Winners for the 61st Annual Drama Desk Awards were announced this evening at The Town Hall.
In keeping with Drama Desk’s mission, nominators considered shows that opened on Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway during the 2015-2016 New York theater season in the same competitive categories.
TheaterMania.com presented the awards ceremony. Gretchen Shugart is Managing Executive Producer of the Drama Desk Awards. Joey Parnes Productions produced and managed the show. The Awards show was written by Bill Rosenfield,directed byJack Cummings III (co-founder and artistic director of Transport Group), and hosted by Michael Urie (Drama Desk Award winner for Buyer & Cellar, “Ugly Betty”).
Outstanding Play
The Humans, Roundabout Theatre Company
Outstanding Musical
Shuffle Along
Outstanding Revival of a Play
A View from the Bridge
Zachary Levi and Laura Benanti in ‘She Loves Me.’ (Photo: Joan Marcus the The Broadway Blog.)
Outstanding Revival of a Musical
She Loves Me, Roundabout Theatre Company
Outstanding Actor in a Play
Frank Langella, The Father, Manhattan Theatre Club
Outstanding Actress in a Play
Jessica Lange, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Danny Burstein as Tevye in ”Fiddler on the Roof’ (Photo: Joan Marcus via The Broadway Blog.)
Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Danny Burstein, Fiddler on the Roof
Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Cynthia Erivo, The Color Purple
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Michael Shannon, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Brooke Bloom, Cloud Nine
Saycon Sengbloh, Eclipsed, Public Theater
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Christopher Fitzgerald, Waitress
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Jane Krakowski, She Loves Me
Outstanding Director of a Play
Ivo van Hove, A View from the Bridge
Outstanding Director of a Musical
John Doyle, The Color Purple
Bartlett Sher, Fiddler on the Roof
Outstanding Choreography
Savion Glover, Shuffle Along
Outstanding Music
Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, Bright Star
Outstanding Lyrics
Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Dear Evan Hansen
Outstanding Book of a Musical
John Caird, Daddy Long Legs
Outstanding Orchestrations
Larry Hochman, She Loves Me, Roundabout Theatre Company
Outstanding Music in a Play
Philip Glass, The Crucible
Outstanding Set Design for a Play
Christopher Oram, Hughie
Outstanding Set Design for a Musical
David Rockwell, She Loves Me
Outstanding Costume Design for a Play
Anita Yavich, The Legend of Georgia McBride
Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical
Ann Roth, Shuffle Along
Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play
Justin Townsend, The Humans
‘American Psycho’ (Photo: Jeremy Daniel via The Broadway Blog.)
Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical
Justin Townsend, American Psycho
Outstanding Projection Design
Finn Ross, American Psycho
Outstanding Sound Design for a Play
Fitz Patton, The Humans
Outstanding Sound Design for a Musical
Dan Moses Schreier, American Psycho
Outstanding Wig and Hair Design
Mia M. Neal, Shuffle Along
Outstanding Solo PerformanceJesse Tyler Ferguson, Fully Committed
Unique Theatrical Experience
That Physics Show
Special Awards
The Humans – Special Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble
Cassie Beck, Reed Birney, Jayne Houdyshell, Lauren Klein, Arian Moayed, and Sarah Steele spend a very special Thanksgiving Day together in Stephen Karam’s play, reminding us that home is indeed where The Humans are.
The Royale – Special Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble
The heavyweight cast of McKinley Belcher III, Khris Davis, Montego Glover, John Lavelle, and Clarke Peters gels as a unit in bringing Marco Ramirez’s story, inspired by Jack Johnson, to unforgettable life, offering a trenchant statement on racism in America.
Sheldon Harnick – Special Drama Desk Award
New productions of Fiddler on the Roof, Rothschild and Sons, and She Loves Me this season remind us that this veteran lyricist’s takes on faith, family and community are as resonant as ever.
Camp Broadway – Special Drama Desk Award
For more than 20 years, this indispensable organization has introduced young people to the magic of theater. Camp Broadway plays a crucial role in creating tomorrow’s audiences.
Danai Gurira – Sam Norkin Award
Whether writing about women in wartime Liberia in Eclipsed or about an affluent immigrant family from Zimbabwe struggling with assimilation in Familiar, Danai Gurira demonstrates great insight, range, and depth, bringing a fresh new voice to American theater.
Drama Desk was founded in 1949 to explore key issues in the theater and to bring together critics and writers in an organization to support the ongoing development of theater in New York. The organization began presenting its awards in 1955, and it is the only critics’ organization to honor achievement in the theater with competition among Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions in the same categories.