2005 Drama Desk Award winners announced

The awards ceremony, honoring outstanding achievements in New York theatre for the 2004/2005 theatre season ,was held last night in the Concert Hall at F.H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts with Harvey Fierstein as host.

Doubt, John Patrick Shanley�s acclaimed drama about a strong-minded nun in a Bronx Catholic school who suspects a priest of being a possible child molester, and The Light in the Piazza, a musical about a mother and daughter traveling together in Italy in the summer of 1953, each won five awards at the 50th Annual Drama Desk Awards.

The next big winners, with three Drama Desk Awards each, were two new musicals: Monty Python�s Spamalot, based on the 1975 film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, with book, music and lyrics by Eric Idle, directed by Mike Nichols, and The 25 th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a delightful new musical, staged by James Lapine, about six young people on the edge of puberty who strive to become adults by competing in an annual spelling bee.

Doubt and Monty Python�s Spamalot were voted Outstanding New Play and Outstanding New Musical, respectively. Billy Crystal won the Outstanding Solo Performance Drama Desk Award for his one-man show, 700 Sundays; Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit was voted a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revue; Slava�s Snowshow won the Unique Theatrical Experience Award; and Outstanding Ensemble Drama Desk Awards were presented to the casts of Glengarry Glen Ross and The 25 th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

Productions that won two awards each were the revival of Glengarry Glen Ross, directed by Joe Mantello, a new production of David Mamet�s 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winning play; La Cage aux Folles, a revival of the 1983 musical starring Robert Goulet and Gary Beach; and The Pillowman, The National Theatre of Great Britain�s new production of Martin McDonagh�s play about a fiction writer in a totalitarian state who is interrogated about the plot similarities of his short stories to a number of bizarre incidents in his community.

The nominating committee included Barbara Siegel, William Wolf, Andy Buck, Michael Buckley, Christopher Byrne, Andrew Propst and Richard Ridge.

The winners of the 2005 nominations by category are:
(Winners appear in bold)

Outstanding Play:

• Democracy; written by Michael Frayn
• Doubt; written by John Patrick Shanley
• Pentecost by David Edgar
• The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh
• Sailor�s Song by John Patrick Shanley
• Sin (A Cardinal Deposed) by Michael Murphy

Outstanding Musical:

• Altar Boyz
• The Audience
• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
• The Light in the Piazza
• Monty Python�s Spamalot
• The 25 th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Outstanding Revival of a Play:

• Who�s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee
• Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet
• Hurlyburly by David Rabe
• Outward Bound by Sutton Vane
• Pullman Car Hiawatha by Thornton Wilder
• Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose

Outstanding Revival of a Musical:

• Ain�t Supposed to Die a Natural Death
• La Cage aux Folles
• On Second Avenue
• Sweet Charity
• Hurlyburly; written by David Rabe; produced by The New Group

Outstanding Revue:

• Absolutely Fascinating
• Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit
• Newsical

Outstanding Actor in a Play:

• Adam Arkin; Brooklyn Boy
• John Cullum; Sin (A Cardinal Deposed)
• Bill Irwin; Who�s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
• Br�an F. O�Byrne; Doubt
• Jeremy Piven; Fat Pig
• John Turturro; Souls of Naples

Outstanding Actress in a Play:

• Veanne Cox; Last Easter
• Cherry Jones; Doubt
• Judy Kaye; Souvenir
• Laura Linney; Sight Unseen
• Frances Sternhagen; Echoes of the War
• Kathleen Turner; Who�s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Outstanding Actor in a Musical:

• Hank Azaria; Monty Python�s Spamalot
• Mike Burstyn; On Second Avenue
• Norbert Leo Butz; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
• Matthew Morrison; The Light in the Piazza
• David Hyde Pierce; Monty Python�s Spamalot
• Bill Thompson; God Hates the Irish: The Ballad of Armless Johnny

Outstanding Actress in a Musical:

• Christina Applegate; Sweet Charity
• Victoria Clark; The Light in the Piazza
• Sutton Foster; Little Women
• LaChanze; Dessa Rose
• Sherie Rene Scott; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
• Rachel York; Dessa Rose

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play:

• Philip Bosco; Twelve Angry Men
• Larry Bryggman; Romance
• Jeff Goldblum; The Pillowman
• Josh Hamilton; Hurlyburly
• Paul Sparks; Orange Flower Water
• Michael Stuhlbarg; The Pillowman

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play:

• Julie Halston; White Chocolate
• Adriane Lenox; Doubt
• Portia; McReele
• Lily Rabe; Steel Magnolias
• Lee Roy Rogers: Orson�s Shadow
• Mary Testa; String of Pearls

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical:

• Christian Borle; Monty Python�s Spamalot
• Gregory Jbara; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
• Norm Lewis; Dessa Rose
• Tyler Maynard; Altar Boyz
• Michael McGrath; Monty Python�s Spamalot
• Denis O�Hare; Sweet Charity

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical:

• Sarah Uriarte Berry; The Light in the Piazza
• Joanna Gleason; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
• Kecia Lewis; Dessa Rose
• Jan Maxwell; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• Maureen McGovern; Little Women
• Jennifer Simard; Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit

Outstanding Director of a Play:

• Joshua Carlebach; Frankenstein
• Scott Elliott; Hurlyburly
• Scott Ellis; Twelve Angry Men
• Edward Hall; Rose Rage
• Doug Hughes; Doubt
• Joe Mantello; Glengarry Glen Ross

Outstanding Director of a Musical:

• Matthew Bourne; Play Without Words
• Jack Cummings III; The Audience
• Mark Dornford-May; The Mysteries
• James Lapine; The 25 th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
• Mike Nichols; Monty Python�s Spamalot
• Bartlett Sher; The Light in the Piazza

Outstanding Choreography:

• Matthew Bourne; Play Without Words
• Christopher Gattelli; Altar Boyz
• Barry McNabb; Sailor�s Song
• Jerry Mitchell; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
• Jerry Mitchell; La Cage aux Folles
• Casey Nicholaw; Monty Python�s Spamalot

Outstanding Music:

• Gary Adler & Michael Patrick Walker; Altar Boyz
• Terry Davies; Play Without Words
• William Finn; The 25 th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
• Stephen Flaherty; Dessa Rose
• Adam Guettel; The Light in the Piazza
• David Yazbek; Dirty Rotten Scoundrel

Outstanding Lyrics:

• Gary Adler & Michael Patrick Walker; Altar Boyz
• Douglas J. Cohen; Letters to God
• Rick Crom; Newsical
• William Finn; The 25 th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
• Eric Idle; Monty Python�s Spamalot
• David Yazbek; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Outstanding Book of a Musical:

• Nell Benjamin and Laurence O�Keefe; Cam Jensen
• Kevin Del Aguila; Altar Boyz
• Mark Harelik; The Immigrant
• Eric Idle; Monty Python�s Spamalot
• Jeffrey Lane; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
• Rachel Sheinkin; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Outstanding Orchestrations:

• Steven M. Alper; The Immigrant
• Larry Hochman; Monty Python�s Spamalot
• Doug Katsaros & Lynne Shankel; Altar Boyz
• Kim Scharnberg; Little Women
• Ted Sperling, Adam Guettel, Bruce Coughlin; The Light in the Piazza
• Harold Wheeler; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Outstanding Set Design of a Play:

• Robert Brill; A Streetcar Named Desire
• Marisa Frantz; Frankenstein
• Nathan Heverin; Outward Bound
• Richard Hoover; After the Fall
• David Korins; Orange Flower Water
• Santo Loquasto; Glengarry Glen Ross

Outstanding Set Design of a Musical:

• Lez Brotherston; Play Without Words
• Tim Hatley; Monty Python�s Spamalot
• Scott Pask; Sweet Charity
• David Rockwell; All Shook Up
• Anthony Ward; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• Michael Yeargan; The Light in the Piazza

Outstanding Costume Design:

• Lez Brotherston; Play Without Words
• Tim Hatley; Monty Python�s Spamalot
• William Ivey Long; La Cage aux Folles
• Jeff Mahshie; Hurlyburly
• Anthony Ward; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• Catherine Zuber; The Light in the Piazza

Outstanding Lighting Design:

• Christopher Akerlind; Belle Epoque
• Christopher Akerlind; The Light in the Piazza
• Mark Henderson; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• Donald Holder; Gem of the Ocean
• R. Lee Kennedy; The Audience
• James Japhy Weideman; Frankenstein

Outstanding Sound Design:

• ACME Sound Partners; The Light in the Piazza
• Paul Arditti; The Pillowman
• Jill B.C. DuBoff; Miss Julie
• Jill B.C. DuBoff; Spatter Pattern (Or, How I Got Away With It)
• Jeff Lorenz; Frankenstein
• Darron L. West; Hot �n� Throbbing

Outstanding Solo Performance:

• Billy Crystal; 700 Sundays
• Dave Gorman; Dave Gorman�s Googlewhack! Adventure
• Barry Humphries; Dame Edna: Back with a Vengeance
• Jackie Mason; Jackie Mason:Freshly Squeezed
• Tim Miller; Us
• James Urbaniak; Thom Pain (based on nothing)

Unique Theatrical Experience:

• all wear bowlers
• Belle Epoque
• The Mysteries
• Play Without Words
• Slava�s Snowshow
• Typo

The following noncompetitive awards where presented by the Drama Desk at its awards ceremony:

Outstanding Ensemble Performances:

• The cast of Glengarry Glen Ross
• The cast of The 25 th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

A Career Achievement Award to Julie Harris for her commitment to excellence in the theater.

To Keen Company, a Special Award for moving and enlightening audiences with plays that build upon our theatrical heritage.

In celebration of the 50 th anniversary of the Drama Desk Awards, a Special Award went to The Public Theater for its 50 years of exceptional contributions to the theater.