The 57th Annual Drama Desk Awards



The 57th Annual Drama Desk Awards winners were announced on Sun 3 Jun 2012 at an award ceremony hosted by Brooke Shields and Brian d'Arcy James at The Town Hall in Manhattan.

The musical Once, currently playing an open run at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, was the most honored production of the evening, winning a total of four awards, including Outstanding Musical.

Nina Raine's Tribes playing Off-Broadway at the Barrow Street Theatre through to 2 Sep 2012, was named Outstanding Play.

The now closed Follies (now closed) was named Outstanding Revival of a Musical, and won a total of three awards.

The Outstanding Revival of a Play Award was presented to Death of a Salesman (now closed), the show won in a further two categories.

The show that had the biggest disappointment of the evening was 'Death Takes a Holiday.' The musical had been nominated in eleven categories, but walked away from the Award ceremony empty handed.


The 2012 Drama Desk Award winnersby category:
Winners are indicated in bold font.

Outstanding Play:

  • David Henry Hwang: Chinglish
  • Dan LeFranc: The Big Meal
  • Members of the Plastic Theatre: Unnatural Acts
  • Ita mar Moses: Completeness
  • Lynn Nottage: By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
  • Nina Raine: Tribes
  • Nicky Silver: The Lyons

Outstanding Musical:

  • Bonnie & Clyde
  • Death Takes a Holiday
  • Leap of Faith
  • Newsies The Musical
  • Nice Work If You Can Get It
  • Once
  • Queen of the Mist

Outstanding Revival of a Play:

  • A Little Journey
  • Death of a Salesman
  • Edward Albee's The Lady from Dubuque
  • Gore Vidal's The Best Man
  • Lost in Yonkers
  • Richard III

Outstanding Revival of a Musical:

  • Carrie
  • Evita
  • Follies
  • Jesus Christ Superstar
  • The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
  • The Threepenny Opera

Outstanding Actor in a Play:

  • James Corden: One Man, Two Guvnors
  • Hugh Dancy: Venus in Fur
  • Claybourne Elder: One Arm
  • Santino Fontana: Sons of the Prophet
  • Joseph Franchini: The Navigator
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman: Death of a Salesman
  • Kevin Spacey: Richard III

Outstanding Actress in a Play:

  • Tracie Bennett: End of the Rainbow
  • Sanaa Lathan: By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
  • Linda Lavin: The Lyons
  • Jennifer Lim: Chinglish
  • Kim Martin-Cotten: A Moon for the Misbegotten
  • Carey Mulligan: Through a Glass Darkly
  • Joely Richardson: Side Effects

Outstanding Actor in a Musical:

  • Danny Burstein: Follies
  • Kevin Earley: Death Takes a Holiday
  • Raul Esparza: Leap of Faith
  • Jeremy Jordan: Newsies The Musical
  • Norm Lewis: The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
  • Ricky Martin: Evita

Outstanding Actress in a Musical:

  • Miche Braden: The DeviI's Music: The Life & Blues of Bessie Smith
  • Jan Maxwell: Follies
  • Audra McDonald: The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
  • Kelli O'Hara: Nice Work If You Can Get It
  • Bernadette Peters: Follies
  • Molly Ranson: Carrie

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play:

  • Bill Camp: Oeath of a Salesman
  • Jim Dale: The Road to Mecca
  • Tom Edden: One Man, Two Guvnors
  • Bill Irwin: King Lear
  • Jefferson Mays: Blood and Gifts
  • Will Rogers: Unnatural Acts
  • Morgan Spector: Russian Transport

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play:

  • Stephanie J. Block: By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
  • Anna Camp: All New People
  • Kimberly Hebert Gregory: By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
  • Lisa Joyce: The Ugly One
  • Joaquina Kalukango: Hurt Village
  • Angela Lansbury: Gore Vidal's The Best Man
  • Judith Light: Other Desert Cities

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical:

  • Phillip Boykin: The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
  • Matt Cavenaugh: Death Takes a Holiday
  • Michael Cerveris: Evita
  • Michael McGrath: Nice Work If You Can Get It
  • Patrick Page: Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
  • Andrew Samonsky: Queen of the Mist

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical:

  • Judy Kaye: Nice Work If You Can Get It
  • Marin Mazzie: Carrie
  • Jessie Mueller: On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
  • Elaine Paige: Follies
  • Sarah Sokolovic: The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World
  • Melissa van der Schyff: Bonnie & Clyde

Outstanding Director of a Play:

  • Jo Bonney: By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
  • David Cromer: Tribes
  • Ed Sylvanus Iskandar: These Seven Sicknesses
  • Sam Mendes: Richard III
  • Mike Nichols: Death of a Salesman
  • Tony Speciale: Unnatural Acts

Outstanding Director of a Musical:

  • Christopher Ashley: Leap of Faith
  • Jack Cummings III: Queen of the Mist
  • Doug Hughes: Death Takes a Holiday
  • Kathleen Marshall: Nice Work If You Can Get It
  • Eric Schaeffer: Follies
  • John Tiffany: Once

Outstanding Choreography:

  • Rob Ashford: Evita
  • Warren Carlyle: Follies
  • Breandan de Gallal: Noctu
  • Christopher Gattelli: Newsies The Musical
  • Kathleen Marshall: Nice Work If You Can Get It
  • Sergio Trujillo: Leap of Faith

Outstanding Music:

  • Glen Hansard and Marketa lrqlova: Once
  • Michael John LaChiusa: Queen of the Mist
  • Alan Menken: Leap of Faith
  • Alan Menken: Newsies The Musical
  • Frank Wildhorn: Bonnie & Clyde
  • Maury Yeston: Death Takes a Holiday

Outstanding Lyrics:

  • Don Black: Bonnie & Clyde
  • Jack Feldman: Newsies The Musical
  • Joy Gregory and Gunnar Madsen: The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World
  • Glen Hansard and Marketa lrqlova: Once
  • Michael John LaChiusa: Queen of the Mist
  • Maury Yeston:Death Takes a Holiday

Outstanding Book of a Musical:

  • Douglas Carter Beane: Lysistrata Jones
  • Janus Cercone and Warren Leight: Leap of Faith
  • Joe DiPietro: Nice Work If You Can Get It
  • Joy Gregory: The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World
  • Michael John LaChiusa: Queen of the Mist
  • Thomas Meehan and Peter Stone: Death Takes a Holiday

Outstanding Music in a Play

  • Mark Bennett: An Iliad
  • Mark Bennett: Richard III
  • Tom Kitt: All's Well That Ends Well
  • Gina Leishman: Septimus and Clarissa
  • Grant Olding: One Man, Two Guvnors
  • Suzanne Vega and Duncan Sheik: Carson McCullers Talks About Love

Outstanding Revue

  • Newsical the Musical: End of the World Edition
  • The Best Is Yet to Come: The Music of Cy Coleman

Outstanding Set Design:

  • Jon Driscoll, Rob Howell and Paul Kieve: Ghost The Musical
  • David Gallo: The Mountaintop
  • Roger Hanna: A Little Journey
  • David Korins: Assistance
  • David Korins: Chinglish
  • Derek McLane: Follies

Outstanding Costume Design:

  • Gregg Barnes: Follies
  • ESosa: By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
  • William Ivey Long: Lucky Guy
  • Jessica Pabst: She Kills Monsters
  • Martin Pakledinaz: Nice Work If You Can Get It
  • Catherine Zuber: Death Takes a Holiday

Outstanding Lighting Design:

  • Kevin Adams: Carrie
  • Neil Austin: Evita
  • David Lander: One Arm
  • Brian MacDevitt: Death of a Salesman
  • Kenneth Posner: Death Takes a Holiday
  • Paul Pyant: Richard III

Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical:

  • Acme Sound Partners: The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
  • Jonathan Deans: Carrie
  • Clive Goodwin: Once
  • Kai Harada: Follies
  • Steve Canyon Kennedy: Jesus Christ Superstar
  • Jon Weston: Death Takes a Holiday

Outstanding Sound Design in a Play:

  • Quentin Chiappetta/mediaNoise: The Navigator
  • Gregory Clarke: Misterman
  • Gareth Fry: Richard III
  • John Gromada: Gore Vidal's The Best Man
  • Stowe Nelson: Samuel and Alasdair: A Personal History of the Robot War
  • Shane Rettig: She Kills Monsters

Outstanding Solo Performnce:

  • Baba Brinkman: The Rap Guide to Evolution
  • Suli Holum: Chimera
  • Jeff Key: The Eyes of Babylon
  • Cillian Murphy: Misterman
  • Denis O'Hare: An Iliad
  • Stephen Spinella: An Iliad

Outstanding Orchestrations:

  • Bill Elliott: Nice Work If You Can Get It
  • Larry Hochman: Death Takes a Holiday
  • Martin Lowe: Once
  • John McDaniel: Bonnie & Clyde
  • Michael Starobin: Queen of the Mist
  • Danny Troob: Newsies

Unique Theatrical Experience:

  • Give Me Your Hand
  • Gob Squad's Kitchen (You've Never Had It So Good)
  • Noctu
  • The Complete & Condensed Stage Directions of Eugene O'Neill, Vol. 1: Early Plays/Lost Plays
  • The Ryan Case 1873
  • White

The following awards were voted by the nominating committee and were also presented by the Drama Desk at its awards ceremony:

Outstanding Ensemble Performances:
Note: Individual cast members for this show were not eligible for acting awards in the competitive categories.

  • Sweet and Sad
Special Awards:
Each year, the Drama Desk votes special awards to recognize excellence and significant contributions to the theater. For 2011/2012, these awards are presented to:
  • Mary Testa: For over three decades, she has dazzled audiences with consistently outstanding work, including her tour-de-force performance in this season's 'Queen of the Mist.'
  • Nick Westrate: His versatility in Unnatural Acts, Love's Labor's Lost, and Galileo was a highlight of the season.
  • New Victory Theatre: For providing enchanting, sophisticated children's theater that appeals to the child in all of us, and for nurturing a love of theater in young people.
  • Stephen Karam: The newly created Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award: The profoundly moving 'Sons of the Prophet' confirmed his status as one of the most promising playwrights of his generation.

Awards by show:

Once
(4 wins)
Outstanding Musical
Outstanding Director of a Musical
Outstanding Lyrics
Outstanding Orchestrations
 
Death of a Salesman
(3 wins)
Outstanding Revival of a Play
Outstanding Director of a Play
Outstanding Lighting Design
 
Nice Work If You Can Get It
(3 wins)
Outstanding Featurd Actor in a Musical
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Outstanding Book of a Musical
 
One Man, Two Guvnors
(3 wins)
Outstanding Actor in a Play
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Outstanding Music in a Play
 
Follies
2 wins)
Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Outstanding Costume Designl
 
The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
(2 wins)
Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical
 
Newsies the Musical
(2 wins)
Outstanding Choreography
Outstanding Music
 
The Best Is Yet to Come: The Music of Cy Coleman
(1 win)
Outstanding Revue
 
End of the Rainbow
(1 win)
Outstanding Actress in a Play
 
Ghost The Musical
(1 win)
Outstanding Set Design
 
Gob Squad's Kitchen
(1 win)
Unique Theatrical Experience
 
Gore Vidal's The Best Man
(1 win)
Outstanding Sound Design in a Play
 
Misterman
(1 win)
Outstanding Solo Performance
 
Other Desert Cities
(1 win)
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
 
Tribes
(1 win)
Outstanding Play
Outstanding MusicalOutstanding PlayOutstanding Revival of a MusicalOutstanding Revival of a PlayOnce (4 wins)Outstanding Musical Outstanding Director of a Musical Outstanding Lyrics Outstanding Orchestrations Death of a Salesman (3 wins)Outstanding Revival of a Play Outstanding Director of a Play Outstanding Lighting Design Nice Work If You Can Get It (3 wins)Outstanding Featurd Actor in a Musical Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Outstanding Book of a Musical One Man, Two Guvnors (3 wins)Outstanding Actor in a Play Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play Outstanding Music in a Play Follies 2 wins)Outstanding Actor in a Musical Outstanding Costume Designl The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess (2 wins)Outstanding Actress in a Musical Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical Newsies the Musical (2 wins)Outstanding Choreography Outstanding Music The Best Is Yet to Come: The Music of Cy Coleman (1 win)Outstanding Revue End of the Rainbow (1 win)Outstanding Actress in a Play Ghost The Musical (1 win)Outstanding Set Design Gob Squad's Kitchen (1 win)Unique Theatrical Experience Gore Vidal's The Best Man (1 win)Outstanding Sound Design in a Play Misterman (1 win)Outstanding Solo Performance Other Desert Cities (1 win)Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play Tribes (1 win)Outstanding Play

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