Drama Desk Awards- Page 2

[little_sally]

Posted: 4/21/20 at 4:08pm

JDonaghy4 said: "random observations as I read thru the list:

* Sound Inside and particularly Mary Louise Parker were highlights of the season. Makes no sense.

*No Jagged Little Pill for Best Musical and no Inheritance for Best Play? Is there some eligibility thing I am missing?

* thrilled to see some love for David Alan Grier and Soldiers Play in general

* Jonathan Groff snubbed but Tammy Blanchard included in a very stacked category

* Great to see Paul Hilton nominated but no Andrew Burnap is a crime

* No noms for the leads of WSS or Moulin Rouge- actually only technical noms for the latter ( I was sure Danny Burstein would get noticed, and figured Karen Olivo as well)





"

The Inheritance was nominated.

[Amalia Balash2]

Posted: 4/21/20 at 4:12pm

I know this has been said, but I'm so shocked at Isaac's snub. He was a revelation. I also find it interesting that Yesenia was nominated. She was an excellent dancer but I honestly found her to be the most boring part of the show. Happy for Lauren Patten though, she deserves it!

[Kad]

Posted: 4/21/20 at 4:21pm

I guess the upside is that without the big awards-bait Broadway productions sucking up oxygen, a lot of worthy Off-Broadway productions get some attention.

[Scarlet Leigh]

Posted: 4/21/20 at 4:24pm

So I know that most of the Broadway season got messed up cus of covid but the ONLY Broadway musical to get a nomination between musical and revival was West Side Story? Wow. Amazing that even in a messed up season that the Drama Desk STILL manages to be the head scratching "say what now" awards of the season. No Moulin Rouge. No Jagged Little Pill. And all I can kinda think is.... what might have been if the shutdown came ONE day later and Six had opened. Would/Could Six have been able to crack this list as the only Broadway musical?

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 4/21/20 at 4:42pm

In general, critics (and these nominators) tend to hate jukebox shows, so they were unlikely to nominate Broadway shows, like ''Moulin Rouge!,'' ''Jagged Little Pill'' or ''Tina,'' for Best Musical.

It's all a matter of taste. Some of us prefer the ''big award-bait Broadway productions'' to a number of the Off-Broadway musicals that the 8 Drama Desk nominators named today.

Even when Broadway shows are included, the Drama Desk has a history of head-scratching choices. Anyone recall 2013, when ''Hands on a Hardbody'' LED the DD nominations with 9? Or 2008, when ''A Catered Affair'' led the nominations with 12? Or 2007, when ''LoveMusik'' led with 12? And so it goes ...

Updated On: 4/21/20 at 04:42 PM

[JBroadway]

Posted: 4/21/20 at 5:49pm

Scarlet Leigh said: "So I know that most of the Broadway season got messed up cus of covid but the ONLY Broadway musical to get a nomination between musical and revival was West Side Story? Wow. Amazing that even in a messed up season that the Drama Desk STILL manages to be the head scratching "say what now" awards of the season. No Moulin Rouge. No Jagged Little Pill. 

 

You are welcome to continue scratching your head and saying "say what now" as long as you please. But speaking as someone who hated Moulin Rouge and Jagged Little Pill, and loved most of the musicals nominated, as well as West Side Story - I'm not scratching my head in the slightest. 

But putting aside my own personal opinions of the specific shows -  I don't think the Drama Desk is widely regarded as a "say what now" award. They have made plenty of decisions that seemed odd to me, and maybe in certain years they've caused large portions of theatregoers to scratch their heads, but no moreso than the Tonys or the Oscars or any other awards given to works of art. I don't think it's fair or accurate to paint them as an awards body who are constantly confusing audiences. You may be thinking of the Outer Critics Circle awards, which some have nicknamed the "Outer Space Circle Awards." 

 

 

Updated On: 4/21/20 at 05:49 PM

[Jarethan]

Posted: 4/21/20 at 6:53pm

To leave out Joaquina Kalukango's magnificent performance in Slave Play, MaryLouise Parker's magnificent performance and the magnificent The Sound Inside trivializes these awards.  There have always been aberrations in the DD nominations, but (especially in a shortened season) their lack of nominations are actually incomprehensible to me.  

There are other surprises, but those commissions are absurd, to the point that I have no interest in even knowing who wins in those categories.

[imeldasturn]

Posted: 4/21/20 at 6:57pm

They've often been peculiar, Patina Miller and Kelli O'Hara weren't even nominated for the roles they'd win Tonys for. That said, this season's new musicals on Broadway will never be critics' darlings, so it's not surprising (nor necessarily wrong) that the DD are going for some Off Broadway original stuff over juke-box musicals

[quizking101]

Posted: 4/21/20 at 7:01pm

I am particularly thrilled for Paul Hilton. I thought he was certainly the soul of THE INHERITANCE and his Act I monologue DESTROYED me every time I saw it.

I honestly found Burnap more annoying than anything

[Falsettolands]

Posted: 4/21/20 at 7:17pm

quizking101 said: "I am particularly thrilled for Paul Hilton. I thought he was certainly the soul of THE INHERITANCE and his Act I monologue DESTROYED me every time I saw it.

I honestly found Burnap more annoying than anything"

I would be so happy for a Paul Hilton win. Although I wish I had seen David Alan Griers work in Soldiers Play; I've heard it was some of his best work

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 4/21/20 at 8:17pm

I was pretty pleased to see all the nominations today, especially for Soft Power, Octet, and The Inheritance.  I also think it's fantastic to recognize Seth/James for their work, as well as Claire Warden for her work (I looked up her list of shows, and it feels like she's worked on half of the Broadway shows this season).

I am part of the group that expected Isaac Powell to get a nomination, though I suppose it could've been a competitive category (I only saw two of the shows so I can't speak to that), but I also enjoyed Yesenia Ayala a lot so I'm happy that she's gotten some recognition.  I personally would've put Jagged Little Pill over Wrong Man for outstanding musical, but different strokes and all.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 4/21/20 at 8:19pm

Also, Peter Filichia mentioned on BroadwayRadio that while just about the whole nominating committee had seen SIX, there were only a few of the rest of the voters who had seen it, so that's why they chose to defer to next year, as to not give it an unfair disadvantage.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 4/21/20 at 8:20pm

The Broadway shut-out in the top musical category is totally warranted based off of what had opened this season. MOULIN ROUGE is a spectacle but it’s absolutely hollow inside.

[Zion24]

Posted: 4/21/20 at 8:36pm

little_sally said: "

The Inheritance was nominated."

Apologies for missing it!

(And when I said I was surprised that JLP wasnt nominated, that wasnt a gripe. I absolutely hated it. Just seems rare for these sorts of awards committees to shut out the Broadway musicals like they dd this year...)

Also good call re Joaquina Kalukango- wasnt a fan of Slave Play by any stretch but she was a powerhouse.

[Owen22]

Posted: 4/21/20 at 9:37pm

Snubs:  Thin Place, Jonathan Groff, Andrew Burnap, Mary Louise Parker.

Anti-snub.  Except for the two leads, ANYTHING Soft Power.

[chipsandguacplz]

Posted: 4/21/20 at 10:09pm

Wayman_Wong said: "In general, critics (and thesenominators) tend to hate jukebox shows, so they were unlikely to nominate Broadway shows, like ''Moulin Rouge!,'' ''Jagged Little Pill'' or ''Tina,'' for Best Musical.

Yes, because primarily jukebox musicals opened this year(pre corona) I don't think any of these Broadway productions stood a chance with Drama Desk voters who are known to not go for them. They seemed to get a couple nods in other categories(still surprised about no choreography nom for Jagged though)

 

Since these musicals are the most likely to last the shutdown because of the big names and pre-existing revenue, it makes me wonder what this year's Tony musical noms are going to look like. 

 

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 4/21/20 at 10:17pm

What show was Conrad in and was he good in the part? I was happy for the actor in Greater Clements. He was amazing...

[JBroadway]

Posted: 4/21/20 at 11:16pm

Just looking through the nominations again, and noticed that Esteban Andres Cruz was nominated in the "Outstanding Featured Actor" category for their performance in Halfway Bitches.

Cruz is a non-binary actor playing a trans woman. Seems unfortunate and potentially disrespectful to put them in the male category. I hope that Cruz was given some choice as to which category they felt most comfortable in, but either way it just goes to show why we need to get rid of gendered categories. 

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 4/22/20 at 2:47am

''What show was Conrad in and was he good in the part?''

Assuming you're talking about Conrad Ricamora, he starred in David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori's ''Soft Power'' at the Public. It was a satirical reverse version of ''The King and I'' in which Conrad played a Chinese movie producer who comes to America, and falls in love with Hillary Clinton (!). Conrad got rave reviews, and Variety applauded him for giving ''a star-making performance.''

So I'm baffled by how the Drama Desk nominators put Conrad in the Featured Actor category, while placing Francis Jue (who played DHH, a version of David Henry Hwang) in Leading Actor. Far as I could tell, Conrad had more stage time and more songs to sing than Francis, and he was the show's romantic leading man. By the way, the Lucille Lortel Awards nominated both guys for Leading Actor, but I still think Francis should've been in Featured Actor.

Updated On: 4/22/20 at 02:47 AM

[bear88]

Posted: 4/22/20 at 4:14am

Soft Power is the only show I saw, out of town, and I was puzzled by the acting categories too unless they changed it a lot. I didn’t catch Ricamora, who was out the night I saw it, but Francis Jue was so good (in a musical I didn’t like overall) that I reminded myself afterward to see him in future shows.

[perfectliar]

Posted: 4/22/20 at 9:26am

JBroadway said: "Cruz is a non-binary actor playing a trans woman. Seems unfortunate and potentiallydisrespectful to put them in the male category. I hope that Cruz was given some choice as to which category they felt most comfortable in, but either way it just goes to show why we need to get rid of gendered categories."

Despite the other nominees being male-identifying, "actor" would be the gender neutral option.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 4/22/20 at 1:32pm

I would have swapped category placement of Jue and Ricamora, but I’m glad they were both recognized. Jue was particularly wonderful in Soft Power. I’m sad I missed him in Cambodian Rock Band.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 4/22/20 at 1:46pm

Francis Jue is a wonderful actor, and it's a tribute to him that he's the only actor to get double nominations from the Drama Desk AND the Lucille Lortels. But I agree: Francis and Conrad's placement at the Drama Desk Awards should've been swapped. Looking at the track listing of the show's cast album, Conrad is featured on 7 of ''Soft Power's'' songs, Francis on 3. 

[Kad]

Posted: 4/22/20 at 1:51pm

I don’t know how the Drama Desks determine eligibility, but for the Lortels, the producers do have the final say. I think there is absolutely a compelling argument for Jue as a leading actor, but I really don’t see one for Ricamora as featured.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 4/22/20 at 8:38pm

Agreed, Kad. I can see them being co-leads, but if they are in separate categories, I’d have it the other way around.