Photo Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster Photo by Genevieve Rafter Keddy
The 2024 Drama Desk Awards were a star-studded ceremony at NYU Skirball Center co-hosted by Sutton Foster and Aaron Tveit. This is the only major NYC theater awards for which Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions are considered in the same categories. Two recipients in each of the gender-free performance categories were announced and in some categories not only were their ties but three winners selected.
The winners are:
Outstanding Play: Stereophonic, by David Adjmi, Playwrights Horizons
Outstanding Musical: Dead Outlaw
Outstanding Revival of a Play: Appropriate, Second Stage Theater
Outstanding Revival of a Musical: I Can Get It for You Wholesale, Classic Stage Company
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play: Jessica Lange, Mother Play, Second Stage Theater
and Sarah Paulson,Appropriate, Second Stage Theater
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical: Brian d’Arcy James, Days of Wine and Roses, Atlantic Theater Company, Maleah Joi Moon, Hell’s Kitchen and Kelli O’Hara, Days of Wine and Roses, Atlantic Theater Company
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play: Celia Keenan-Bolger,Mother Play, Second Stage Theater and Kara Young, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical: Kecia Lewis, Hell’s Kitchen and Bebe Neuwirth, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Outstanding Direction of a Play: Daniel Aukin, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons
Outstanding Direction of a Musical: Jessica Stone,Water for Elephants
Outstanding Choreography: Justin Peck, Illinoise, Park Avenue Armory
Outstanding Music: Shaina Taub, Suffs
Outstanding Lyrics: David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna, Dead Outlaw
Outstanding Book of a Musical: Itamar Moses, Dead Outlaw
Outstanding Orchestrations: Marco Paguia, Buena Vista Social Club, Atlantic Theater Company
Outstanding Music in a Play: Will Butler, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons
Outstanding Revue: Amid Falling Walls, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene
Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play: David Zinn, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons
Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical: Paul Tate DePoo III, The Great Gatsby (includes projections)
Outstanding Costume Design of a Play: Enver Chakartash, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons
Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical: Paul Tazewell, Suffs
Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play: Jane Cox,Appropriate, Second Stage Theater
Outstanding Lighting Design of a Musical: Brian MacDevitt and Hana S. Kim (projections), The Outsiders
Outstanding Projection and Video Design: Peter Nigrini,Hell’s Kitc
Outstanding Sound Design of a Play: Ryan Rumery, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons
Outstanding Sound Design of a Musical: Nick Lidster for Autograph,Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Cody Spencer,The Outsiders and Walter Trarbach,Water for Elephants
Outstanding Wig and Hair: Nikiya Mathis, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, Manhattan Theatre Club
Outstanding Solo Performance: Patrick Page,All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain
Unique Theatrical Experience: Grenfell: in the words of survivors, St. Ann’s Warehouse, National Theatre, and KPPL Productions
Outstanding Fight Choreography: Cha Ramos,Water for Elephants
Outstanding Adaptation: An Enemy of the People, by Amy Herzog
Outstanding Puppetry: Ray Wetmore, JR Goodman, and Camille Labarre, Water for Elephants
SPECIAL AWARDS
Ensemble Award
The cast ofStereophonic– Will Brill, Andrew R. Butler, Juliana Canfield, Eli Gelb, Tom Pecinka, Sarah Pidgeon, and Chris Stack – who execute David Adjmi’s hypernaturalistic text with extraordinary care and precision, while also performing Will Butler’s music with the freshness and life that makes us believe we are witnessing, first-hand, the creation of a new American classic.
‘Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award
Cole Escola, who both wrote and stars in one of this season’s biggest hits Off Broadway,Oh, Mary!Following in the long legacy of queer artists who write themselves into American history, Escola’s new “gay fantasia on national themes” is a hilarious reminder of why we must continue to interrogate our past.
ADDITIONAL SPECIAL AWARDS
How to Dance in OhioAuthentic Autistic Representation Team– Sammi Cannold, Nicole D’Angelo, Becky Leifman, Ava Xiao-Lin Rigelhaupt, Liz Weber, and Jeremy Wein – for their steadfast support of autistic theatermakers, and their strides toward true accessibility for neurodiverse individuals both on and offstage.
Lighting designerIsabella Byrd, whose self-described technique as a “darkness designer” has earned her a cache of nominations and awards in the United States and abroad. During this season, Byrd illuminated two Broadway shows done in the round,An Enemy of the PeopleandCabaret at the Kit Kat Club. Off Broadway, her spotlight on quiet, small-scale stories both enchanted us inPrimary Trustand mesmerized us inInfinite Life, with a parking-lot sky that marked the passage of time.
Lady Irene Gandy, for career achievement. A press agent extraordinaire for over five decades, Lady Irene has always demonstrated her passion, dedication, and love for theater. A Broadway producer and Sardi’s honoree, she is a zealous advocate for inclusion, diversity, and equity in the arts.
