Bette Midler, Come From Away and Oslo take top prizes at 62^nd Annual DD Awards.

June 5, 2017:  The 62^nd Annual Drama Desk Awards were presented in a ceremony hosted by Michael Urie at The Town Hall, 123 West 43^rd Street, on June 4, 2017.  Come From Away won three awards including the top prized for Best Musial, along with awards for Jenn Colella, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, and Irene Sankoff and David Hein, who were awarded for Outstanding Book of a Musical. Come From Away, a popular hit, didn’t have to compete with the Tony front runner Dear Evan Hansen, which won the Drama Desk top prize last year for an Off-Broadway production before moving to Broadway.

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 won 4 awards, the most awards of the evening, winning in all the categories the musical was nominated including for director Rachel Chavkin, who tied with The Band’s Visit’s David Cromer, and three of its designers: set designer Mimi Lien, lighting designer Bradley King, and sound designer Nicholas Pope. The production, book, score, and several performers were not eligible for the Drama Desk this year, because of an earlier Off-Broadway staging several years ago, however the musical will be in competition in many of those categories at the Tony Awards on Sunday, June 11.

The Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly and the Broadway-bound The Band’s Visit each picked up three awards.  Hello, Dolly! won Best Revival of a Musical and awards for performers Bette Midler and Gavin Creel, outstanding Actress and Featured Actor in a musical respectively. The composer of The Band’s Visit, David Yazbeck, won for both Outstanding Music and Outstanding Lyrics, giving the musical three awards including Cromer’s win for Directing a musical.

The evening featured performances by Jenn Colella of Come From Away, as well as fellow nominee Stephanie J. Block of Falsettos and Katrina Lenk of The Band’s Visit, who can currently be seen in Indecent.

2017 DRAMA DESK AWARD NOMINATIONS
Winners * in Bold

 

Outstanding Play

If I Forget, by Steven Levenson, Roundabout Theatre Company

Indecent, by Paula Vogel, Vineyard Theatre

A Life, by Adam Bock, Playwrights Horizons

*Oslo, by J. T. Rogers, Lincoln Center Theater

Sweat, by Lynn Nottage, The Public Theater

 

Outstanding Musical

Anastasia

The Band’s Visit, Atlantic Theater Company

*Come From Away

Hadestown, New York Theatre Workshop

The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical

 

Outstanding Revival of a Play

The Front Page

The Hairy Ape, Park Avenue Armory

*Jitney, Manhattan Theatre Club

The Little Foxes, Manhattan Theatre Club

 “Master Harold”… and the Boys, Signature Theatre Company

Picnic, Transport Group Theatre Company

 

Outstanding Revival of a Musical

Falsettos, Lincoln Center Theater

*Hello, Dolly!

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Sweet Charity, The New Group

Tick, Tick…BOOM!, Keen Company

 

Outstanding Actor in a Play

Bobby Cannavale, The Hairy Ape, Park Avenue Armory

Daniel Craig, Othello, New York Theatre Workshop

*Kevin Kline, Present Laughter

David Hyde Pierce, A Life, Playwrights Horizons

John Douglas Thompson, Jitney, Manhattan Theatre Club

 

 

Outstanding Actress in a Play

Cate Blanchett, The Present

*Laura Linney, The Little Foxes, Manhattan Theatre Club

Laurie Metcalf, A Doll’s House, Part 2

Amy Ryan, Love, Love, Love, Roundabout Theatre Company

Harriet Walter, The Tempest, St. Ann’s Warehouse

 

Outstanding Actor in a Musical

Nick Blaemire, Tick, Tick…BOOM!, Keen Company

Jon Jon Briones, Miss Saigon

Nick Cordero, A Bronx Tale

*Andy Karl, Groundhog Day

Jeremy Secomb, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

 

Outstanding Actress in a Musical

Christy Altomare, Anastasia

Christine Ebersole, War Paint

Sutton Foster, Sweet Charity, The New Group

Patti LuPone, War Paint

*Bette Midler, Hello, Dolly!

Laura Osnes, Bandstand

 

 

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play

Michael Aronov, Oslo, Lincoln Center Theater

*Danny DeVito, The Price, Roundabout Theatre Company

Nathan Lane, The Front Page

Jeremy Shamos, If I Forget, Roundabout Theatre Company

Justice Smith, Yen, MCC Theater

 

 

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play

Jayne Houdyshell, A Doll’s House, Part 2

Randy Graff, The Babylon Line, Lincoln Center Theater

Marie Mullen, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, BAM

*Cynthia Nixon, The Little Foxes, Manhattan Theatre Club

Emily Skinner, Picnic

Kate Walsh, If I Forget, Roundabout Theatre Company

 

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical

*Gavin Creel, Hello, Dolly!

Jeffry Denman, Kid Victory, Vineyard Theatre

George Salazar, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical

Ari’el Stachel, The Band’s Visit, Atlantic Theater Company

Brandon Uranowitz, Falsettos, Lincoln Center Theater

 

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical

Kate Baldwin. Hello, Dolly!

Stephanie J. Block, Falsettos, Lincoln Center Theater

*Jenn Colella, Come From Away

Mary Beth Peil, Anastasia

Nora Schell, Spamilton

 

Outstanding Director of a Play

Richard Jones, The Hairy Ape, Park Avenue Armory

Anne Kauffman, A Life, Playwrights Horizons

Richard Nelson, What Did You Expect?/Women  of a Certain Age, The Public Theater

*Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Jitney, Manhattan Theatre Club

Daniel Sullivan, The Little Foxes, Manhattan Theatre Club

Daniel Sullivan, If I Forget, Roundabout Theatre Company

 

Outstanding Director of a Musical

Christopher Ashley, Come From Away

Bill Buckhurst, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

*Rachel Chavkin, Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812

*David Cromer, The Band’s Visit, Atlantic Theater Company

Jerry Zaks, Hello, Dolly!

 

Outstanding Choreography

*Andy Blankenbuehler, Bandstand

Warren Carlyle, Hello, Dolly!

Aletta Collins, The Hairy Ape, Park Avenue Armory

Kelly Devine, Come From Away

Denis Jones, Holiday Inn, Roundabout Theatre Company

 

Outstanding Music

Stephen Flaherty, Anastasia

Dave Malloy, Beardo, Pipeline Theatre Company

Richard Oberacker, Bandstand

Irene Sankoff and David Hein, Come From Away

*David Yazbek, The Band’s Visit, Atlantic Theater Company

 

Outstanding Lyrics

Gerard Alessandrini, Spamilton

GQ and JQ, Othello: The Remix

Michael Korie, War Paint

Irene Sankoff and David Hein, Come From Away

*David Yazbek, The Band’s Visit, Atlantic Theater Company

Outstanding Book of a Musical

Terrence McNally, Anastasia

Itamar Moses, The Band’s Visit, Atlantic Theater Company

Richard Oberacker and Rob Taylor, Bandstand

*Irene Sankoff and David Hein, Come From Away

Joe Tracz, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical

 

Outstanding Orchestrations

Doug Besterman, Anastasia

Bruce Coughlin, War Paint

Benjamin Cox, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

*Bill Elliott and Greg Anthony Rassen, Bandstand

August Eriksmoen, Come From Away

Jamshied Sharifi, The Band’s Visit, Atlantic Theater Company

 

 

Outstanding Music in a Play

Daniel Ocanto, Graham Ulicny, and Sean Smith, Alligator, New Georges in collaboration with the Sol Project

Marcus Shelby, Notes from the Field, Second Stage

*Bill Sims Jr., Jitney, Manhattan Theatre Club

Outstanding Revue

Hello Dillie!, 59E59

*Life is for Living: Conversations with Coward, 59E59

 

Outstanding Set Design for a Play

David Gallo, Jitney, Manhattan Theatre Club

*Nigel Hook, The Play That Goes Wrong

Laura Jellinek, A Life, Playwrights Horizons

Stewart Laing, The Hairy Ape, Park Avenue Armory

Douglas W. Schmidt, The Front Page

 

 

Outstanding Set Design for a Musical

Lez Brotherston, 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, St. Ann’s Warehouse

Simon Kenny, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

*Mimi Lien, Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812

Santo Loquasto, Hello, Dolly!

Jason Sherwood, The View UpStairs

 

 

Outstanding Costume Design for a Play

*Jane Greenwood, The Little Foxes, Manhattan Theatre Club

Susan Hilferty, Present Laughter

Murell Horton, The Liar, CSC

Toni-Leslie James, Jitney, Manhattan Theatre Club

Stewart Laing, The Hairy Ape, Park Avenue Armory

Ann Roth, The Front Page

 

 

Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical

Linda Cho, Anastasia

Toni-Leslie James, Come From Away

Santo Loquasto, Hello, Dolly!

Anita Yavich, The View UpStairs

Paloma Young, Bandstand

*Catherine Zuber, War Paint

 

Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play

*Christopher Akerlind, Indecent, Vineyard Theatre

James Farncombe, The Tempest, St. Ann’s Warehouse

Rick Fisher, The Judas Kiss, Brooklyn Academy of Music

Mimi Jordan Sherin, The Hairy Ape, Park Avenue Armory

Stephen Strawbridge, “Master Harold”…and the Boys, Signature Theatre Company

Justin Townsend, The Little Foxes, Manhattan Theatre Club

 

Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical

Jeff Croiter, Bandstand

Mark Henderson, Sunset Boulevard

Bradley King, Hadestown, New York Theatre Workshop

*Bradley King, Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812

Amy Mae, Sweeney Todd: The Barber of Fleet Street

Malcolm Rippeth, 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, St. Ann’s Warehouse

 

Outstanding Projection Design

Reid Farrington, CasablancaBox, HERE

Elaine McCarthy, Notes from the Field, Second Stage

Jared Mezzocchi, Vietgone, Manhattan Theatre Club

John Narun, Gorey: The Secret Lives of Edward Gorey, Life Jacket Theatre Company

*Aaron Rhyne, Anastasia

 

Outstanding Sound Design in a Play

Mikhail Fiksel, A Life, Playwrights Horizons

*Gareth Fry and Pete Malkin, The Encounter

Brian Quijada, Where Did We Sit on the Bus?, Ensemble Studio Theatre/Radio Drama Network

Leon Rothenberg, Notes from the Field, Second Stage

Jane Shaw, Men on Boats, Playwrights Horizons/Clubbed Thumb

 

Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical

Simon Baker, 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, St. Ann’s Warehouse

Peter Hylenski, Anastasia

Scott Lehrer, Hello, Dolly!

*Nicholas Pope, Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812

Mick Potter, Cats

Brian Ronan, War Paint

Matt Stine, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

 

 

Outstanding Wig and Hair

*David Brian Brown, War Paint

Campbell Young Associates, Hello, Dolly!

J. Jared Janas, Yours Unfaithfully, Mint Theatre Company

Jason Hayes, The View UpStairs

Josh Marquette, Present Laughter

Tom Watson, The Little Foxes, Manhattan Theatre Club

 

Outstanding Solo Performance

Nancy Anderson, The Pen (Inner Voices), Premieres

*Ed Dixon, Georgie: My Adventures with George Rose

Marin Ireland, On the Exhale, Roundabout Underground

Sarah Jones, Sell/Buy/Date, Manhattan Theatre Club

Brian Quijada, Where Did We Sit on the Bus?, Ensemble Studio Theatre/Radio Drama Network

Anna Deavere Smith, Notes from the Field, Second Stage

 

Unique Theatrical Experience

CasablancaBox, HERE

The Paper Hat Game, The Tank/3-Legged Dog

*The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, National Theatre of Scotland

The Ephemera Trilogy, The Tank

 

Outstanding Fight Choreography

J. David Brimmer, Yen, MCC Theatre

Donal O’Farrell, Quietly, Irish Repertory Theatre

Michael Rossmy and Rick Sordelet, Troilus and Cressida, New York Shakespeare Festival

Thomas Schall, Othello, New York Theatre Workshop

Thomas Schall, The Hairy Ape, Park Avenue Armory

*U. Jonathan Toppo, Sweat, The Public Theater

 

Outstanding Adaptation

*David Ives, The Liar, Classic Stage Company

Ellen McLaughlin, The Trojan Women, The Flea Theatre

 

Outstanding Puppet Design

*Basil Twist, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Lyndie Wright, Sarah Wright, 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, St. Ann’s Warehouse

 

SPECIAL AWARDS:

Outstanding Ensemble

 

The Wolves, The Playwrights Realm: The superbly talented cast of Sarah DeLappe’s debut play -Mia Barron, Brenna Coates, Jenna Dioguardi, Samia Finnerty, Midori Francis, Lizzy Jutila, Sarah Mezzanotte, Tedra Millan, Lauren Patten, and Susannah Perkins-jelled as one, proving that team spirit is just a alive on the stage as it is on the soccer field.

 

Special Award to Phil LaDuca: Proving that character comes from the ground up, the designer’s innovative flexible dance shoe ensures that hoofers on any stage remain on point.

 

Sam Norkin Award: Lila Neugebauer:  During a season that saw her helm the original works The Antipodes, Everybody, Miles For Mary, and The Wolves, and resurrect the works of esteemed playwrights Edward Albee, Maria Irene Fornes, and Adrienne Kennedy in Signature Plays, director Lila Neugebauer has shown that her dauntless insight into the human condition knows no bounds.

Photography: Barry Gordin