2023 Drama Desk Award Winners Revealed

The winners for the 67th Annual Drama Desk Awards have been announced. The Drama Desk Awards are recognized as being the only major NYC theater award show that puts Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off Broadway productions in the same categories. This year it was all about Some Like it Hot and Life of Pi, with each coming out on top in over three categories.

Drama Desk Awards

Awards are voted on and bestowed by critics, journalists, editors, and publishers covering theater. The Drama Desk Awards honor all aspects of New York’s professional theater.

The Drama Desk was founded in 1949 and began presenting its awards in 1955. The organization was originally created to explore pivotal issues in the theater and to bring together critics and writers in an organization to support the development of theater in New York.

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This year the Drama Desk Awards will take place at Sardi’s Restaurant in Manhattan on June 6th from 3:00 – 6:00pm. Tony and Emmy Award winner Mandy Patinkin and 2-time Obie Award winner Kathryn Grody will host the ceremony. More details about the event and awards can be found here.

List of Winners

Outstanding Play

Leopoldstadt, by Tom Stoppard

Outstanding Musical

Some Like it Hot

Outstanding Revival of a Play

The Piano Lesson

Outstanding Revival of a Musical

Parade

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play

Jessica Chastain, A Doll’s House & Sean Hayes, Good Night, Oscar

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical

Annaleigh Ashford, Sweeney Todd & J. Harrison Ghee, Some Like it Hot

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play

Miriam Silverman, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, Brooklyn Academy of Music & Brandon Uranowitz, Leopoldstadt

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical

Kevin Del Aguila, Some Like it Hot & Alex Newell, Shucked

Outstanding Direction of a Play

Max Webster, Life of Pi

Outstanding Direction of a Musical

Thomas Kail, Sweeney Todd

Outstanding Choreography

Casey Nicholaw, Some Like it Hot

Outstanding Music

Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, Shucked

Outstanding Lyrics

Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, Some Like it Hot

Outstanding Book of a Musical

Matthew López and Amber Ruffin, Some Like it Hot

Outstanding Orchestrations

Charlie Rosen and Bryan Carter, Some Like it Hot

Outstanding Music in a Play

Suzan-Lori Parks, Plays for the Plague Year, The Public Theater

Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play

Tim Hatley, Life of Pi

Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical

Beowulf Boritt, New York, New York

Outstanding Costume Design of a Play

Emilio Sosa, Ain’t No Mo’

Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical

Gregg Barnes, Some Like it Hot

Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play

Natasha Chivers and Willie Williams (video), Prima Facie

Outstanding Lighting Design of a Musical

Natasha Katz, Sweeney Todd

Outstanding Projection and Video Design 

Andrzej Goulding, Life of Pi

Outstanding Sound Design of a Play

Ben & Max Ringham, A Doll’s House

Outstanding Sound Design of a Musical

Scott Lehrer and Alex Neumann, Into the Woods

Outstanding Wig and Hair

Mia M. Neal, Ain’t No Mo’

Outstanding Solo Performance

Jodie Comer, Prima Facie

Unique Theatrical Experience

Peter Pan Goes Wrong

Outstanding Fight Choreography

B.H. Barry, Camelot

Outstanding Adaptation

A Doll’s House, by Amy Herzog

Outstanding Puppetry

Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell, Life of Pi

Special Awards: 

Harold Prince Lifetime Achievement Award

Stephen McKinley Henderson has been bringing in-depth, gripping portrayals of memorable characters to the stage for over 40 years. With his return to Broadway this season as Pops in Between Riverside and Crazy, which was nominated in 2015, this year’s Harold Prince Lifetime Achievement Award marks Henderson’s role in this powerful production as a celebration of his brilliant career.

Ensemble Award

The cast of Soho Rep’s Public Obscenities – Tashnuva Anan, Abrar Haque, Golam Sarwar Harun, Gargi Mukherjee, NaFis, Jakeem Dante Powell, and Debashis Roy Chowdhury – embodied the transnational world of Shayok Misha Chowdhury’s bilingual play with memorable authenticity, remarkable specificity, and extraordinary warmth.

Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award

From his standout performance in american (tele)visions, to writing and performing the autobiographical Dark Disabled Stories, Ryan J. Haddad’s work this season has expanded on and interrogated what the idea of “accessibility” really means. Whether riding a shopping cart like a throne, or relating his experiences on a “gay, pink bus,” Haddad shared with audiences an unabashed queer fabulosity that was both unforgettable and deeply human.

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