Drama Desk nominations '25

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 12:24pm

Stage and screen star Norm Lewis will announce the 69th Annual Drama Desk Awards nominations on April 30 at 12:50 PM on Spectrum News NY1. Norm will make the announcement with On Stage host Frank DiLella and Spectrum News NY1 anchor Rocco Vertuccio.

This year’s Awards are taking place on Sunday, June 1 at the NYU Skirball and will be hosted by Debra Messing and Tituss Burgess.

 

The 69th Annual Drama Desk Awards are Executive Produced by Staci Levine and Jessica R. Jenen. For the first time, 100% of net proceeds from the Drama Desk Awards benefits the Entertainment Community Fund. Charles Wright and David Barbour are the co-Presidents of the Drama Desk.

As has been the case, all performance categories will be gender-free. The updated gender-free categories are: Outstanding Leading Performance in a Play, Outstanding Leading Performance in a Musical, Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play, and Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical. 

Each of these categories will have twice as many nominees as the former gendered categories and voters will cast two votes for each category. These categories will also have two winners each. If there is a tie, there may be more than two winners in a category. Additional details will be announced shortly.

What sets the Drama Desk Awards apart is that they are voted on and bestowed by theater critics, journalists, editors, and publishers covering theater. The Drama Desk Awards honor all aspects of New York’s professional theater.

 

Thoughts on the noms?

Updated On: 4/30/25 at 12:24 PM

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 12:57pm

https://www.dramadeskaward.com/nominations-1-1



2025 Drama Desk Award Nominations

Outstanding Play

Blood of the Lamb, by Arlene Hutton

Deep Blue Sound, by Abe Koogler

Grangeville, by Samuel D. Hunter

John Proctor is the Villain, by Kimberly Belflower

Liberation, by Bess Wohl

Purpose, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

 

Outstanding Musical

BOOP! The Musical

Death Becomes Her

Just in Time

Maybe Happy Ending

Music City

 

Outstanding Revival of a Play

Eureka Day

Garside’s Career

Home

Wine in the Wilderness

Yellow Face

 

Outstanding Revival of a Musical

Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

Floyd Collins

Gypsy

Once Upon a Mattress

See What I Wanna See

Sunset Blvd.

 

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play

Betsy Aidem, The Ask

Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California

Patsy Ferran, A Streetcar Named Desire

Danny J. Gomez, All of Me

Doug Harris, Redeemed

Patrick Keleher, Fatherland

Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Lily Rabe, Ghosts

Jay O. Sanders, Henry IV (Theatre for a New Audience)

Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Paul Sparks, Grangeville

Olivia Washington, Wine in the Wilderness

 

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical

Tatianna Córdoba, Real Women Have Curves

Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending

Sutton Foster, Once Upon a Mattress

Tom Francis, Sunset Blvd.

Jonathan Groff, Just in Time

Grey Henson, Elf

Jeremy Jordan, Floyd Collins

Audra McDonald, Gypsy

Jasmine Amy Rogers, BOOP! The Musical

Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Blvd.

Helen J. Shen, Maybe Happy Ending

Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her

 

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play

Greg Keller, Pre-Existing Condition

Julia Lester, All Nighter

Adrienne C. Moore, The Blood Quilt

Deirdre O’Connell, Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.

Maria-Christina Oliveras, Cymbeline

Maryann Plunkett, Deep Blue Sound

Michael Rishawn, Table 17

Jude Tibeau, Bad Kreyòl

Anjana Vasan, A Streetcar Named Desire

Frank Wood, Hold On to Me Darling

Amalia Yoo, John Proctor is the Villain

Kara Young, Purpose

 

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical

Brooks Ashmanskas, Smash

Nicholas Barasch, Pirates! The Penzance Musical

André De Shields, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

John El-Jor, We Live in Cairo

Jason Gotay, Floyd Collins

Gracie Lawrence, Just in Time

Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat

Lesli Margherita, Gypsy

Zachary Noah Piser, See What I Wanna See

Jenny Lee Stern, Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song

Michael Urie, Once Upon a Mattress

Natalie Walker, The Big Gay Jamboree

 

Outstanding Solo Performance

David Greenspan, I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan

Ryan J. Haddad, Hold Me in the Water

Sam Kissajukian, 300 Paintings

Mark Povinelli, The Return of Benjamin Lay

Andrew Scott, Vanya

 

Outstanding Direction of a Play

David Cromer and Caitlin Sullivan, The Antiquities

Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Tyne Rafaeli, Becoming Eve

Jack Serio, Grangeville

Danya Taymor, John Proctor is the Villain

Whitney White, Liberation

Kip Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray

 

Outstanding Direction of a Musical

Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending

Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

Jamie Lloyd, Sunset Blvd.

Jerry Mitchell, BOOP! The Musical

Alex Timbers, Just in Time

George C. Wolfe, Gypsy

 

Outstanding Choreography

Camille A. Brown, Gypsy

Warren Carlyle, Pirates! The Penzance Musical

Jakob Karr, Ain’t Done Bad

Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

Jerry Mitchell, BOOP! The Musical

Sergio Trujillo, Real Women Have Curves

 

Outstanding Music

Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending

David Foster, BOOP! The Musical

Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez, Real Women Have Curves

Zoe Sarnak, The Lonely Few

The Lazours, We Live in Cairo

 

Outstanding Lyrics

Gerard Alessandrini, Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song

Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending

David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts, Operation Mincemeat

Adam Gwon, All the World’s a Stage

Marla Mindelle and Philip Drennen, The Big Gay Jamboree

Luis Quintero, Medea: Re-Versed

 

Outstanding Book of a Musical

Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending

David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts, Operation Mincemeat

Warren Leight and Isaac Oliver, Just in Time

Bob Martin, BOOP! The Musical

Marla Mindelle and Jonathan Parks-Ramage, The Big Gay Jamboree

Marco Pennette, Death Becomes Her

 

Outstanding Orchestrations

Will Aronson, Maybe Happy Ending

Doug Besterman, BOOP! The Musical

Joseph Joubert and Daryl Waters, Pirates! The Penzance Musical

Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber, Just in Time

Michael Starobin, All the World’s a Stage

 

Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play

Miriam Buether, Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.

Miriam Buether, and Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher (illusions and visual effects), Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Rob Howell, The Hills of California

Johan Kølkjær, Dark Noon

Grace Laubacher, Life and Trust

Matt Saunders, Walden

 

Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical

Clifton Chadick, Music City

Rachel Hauck, Swept Away

Dane Laffrey and George Reeve, Maybe Happy Ending (includes video design)

Derek McLane, Just in Time

David Rockwell and Finn Ross (projections), BOOP! The Musical

 

Outstanding Costume Design of a Play

Brenda Abbandandolo, The Antiquities

Dede Ayite, Our Town

Christopher Ford, The Beastiary

Camilla Lind, Dark Noon

Karl Ruckdeschel, Twelfth Night

 

Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical

Gregg Barnes, BOOP! The Musical

Sarah Cubbage, The Big Gay Jamboree

Toni-Leslie James, Gypsy

Qween Jean, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

Paul Tazewell, Death Becomes Her

Catherine Zuber, Just in Time

 

Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play

Isabella Byrd, Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.

Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Natasha Katz, John Proctor is the Villain

Tyler Micoleau, The Antiquities

Paul Whitaker, SUMO

 

Outstanding Lighting Design of a Musical

Kevin Adams, Swept Away

Adam Honoré, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

Jack Knowles, Sunset Blvd.

Philip S. Rosenberg, BOOP! The Musical

Scott Zielinski and Ruey-Horng Sun (projections), Floyd Collins

 

Outstanding Sound Design of a Play

Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Johnny Gasper, Two Sisters Find a Box of Lesbian Erotica in the Woods

Matt Otto, All of Me

Bray Poor, Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.

Clemence Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Fan Zhang, Good Bones

 

Outstanding Sound Design of a Musical

Adam Fisher, Sunset Blvd.

Peter Hylenski, Just in Time

Scott Lehrer, Gypsy

Mick Potter, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends

Dan Moses Schreier, Floyd Collins

 

Outstanding Projection and Video Design

Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom, Sunset Blvd.

Jake Barton, McNeal

David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Jesse Garrison, The 7th Voyage of Egon Tichy [redux]

Hana S. Kim, Redwood

 

Outstanding Wig and Hair

Alberto “Albee” Alvarado, SUMO

Charles LaPointe, Death Becomes Her

Sabana Majeed, BOOP! The Musical

Nikiya Mathis, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

Nikiya Mathis, Liberation

 

Outstanding Puppetry

Dorothy James, Bill’s 44th

Tom Lee, See What I Wanna See

Simple Mischief Studio, Small Acts of Daring Invention

Amanda Villalobos, Becoming Eve

Kirjan Waage, Dead as a Dodo

 

Outstanding Fight Choreography

Drew Leary, Romeo + Juliet

Chelsea Pace and James Yaegashi, SUMO

Rick Sordelet and Christian Kelly-Sordelet, Pirates! The Penzance Musical

Bret Yount, King Lear

 

Outstanding Adaptation

Becoming Eve, by Emil Weinstein

Cymbeline, by Andrea Thome

Medea: Re-Versed, by Luis Quintero

Pirates! The Penzance Musical, by Rupert Holmes

The Devil’s Disciple, by David Staller

 

Outstanding Revue

Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song

Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now!

The Jonathan Larson Project

The World According to Micki Grant

 

Unique Theatrical Experience

Odd Man Out

The 7th Voyage of Egon Tichy [redux]

The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Voices in Your Head

The Wind and the Rain: A story about Sunny’s Bar

Updated On: 4/30/25 at 12:57 PM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 1:01pm

Simard and not Hilty again. Hmm.

Nice that Córdoba got in. Sad that Machado did not.

[ElephantLoveMedley]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 1:04pm

A Margherita nom but not a Woods nom feels right.

[FLarnhill]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 1:17pm

How is Snook eligible for Lead when that's a solo performance? Scott does the same thing she's doing and he got nominated in the right category.

[JonBoy1011]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 1:18pm

Jake Gyllenhaal got snubbed

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 1:19pm

FLarnhill said: "How is Snook eligible for Lead when that's a solo performance? Scott does the same thing she's doing and he got nominated in the right category."

Maybe they count the camera operators as other actors?

[InTheBathroom1]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 1:20pm

11 Boop noms is WILD

[Kad]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 1:21pm

Smash shut out save for Brooks, Mincemeat shut out of Best Musical. Surprised RWHC didn't receive more love here (also, I don't think I have ever heard of Music City).

Interesting that Sarah Snook wasn't put into the solo performance category.

I don't really understand their logic of separating music and lyrics into separate categories, but it's notable that MHE is the only show to be nominated for both and book.

Glad to see a lot of noms for Jellicle Ball, even if it does seem like Andre de Shields has become the de facto representative of the entire ensemble for awards this season.

Updated On: 4/30/25 at 01:21 PM

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 1:21pm

Sometimes, jukebox musicals are not exactly favorites or critics' darlings at awards nominations, so I'm happily surprised to see ''Just in Time'' score 9 Drama Desk noms:

* Outstanding Musical

* Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical: Jonathan Groff

* Outstanding Featured Performer in a Musical: Gracie Lawrence

* Outstanding Direction of a Musical: Alex Timbers

* Outstanding Book of a Musical: Warren Leight & Isaac Oliver

Plus, Scenic Design, Costumes, Sound and Orchestrations

(Also, ''Just in Time'' ties with ''Maybe Happy Ending'' with 9 Drama Desk nominations)

Updated On: 4/30/25 at 01:21 PM

[The Other One]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 1:23pm

It looks like the big three cash-grabbers, Othello, Good Night and Good Luck and Glengarry Glen Ross, received zero nominations.

With fewer options for Tony nominators this will probably not be the case tomorrow, but it probably does reflect the NY theatre community's feelings towards outrageously priced star-driven productions. 

Updated On: 4/30/25 at 01:23 PM

[jakethesnake]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 1:35pm

The Other One said: "It looks like the big three cash-grabbers, Othello, Good Night and Good Luck and Glengarry Glen Ross, received zero nominations.

With fewer options for Tony nominatorsthis will probably not be the case tomorrow, but it probably does reflect the NY theatre community's feelings towards outrageously priced star-driven productions."

An outrageously priced star-driven production can still be good.  I saw Othello.   It was not good.  Nothing to do with the fact that they are stars.  Haven't seen the other two, so can't comment, but I've read the reviews.  

[kidmanboy]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 1:36pm

I think producers are probably seeing the receipts from the three star-driven vehicles and planning more of the same. 

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 1:37pm

''It looks like the big three cash-grabbers, Othello, Good Night and Good Luck and Glengarry Glen Ross, received zero nominations.''

I imagine their producers are crying all the way to bank. 

''With fewer options for Tony nominators, this will probably not be the case tomorrow, but it probably does reflect the NY theatre community's feelings towards outrageously priced star-driven productions."

Audiences are part of the NY theater community, too, and they're already voted ... at the box office. If it's a celebrity they want to see, audiences will pony up the big bucks. 

Updated On: 4/30/25 at 01:37 PM

[JudyDenmark]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 1:38pm

This makes me so happy for Boop! I will continue to sing the praises of that inventive, sparkly, happy show that we need right now in the world. Giving me some more hope for it getting some Tony noms tomorrow. It needs a killer Tony performance so badly. 

Thrilled for all of the Jellicle Ball noms too - I would've thought Paul Tazewell had any and all costume awards totally sewn up (haha) this year, but that will rightfully give DBH a run for its money. 

And I'm excited for Jennifer Simard. She commits so hard to everything she does (so brilliantly and hilariously) and I love seeing her get recognized for that!

[The Other One]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 1:39pm

jakethesnake said: "The Other One said: "It looks like the big three cash-grabbers, Othello, Good Night and Good Luck and Glengarry Glen Ross, received zero nominations.

With fewer options for Tony nominatorsthis will probably not be the case tomorrow, but it probably does reflect the NY theatre community's feelings towards outrageously priced star-driven productions."

An outrageously priced star-driven production can still be good. I saw Othello. It was not good. Nothing to do with the fact that they are stars. Haven't seen the other two, so can't comment, but I've read the reviews."

Of the three, I've only seen Glengarry Glen Ross. It's actually very good.  

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 1:41pm

Obviously not the same voting body but this does make me wonder how vulnerable Mincemeat is for tomorrow 

[gibsons2]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 1:43pm

InTheBathroom1 said: "11 Boop noms is WILD"

Agreed. It's the new musical with the worst book imo. I was prepared to be lightly entertained but the uber clichéd,  pandering script ruined it for me.  How is this on the list of best musicals is a mystery. Jasmin is fantastic and works her but off, but she's nowhere near Nicole's and Audra's levels. These 2 are monumental talents.

Updated On: 4/30/25 at 01:43 PM

[FLarnhill]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 1:48pm

The Other One said: "It looks like the big three cash-grabbers, Othello, Good Night and Good Luck and Glengarry Glen Ross, received zero nominations.

With fewer options for Tony nominatorsthis will probably not be the case tomorrow, but it probably does reflect the NY theatre community's feelings towards outrageously priced star-driven productions."

Or maybe Brian Cox nominated this year's ceremony.

[starlightlocamotion]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 1:49pm

As much as I am loving the love for Simard … DBH is such a two hander. I would hate if Megan is left out tomorrow.

[Ensemble1665759202]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 1:53pm

gibsons2 said: "InTheBathroom1 said: "11 Boop noms is WILD"

Agreed. It's the new musical with the worst book imo. I was prepared to be lightly entertained but the uber clichéd, pandering script ruined it for me. How is this on the list of best musicals is a mystery. Jasmin is fantastic and works her but off, but she's nowhere near Nicole's and Audra's levels. These 2 are monumental talents."

Disagree. Awesome musical with great new music, beautiful costumes, great choreo and Jasmine AND the entire cast are phenomenal. Jasmine deserves the Tony IMO. 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 2:01pm

starlightlocamotion said: "As much as I am loving the love for Simard … DBH issuch a two hander. I would hate if Megan is left out tomorrow."

 

I strongly believe Hilty will be nominated tomorrow for a TONY along with Simard!

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 2:03pm

Adam Feldman put out his predictions, and I honestly forgot Mincemeat was even in the running. 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 2:04pm

I know it’s apple and oranges; it’s interesting Stranger Things wasn’t nominated for best play, but Boop scored a best musical nomination.

[pupscotch]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 2:09pm

Interesting that of the three Gypsy women, Lesli Margherita is the one that got in here. Featured Actress feels like a really weak category so I still think Joy will get in based on the strength of the role but I’m much more uncertain now.