2018 Drama Desk Nominations & Awards- Page 2

[americanboy99]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 10:50am

No Norbert Leo Butz for MY FAIR LADY...? But Diana Rigg was nominated...? Huh? 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 10:51am

Kad said: "The Drama Desks are only slightly better than Outer Critic's Circle. Slightly.

They're both ridiculous.

And the Drama Desk nominating committee is a who's who of... who?"

Yep. Very few notable people are even members of these two groups at this point, and the nominations committees suffer even more because it is basically self-selected by those few people willing and able to slog through an unrelenting year of (often bad) theatre. It is kinda like who ends up on the jury at lengthy trials.

[rjm516]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 10:54am

Lol what a hysterical mess these are. Let's hope Tony voters aren't as high

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 10:57am

Wow - as stated above, the Drama Desks are becoming more and more irrelevant.

CAROUSEL leading over MY FAIR LADY? Even if they liked CAROUSEL, Jack O'Brien?! Over Michael Arden??

FROZEN really should've petitioned Jelani Alladin for leading actor. It's such a slim category.

The only thing that brings me joy is Kenita Miller for ONCE ON THIS ISLAND. Such a deserved nomination. 

[Kad]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 10:59am

As someone who has served as a nominator for the Lortels, I can attest to the slog of seeing a full theatre season. However, the Lortels have a much larger and better curated and diverse nominating committee- and don't mash up both Broadway and Off-Broadway.

I feel like I say this every year- because I do- but the Drama Desks (and Outer Critics Circle and so on) are not indicators of Tony success. There are really no real precursor awards for the Tonys the way there are for the Oscars, because there are no other awards that have the same general eligibility rules or have nominators and voters that align with the Tonys'.

Updated On: 4/26/18 at 10:59 AM

[markypoo]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 10:59am

Even if the committee DID have a shred of credibility behind it, these awards would still boil down to two basic issues:

1) Nothing, and

2) Nothing.

[JennH]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 11:06am

This has got to be the oddest assortment of noms I've seen in a while...

[actorgaedu]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 11:16am

No Best Play for the juggernaut Harry Potter?  That is quite a surprise!  Is it because it is not really that good?  I have heard there are some book issues from people who have seen it, but I am still surprised that it was overlooked in the main category.  Also a bit shocked that Torch Song was ignored.  

[ChildofEarth]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 11:31am

My guess here is that Cursed Child focused only on getting tickets to Tony voters and not to every voter for every award there is - it's not like they need any awards.

[WayTooBroadway]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 11:34am

“I need to win the Drama Desk,” exclaimed no one.

And JACK O’BRIEN for CAROUSEL? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahhahahh.

[little_sally]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 11:42am

ChildofEarth said: "My guess here is that Cursed Child focused only on getting tickets to Tony voters and not to every voter for every award there is - it's not like they need any awards."

Wrong. I know for a fact the DD nominators did get to see it.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 11:42am

Interesting/odd that Urie is hosting and got no love for either of his shows that one might consider worthy. 

@WayTooBroadway "“I need to win the Drama Desk,” exclaimed no one." Actually that is not true. Producers spend significant bucks to get these awards, so saying they don't need them is a bit out of line. For a show or person who is not going to win anything else, it is of value even though of course no one "needs" anything in real terms. 

[adamgreer]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 11:43am

I'm sure Lauren Ambrose can  take solace in the fact that Kelli O'Hara was also snubbed at the Drama Desk Awards a couple of years ago, and we all know how that turned out. 

These nominees are laughable...no HP for set design? Carousel receiving more nominations that My Fair Lady? HP, the likely Best Play winner at the Tonys, getting shut out of that category? The OCC awards actually have more credibility at this point, and that's saying something.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 11:57am

So...are we potentially looking at SpongeBob SquarePants to possibly continue this streak into the Tonys, perhaps even winning a Best Musical? I mean, pickings are slim and it's kind of ended up earning the best reviews of the new musicals this season!

[LesWickedly]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 11:59am

everythingtaboo said: "So...are we potentially looking at SpongeBob SquarePants to possibly continue this streak into the Tonys, perhaps even winning a Best Musical? I mean, pickings are slim and it's kind of ended up earningthe best reviews of the new musicals this season!"

It didn’t get better reviews than The Band’s Visit. The Band’s Visit still has Best Musical locked, they’re just not eligible since the Off-Broadway production was. 

Updated On: 4/26/18 at 11:59 AM

[JudyDenmark]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 12:05pm

A lot of these are total head-scratchers, but no set design nomination for Harry Potter takes the cake. 

Yay for Kenita Miller, though!

[Bwayfan292]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 12:05pm

If spongebob beat out OOTI, My fair lady, and The Bands visit in number of nominations. I would just be done at that point.

edit: also a Hailey Kilgore Snub??? Wtf is this list. 

Updated On: 4/26/18 at 12:05 PM

[pupscotch]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 12:12pm

Bwayfan292 said: "edit: also a Hailey Kilgore Snub??? Wtf is this list."

Lauren Ambrose, too. This is totally ridiculous.

[dramagoer]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 12:13pm

I am new to this board.... these nominations are ridiculous. Although I am not surprised about Potter. It's a wonderful production, but it's not really a play, and it's not really "acting" per se. It should almost be a special event.  But no Ambrose? And Spongebob leads? Embarrassing. 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 12:14pm

dramagoer, in what world is Cursed Child not a play?

[holdyourbatboy]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 12:18pm

Bwayfan292 said: "If spongebob beat out OOTI, My fair lady, and The Bands visit in number of nominations. I would just be done at that point.

edit: also a Hailey Kilgore Snub??? Wtf is this list."

Once again, The Band's Visit wasn't eligible for any awards except for Sound Design because it was newly designed for Broadway. It did get that nom.

Agreed that the noms are bizarre though, especially Lauren Ambrose's snub.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 12:19pm

History shows that the Drama Desk voters lavish most of their awards on Broadway shows. In over 40 years, their Best Musical prize has always gone to a Best Musical. The two historic exceptions were: ''Little Shop of Horrors'' and ''Hamilton.'' So the race is really between ''SpongeBob'' and ''Mean Girls.''

So this happens every year. The Drama Desk nominations come out (or the Outer Critics), and there is outrage over this omission or that one. And it's par for the course, considering only 8 people make the Drama Desk nominations (and 7, for Outer Critics). So they reflect only a select number of people's opinions.

If, say, 8 people on this board were chosen to make the selections for a new BroadwayWorld Theater Awards, I imagine there could be similar oversights or different ones. Luckily, for the Tony nominators, they have a far smaller pool to choose from, and there's about 50 nominators, so their consensus is usually more mainstream. But they're bound to have their ''omissions,'' too. 

Updated On: 4/26/18 at 12:19 PM

[Markie27]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 12:21pm

Glenda Jackson vs Denise Gough vs Willie Piper.... God these ladies gave the best performance of the century. Can we just make it a three way tie!?!? How the hell can you decide which one is better!?!? They were all trancendant!

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 12:24pm

I had no idea there was a "Outstanding Fight Choreography" category lol that's amazing

[Impossible2]

Posted: 4/26/18 at 12:26pm

Markie27 said: "Glenda Jackson vs Denise Gough vs Willie Piper.... God these ladies gave the best performance of the century. Can we just make it a three way tie!?!? How the hell can you decide which one is better!?!? They were all trancendant!"

Well Willie Piper won't win because she isn't nominated...