teeth
- Rockefeller Productions - Winnie the Pooh
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