Drama Desk Awards 2019 - And the Winners are...

The Prom and The Ferryman win big at The 64th Annual Drama Desk Awards at The Town Hall.

Last night the New York Theatre community came together to celebrate The 64th Annual Drama Desk Awards at The Town Hall, which was hosted (for a fourth consecutive time) by Drama Desk Award winner Michael Urie. The ceremony also featured performances from Fiddler on the Roof, Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future, and Be More Chill, with George Salazar singing the popular Broadway hit "Michael in the Bathroom". Lilias White also gave her version of Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" during the In Memoriam section of the ceremony.

The biggest winners of the night were the Broadway premieres of The Prom and The Ferryman, which took home the awards for "Outstanding Musical" and "Outstanding Play," respectively, whilst The Waverly Gallery and the Yiddish-language version of Fiddler on the Roof grabbed their respective awards for "Outstanding Revival of a Play" and "Outstanding Revival of a Musical".

It should be noted that the Broadway productions of Hadestown, Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song and Choir Boy had already been considered by the Drama Desk Awards for their off-Broadway premieres, allowing only new elements of the productions to be considered for their respective Broadway transfers. In addition, The Boys in the Band was not eligible for this season's Drama Desk Awards due to the fact that the production did not accommodate nominators during its limited Broadway owing to limited ticket availability.

The New York Theatre Guide was on hand to greet all of the winners (in attendance) and we'd like to share with you our celebratory photos along with the full list of this year's winners below...

The 2019 Winners (and Nominees) by category are:

Outstanding Play

Fairview, by Jackie Sibblies Drury, Soho Rep

The Ferryman, by Jez Butterworth - WINNER!!!

Lewiston/Clarkston, by Samuel D. Hunter, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater

Usual Girls, by Ming Peiffer, Roundabout Theatre Company

What the Constitution Means to Me, by Heidi Schreck, New York Theatre Workshop and Broadway

Outstanding Musical

Be More Chill

The Hello Girls, Prospect Theater Company

The Prom - WINNER!!!

Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future, Ars Nova

Tootsie

Outstanding Revival of a Play

Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine, Signature Theatre

Henry VI: Shakespeare's Trilogy in Two Parts, National Asian American Theatre Company

Our Lady of 121^st Street, Signature Theatre

Summer and Smoke, Classic Stage Company/Transport Group

The Waverly Gallery - WINNER!!!

Uncle Vanya, Hunter Theater Project

Outstanding Revival of a Musical

Carmen Jones, Classic Stage Company

Fiddler on the Roof, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene and Off-Broadway - WINNER!!!

Kiss Me, Kate, Roundabout Theatre Company

Merrily We Roll Along, Fiasco Theater/Roundabout Theatre Company

Oklahoma!, Bard Summerscape/St. Ann's Warehouse and Broadway

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 - WINNER!!!

Outstanding Actress in a Play

Midori Francis, Usual Girls

Zainab Jah, Boesman and Lena

Elaine May, The Waverly Gallery - WINNER!!!

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 - WINNER!!!

Steven Skybell, Fiddler on the Roof

Outstanding Actress in a Musical

Stephanie J. Block, The Cher Show - WINNER!!!

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 - WINNER!!!

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 - WINNER!!!

Ruth Wilson, King Lear

Alison Wright, Othello

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical

Corbin Bleu, Kiss Me, Kate

André De Shields, Hadestown - WINNER!!!

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! - WINNER!!!

Mary Testa, Oklahoma!

Outstanding Director of a Play

Sarah Benson, Fairview

Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, The Jungle

Sam Mendes, The Ferryman - WINNER!!!

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 - WINNER!!!

Scott Ellis, Tootsie

Daniel Fish, Oklahoma!

Joel Grey, Fiddler on the Roof

Outstanding Choreography presented by LaDuca Dance Shoes

Camille A. Brown, Choir Boy

Warren Carlyle, Kiss Me, Kate - WINNER!!!

Denis Jones, Tootsie

Lorin Latarro, Twelfth Night

Rick and Jeff Kuperman, Alice by Heart

David Neumann, Hadestown

Outstanding Music presented by Music Theatre International

Andrew R. Butler, Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future

Joe Iconis, Be More Chill

Peter Mills, The Hello Girls

Mark Sonnenblick, Midnight at the Never Get

Shaina Taub, Twelfth Night

David Yazbek, Tootsie - WINNER!!!

Outstanding Lyrics presented by Music Theatre International

Chad Beguelin, The Prom

Andrew R. Butler, Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future

Joe Iconis, Be More Chill

Peter Mills, The Hello Girls

David Yazbek, Tootsie - WINNER!!!

Outstanding Book of a Musical presented by Music Theatre International

Scott Brown and Anthony King, Beetlejuice

Andrew R. Butler, Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future

Robert Horn, Tootsie - WINNER!!!

Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin, The Prom

Dominique Morisseau, Ain't Too Proud

Outstanding Orchestrations

Larry Blank, Fiddler on the Roof

Simon Hale, Girl from the North Country

Daniel Kluger, Oklahoma! - WINNER!!!

Charlie Rosen, Be More Chill

Daryl Waters, The Cher Show

Outstanding Music in a Play

Paul Castles and Jongbin Jung, Wild Goose Dreams

Justin Ellington, Mrs. Murray's Menagerie

Justin Ellington, The House That Will Not Stand

Nick Powell, The Lehman Trilogy

Jason Michael Webb and Fitz Patton, Choir Boy - WINNER!!!

Outstanding Set Design of a Play

Miriam Buether, The Jungle

Es Devlin, Girls & Boys

Maruti Evans, The Peculiar Patriot

Mimi Lien, Fairview

Matt Saunders, "Daddy" - WINNER!!!

Outstanding Set Design for a Musical presented by Hudson Scenic

Rachel Hauck, Hadestown

Laura Jellinek, Oklahoma!

Laura Jellinek, Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future

David Korins, Beetlejuice - WINNER!!!

Rae Smith, Girl from the North Country

Outstanding Costume Design for a Play

Dede M. Ayite, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark

Dede M. Ayite, If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka

Ásta Bennie Hostetter, Mrs. Murray's Menagerie

Toni-Leslie James, Bernhardt/Hamlet - WINNER!!!

Nicole Slaven, Henry VI: Shakespeare's Trilogy in Two Parts

Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical

William Ivey Long, Beetlejuice

William Ivey Long, Tootsie

Bobby Frederick Tilly II, Be More Chill

Michael Krass, Hadestown

Bob Mackie, The Cher Show - WINNER!!!

Paloma Young, Alice by Heart

Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play

Amith Chandrashaker, Boesman and Lena - WINNER!!!

Amith Chandrashaker, Fairview

Jiyoun Chang, Slave Play

Jon Clark, The Jungle

Simon Cleveland, Spaceman

Yi Zhao, The House That Will Not Stand

Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical presented by Production Resource Group

Adam Honoré, Carmen Jones

Bradley King, Hadestown - WINNER!!!

Jamie Roderick, Midnight at the Never Get

Barbara Samuels, Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future

Scott Zielinski, Oklahoma!

Outstanding Projection Design

Peter England, King Kong - WINNER!!!

Katherine Freer, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark

Luke Halls, The Lehman Trilogy

Alex Basco Koch, Be More Chill

Peter Nigrini, Beetlejuice

Joshua Thorson, Oklahoma!

Outstanding Sound Design in a Play

Tyler Kieffer, Plano

Fitz Patton, Choir Boy

Nick Powell, The Ferryman - WINNER!!!

Jane Shaw, I Was Most Alive with You

Mikaal Sulaiman, Fairview

Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical

Simon Baker, Girl from the North Country

Drew Levy, Oklahoma!

Brian Ronan, Tootsie

Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz, Hadestown - WINNER!!!

Mikaal Sulaiman, Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future

Outstanding Wig and Hair Design

Campbell Young Associates, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus  

Cookie Jordan, Eddie and Dave

Paul Huntley, Tootsie

Charles G. LaPointe, Beetlejuice

Charles G. LaPointe, The Cher Show - WINNER!!!

Outstanding Solo Performance

Mike Birbiglia, The New One - WINNER!!!

Carey Mulligan, Girls & Boys

Liza Jessie Peterson, The Peculiar Patriot, National Black Theatre/Hi-Arts

Erin Treadway, Spaceman, Loading Dock Theatre

Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag

Unique Theatrical Experience

All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914, Theater Latté Da/Laura Little Theatrical Productions/The Sheen Center - WINNER!!!

Love's Labor's Lost, Shake & Bake

The B-Side: "Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons," The Wooster Group

What to Send Up When It Goes Down, The Movement Theatre Company

Outstanding Fight Choreography

U. Jonathan Toppo, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

Claire Warden, "Daddy"

Claire Warden, Slave Play - WINNER!!!

Outstanding Puppet Design

Michael Curry, Beetlejuice

Sonny Tilders, King Kong - WINNER!!!

Tschabalala Self, "Daddy"

SPECIAL AWARDS

- Ensemble Award: To the uncanny ensemble of Dance Nation for their pointed portrait of a dance troupe driven by competition but fused by the experiences of youth: Purva Bedi, Eboni Booth, Camila Canó-Flaviá, Dina Shihabi, Ellen Maddow, Christina Rouner, Thomas Jay Ryan, Lucy Taylor, and Ikechukwu Ufomadu.

- Sam Norkin Award: To Montana Levi Blanco, who enriched this season with his vibrant and detailed costumes for Fairview, The House That Will Not Stand, Fabulation, Or the Re-Education of Undine, Eddie and Dave, "Daddy", and Ain't No Mo'. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a Blanco costume is worth considerably more, telling us a complete story about its wearer while giving us something fabulous to look at.

- To Mia Katigbak, the backbone of the Off-Broadway scene, we acclaim her for her performances this season in Henry VI: Shakespeare's Trilogy in Two Parts, The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, Peace for Mary Francisand Recent Alien Abductions. This award also recognizes her vital presence as the artistic director of NAATCOand her sustained excellence as a performer and mentor.

- To Repertorio Español for presenting a year-round rotating repertory of new and classic Spanish-language plays in its intimate Gramercy venue. For the past 51 years, Repertorio has been an indispensable theater for Spanish-speaking audiences, while inviting non-Spanish-speaking theatergoers to discover the delights of the Spanish-language canon and introducing New York audiences to the work of actors like Zulema Clares and Germán Jaramillo.

Drama Desk was founded in 1949 to explore key issues in the theater and to bring together critics and writers in an organization to support the ongoing development of theater in New York. The organization began presenting its awards in 1955, and it is the only critics' organization to honor achievement in the theater with competition among Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions in the same categories.

^{(Photos by Shoshana Medney)}