Artwork by Eddie Varley.
I wanted to congratulate all the nominees!
52nd ANNUAL DRAMA DESK AWARDS NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED;
LOVEMUSIK LEADS THE LIST WITH 12 NOMINATIONS;
AWARDS ANNOUNCED AT THE NY FRIARS CLUB BY THEATER LUMINARIES
JAMES NAUGHTON AND BETH LEAVEL;
AWARDS TO BE PRESENTED ON MAY 20 AT GALA CEREMONY HOSTED BY
BROADWAY STAR KRISTIN CHENOWETH
NEW YORK, APRIL 26, 2007 – Nominations for the 52nd Annual Drama Desk Awards were announced this morning at The New York Friars Club by previous winners James Naughton and Beth Leavel, at a press conference for journalists and theater professionals. They were joined for the announcement by Drama Desk President William Wolf; Barbara Siegel, Chairperson of the Drama Desk nominating committee; Robert R. Blume, Executive Producer of the Drama Desk Awards and Randie Levine-Miller, Director of Special Events for the Drama Desk and a member of the New York Friars Club Board of Governors.
The awards will be presented on Sunday, May 20, 2007 at 9:00 PM, at the F.H. LaGuardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center, 100 Amsterdam Avenue. Past Drama Desk winner Kristin Chenoweth—currently nominated for her performance in The Apple Tree—will host the ceremony, which will also be taped for television and subsequently broadcast nationwide as a two-hour special on PBS stations. In New York, the program will be shown on Thirteen/WNET on Sunday, May 27, from 12:30 P.M. to 2:30 P.M. NYC TV 25 will broadcast the awards twice: Thursday May 24, at 8:00 PM and Saturday May 26, at 10:00 PM. For the fifth year in a row, the awards will be webcast live by TheaterMania.com. The awards ceremony will also be broadcast live -- for the first time -- by XM Satellite Radio’s theater channel – XM-28 On Broadway.
In keeping with the Drama Desk’s unique mission, the nominators considered theatrical events that opened on Broadway, off Broadway and off-off Broadway during the 2006/2007 season in the same competitive categories. Deliberations by the nominators culminated in a marathon weekend session at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, which ended Monday afternoon, April 23. The nominators included: Chairperson Barbara Siegel, TalkinBroadway.com and TheaterMania.com; Glenda Frank, Plays International and nytheatre-wire.com; Tony Phillips, New York Press; Andrew Propst, Americantheaterweb.com and XM Satellite Radio; Richard Ridge, Broadway Beat TV; and Drama Desk President William Wolf, Wolfentertainmentguide.com.
Leading the slate of distinguished nominees is LoveMusik, which received 12 nominations, followed by a trio of musicals—Curtains, Legally Blonde, Spring Awakening— and the play The Coast of Utopia with 10 nominations each. The off-Broadway show In the Heights garnered nine, and Mary Poppins six.
Two high-profile shows were not considered for this year’s nominations: Grey Gardens, eligible last season, could only be considered for any new elements in the subsequent Broadway production, and Deuce, which did not invite nominators to see the play before the Drama Desk cut-off date, will be eligible next season.
This year the nominators chose to bestow special ensemble awards for acting to the casts of two shows —In The Heights and Lebensraum, both off-Broadway productions. Therefore individual cast members for these shows were not eligible for acting awards in the competitive categories.
The Drama Desk maintained its tradition of acknowledging excellence in the theater by announcing special awards to: John Kander and Fred Ebb, Austin Pendleton, Transport Group and the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene.
A limited number of tickets for the Drama Desk Awards are available to the public by calling (212) 352-3101 or visiting the TheaterMania.com website.
DRAMA DESK NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2006/2007 SEASON
The following awards were voted by the nominating committee and will be presented by the Drama Desk at its awards ceremony:
Outstanding Ensemble Performances:
The cast of In the Heights
The cast of Lebensraum
Special Awards:
Each year, the Drama Desk votes special awards to recognize excellence and significant contributions to the theater. For 2006/2007, these awards are presented to:
• John Kander and Fred Ebb for 42 years of excellence in advancing the art of the musical theater.
• Austin Pendleton - actor, director, playwright, teacher - a Renaissance man of the American theater.
• Transport Group for its breadth of vision and its presentation of challenging productions.
• National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene for preserving for 92 consecutive seasons the cultural legacy of Yiddish speaking theater in America.
Following are the nominations for the competitive categories in alphabetical order. Winners will be selected by the voting membership of the Drama Desk:
Outstanding Play:
David Harrower, Blackbird
Terrence McNally, Some Men
Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon
Tom Stoppard, The Coast of Utopia
Bernard Weinraub, The Accomplices
August Wilson, Radio Golf
Outstanding Musical:
Curtains
In the Heights
Legally Blonde
LoveMusik
Mary Poppins
Spring Awakening
Outstanding Revival of a Play:
The Hairy Ape
Hedda Gabler
Journey's End
Talk Radio
The Taming of the Shrew
Woyzeck
Outstanding Revival of a Musical:
110 in the Shade
The Apple Tree
Company
Di Yam Gazlonim!
H.M.S. Pinafore
Les Miserables
Outstanding Actor in a Play:
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jack Goes Boating
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Brían F. O’Byrne, The Coast of Utopia
Christopher Plummer, Inherit the Wind
Liev Schreiber, Talk Radio
Kevin Spacey, A Moon for the Misbegotten
Paul Sparks, Essential Self-Defense
Outstanding Actress in a Play:
Eve Best, A Moon for the Misbegotten
Orlagh Cassidy, The Field
Blythe Danner, Suddenly Last Summer
Jennifer Mudge, Dutchman
Sandra Oh, Satellites
Annie Parisse, The Internationalist
Meryl Streep, Mother Courage and Her Children
Outstanding Actor in a Musical:
Michael Cerveris, LoveMusik
Raul Esparza, Company
John Gallagher, Jr., Spring Awakening
Jonathan Groff, Spring Awakening
David Hyde Pierce, Curtains
Martin Short, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me
Outstanding Actress in a Musical:
Ashley Brown, Mary Poppins
Laura Bell Bundy, Legally Blonde
Kristin Chenoweth, The Apple Tree
Audra McDonald, 110 in the Shade
Lea Michele, Spring Awakening
Donna Murphy, LoveMusik
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play:
Anthony Chisholm, Radio Golf
Billy Crudup, The Coast of Utopia
Boyd Gaines, Journey's End
John Ortiz, Jack Goes Boating
Andrew Polk, The Accomplices
Frederick Weller, Some Men
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play:
Myriam Acharki, Woyzeck
Xanthe Elbrick, Coram Boy
Sarah Nina Hayon, Rearviewmirror
Jan Maxwell, Coram Boy
Martha Plimpton, The Coast of Utopia
Rita Wolf, The American Pilot
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical:
Brooks Ashmankas, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me
Christian Borle, Legally Blonde
Aaron Lazar, Les Miserables
Gavin Lee, Mary Poppins
Orville Mendoza, Adrift in Macao
David Pittu, LoveMusik
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical:
Linda Balgord, The Pirate Queen
Celia Keenan-Bolger, Les Miserables
Debra Monk, Curtains
Orfeh, Legally Blonde
Barbara Walsh, Company
Karen Ziemba, Curtains
Outstanding Director of a Play:
Declan Donnellan, Twelfth Night
Michael Grandage, Frost/Nixon
Doug Hughes, Inherit the Wind
Jack O'Brien, The Coast of Utopia
Ciarán O'Reilly, The Hairy Ape
Tom Ridgely, Marco Millions (based on lies)
Outstanding Director of a Musical:
John Doyle, Company
Thomas Kail, In the Heights
Michael Mayer, Spring Awakening
Jerry Mitchell, Legally Blonde
Harold Prince, LoveMusik
Alex Timbers, Gutenberg! The Musical!
Outstanding Choreography:
Patricia Birch, LoveMusik
Andy Blankenbuehler, In the Heights
Matthew Bourne, Edward Scissorhands
Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear, Mary Poppins
Bill T. Jones Spring Awakening
Jerry Mitchell, Legally Blonde
Outstanding Music:
John Kander, Curtains
Paul Leschen, Twist: Please, Sir, May I Have Some More?
Peter Melnick, Adrift in Macao
Lin-Manuel Miranda, In the Heights
Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, Legally Blonde
Duncan Sheik, Spring Awakening
Outstanding Lyrics:
Fred Ebb with added lyrics by John Kander and Rupert Holmes, Curtains
Lin-Manuel Miranda, In the Heights
Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, Legally Blonde
Steven Sater, Spring Awakening
Bill Strauss, Elaina Newport and Mark Eaton, Capitol Steps
Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me
Outstanding Book of a Musical:
Scott Brown and Anthony King, Gutenberg! The Musical!
Julian Fellowes, Mary Poppins
Heather Hach, Legally Blonde
Rupert Holmes and Peter Stone, Curtains
Steven Sater, Spring Awakening
Alfred Uhry, LoveMusik
Outstanding Music for a Play:
Mark Bennett, The Coast of Utopia
Adam Cork, Frost/Nixon
Gerard McBurney, Oliver Twist
The Propeller Company, The Taming of the Shrew
Ray Rizzo, Adam Rapp and Lucas Papaelias, Essential Self-Defense
David Van Tieghem, Inherit the Wind
Outstanding Orchestrations:
William David Brohn, Curtains
Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Company
Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman, In the Heights
Duncan Sheik, Spring Awakening
Jonathan Tunick, The Apple Tree
Jonathan Tunick, LoveMusik
Outstanding Set Design of a Play:
Bob Crowley and Scott Pask, The Coast of Utopia
David Gallo, Radio Golf
David Korins, Essential Self-Defense
David Korins, Jack Goes Boating
Garin Marschall, Hell House
Scott Pask, Blackbird
Outstanding Set Design of a Musical:
Beowulf Boritt, LoveMusik
Bob Crowley, Mary Poppins
Anna Louizos, Curtains
Anna Louizos, In the Heights
David Rockwell, Legally Blonde
Kris Stone, Brundibar/But the Giraffe
Outstanding Costume Design:
Mara Blumenfeld, Lookingglass Alice
Judith Dolan, LoveMusik
William Ivey Long, Curtains
Santo Loquasto, Suddenly Last Summer
Robert Morgan, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical
Catherine Zuber, The Coast of Utopia
Outstanding Lighting Design:
Howell Binkley LoveMusik
Maruti Evans, Blindness
Paul Gallo, Blackbird
Mark Jonathan Prometheus Bound
Kenneth Posner, Brian MacDevitt, Natasha Katz, The Coast of Utopia
Japhy Weideman, Jack Goes Boating
Outstanding Sound Design:
Acme Sound Partners, In the Heights
Mark Bennett, The Coast of Utopia
Gregory Clarke, Journey's End
Duncan Robert Edwards, LoveMusik
Frank Gaeta, Dai (enough)
Richard Woodbury, Talk Radio
Outstanding Solo Performance:
Iris Bahr, Dai (enough)
Ed Harris, Wrecks
Capathia Jenkins, (mis)Understanding Mammy: The Hattie McDaniel Story
Anna Manahan, Sisters
Vanessa Redgrave, The Year of Magical Thinking
Nilaja Sun, No Child…
Unique Theatrical Experience:
Absinthe
Amajuba: Like Doves We Rise
Be
Brundibar/But the Giraffe
Edward Scissorhands
Hell House
Shows With Multiple Nominations
LoveMusik 12
The Coast of Utopia 10
Curtains 10
Legally Blond 10
Spring Awakening 10
In the Heights 9
Mary Poppins 6
Company 5
Frost/Nixon 4
Jack Goes Boating 4
The Apple Tree 3
Blackbird 3
Essential Self-Defense 3
Inherit the Wind 3
Journey’s End 3
Les Miserables 3
Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me 3
Radio Golf 3
Talk Radio 3
The Accomplices 2
Adrift in Macao 2
Brundlbar/But the Giraffe 2
Coram Boy 2
Dai (enough) 2
Edward Scissorhands 2
Gutenberg! The Musical! 2
The Hairy Ape 2
Hell House 2
A Moon for the Misbegotten 2
110 in the Shade 2
Some Men 2
Suddenly Last Summer 2
The Taming of the Shrew 2
Woyzeck 2
ELIGIBILITY & NOMINATIONS
Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway shows that opened in the Drama Desk 2006/2007 year which the nominating committee was able to see by the cutoff deadline of April 22, 2007, were eligible for awards. The Drama Desk nominating committee considered more than 500 shows in determining this year’s slate of nominees.
The Drama Desk Board of Directors oversees the nomination process and is composed of: William Wolf (wolfentertainmentguide.com), President; Leslie (Hoban) Blake (WFUV FM), Vice President; Charles Wright (A&E TV Networks, Best Plays International Yearbook), Treasurer and Second Vice President; Joyce Hauser, Secretary; and Members-at-Large: Michael Bracken (WFUV FM); David Kaufman (Freelance); Ellis Nassour (Broadway Stars.com, Playbill); Sam Norkin (Freelance theater artist, Past Drama Desk President); Barbara Siegel (TalkinBroadway.com, TheaterMania.com); and Elyse Sommer (Chief critic and editor, CurtainUp.com)
ABOUT THE DRAMA DESK
The Drama Desk was founded in 1949 to explore key issues in the theater and to bring critics and writers together in an organization to support the ongoing development of theater in New York. The organization began presenting its awards in 1955, and is the only critics’ organization to honor achievement in the theater with competition between Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions.
The organization hosts panels throughout the year, to which the public is invited to promote understanding and appreciation of the professional theater. In addition to honoring creative artists and stage productions in multiple categories, the Drama Desk annually presents scholarships to two worthy seniors in the Drama Department of the LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts who are planning careers in the theater.
The Drama Desk Awards event enlists personal sketches from this year’s nominated performers and creative talent for its Art*Kive program, started in 2001 by Art*Kive creator Sarah Galvin. This annual program—unique to the Drama Desk Awards—invites the nominees to render a sketch that is relevant to the role or stage production that helped them achieve their nomination. The sketches will be displayed at the awards ceremony.
To find out more about the organization and this year’s awards show, visit http://www.dramadesk.com.
PRODUCTION CREDITS & SPONSORSHIP FOR THE 2006/2007 DRAMA DESK AWARDS EVENT
Robert R. Blume is Executive Producer of the 52nd Annual Drama Desk Awards event. Lauren Class Schneider is Producer and Jeff Kalpak is Director. The show is being written by Peter Flynn. Production Manager is Kelly Martindale. Associate Producers are Corine Dana Cohen, Jacki Barlia Florin, Margot Astrachan, Matthew P. Donoghue and Les Schecter, who is also Director of Publicity and Promotions. Elias EL-Hage is the General Manager. Randie Levine-Miller is Special Events Director for the Drama Desk. For television, Terry Rohnke is Production Consultant and Roy A. Somlyo is Consulting Producer.
The 52nd Annual Drama Desk Awards event is made possible by the following individuals and companies:
Friends of the Drama Desk: David S. Stone, Esq., Boies Schiller and Flexner LLP/New Jersey Office; Susan and Jack Rudin; Ted Snowdon; Richard I. Kandel; Jacki Barlia-Florin.
Key Contributors: TheaterMania.com; The Dorothy Strelsin Foundation c/o Enid Nemy; The Dorothy Loudon Foundation, Lionel Larner, Executive Director; Roy Furman; The Nat R. & Martha M. Knaster Charitable Trust; Lawrence Fraiberg.
Scholarship Contributors: Susan and Jack Rudin; The Smart Family Foundation; Jamie deRoy & friends; TheaterMania.com; Daryl Roth Productions; Stewart F. Lane.
In-Kind Sponsors: The New York Times; Sound Associates, Inc./Peter Fitzgerald; Producers Resource Group (PRG)/Darren DeVerna; Shining Stars brought to you by Russ Berrie and Abrams Gentile Entertainment; Variety.
Additional Sponsors: Arrive Magazine (only on Amtrak’s Eastern Corridor); Federico Salon; Hit Show Club.
Reception, Food & Beverage Sponsorships: Russian Tea Room; China Grill of New York.
