The Inheritance, A Strange Loop & More Win 2020 Drama Desk Awards

Winners have been announced for the 65th Annual Drama Desk Awards, honoring the best in Broadway, off and off-off-Broadway theater in the 2019-2020 season. The awards ceremony was held virtually on June 13 during a special presentation of Spectrum News NY1’s On Stage, hosted by Frank DiLella.

Top winners include A Strange Loop as Outstanding Musical, The Inheritance as Outstanding Play, Little Shop of Horrors as Outstanding Revival of a Musical and A Soldier's Play as Outstanding Revival of a Play.

The Drama Desk Awards are voted on and bestowed by theater critics, journalists, editors and publishers covering theater. In determining eligibility of the Broadway productions of Slave Play and Girl From the North Country, which had off-Broadway runs in previous seasons, the nominating committee considered only those elements which constituted new work. The following shows were not eligible because they were considered in other seasons: Sea Wall/A Life, Derren Brown: Secret, Slava’s Snowshow and Pip’s Island. The nominating committee did not consider God Shows Up by Peter Filichia at the Actors Temple Theatre.

A full list of winners can be found below, in bold and preceded by an asterisk.

Outstanding Play
Cambodian Rock Band
Greater Clements
Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Heroes of the Fourth Turning
*The Inheritance

Outstanding Musical
Octet
The Secret Life of Bees
Soft Power
*A Strange Loop
The Wrong Man

Outstanding Revival of a Play
Fefu and Her Friends
for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Mac Beth
Much Ado About Nothing
*A Soldier’s Play

Outstanding Revival of a Musical
*Little Shop of Horrors
The Unsinkable Molly Brown
West Side Story

Outstanding Actor in a Play
Charles Busch, The Confession of Lily Dare
*Edmund Donovan, Greater Clements
Raúl Esparza, Seared
Francis Jue, Cambodian Rock Band
Triney Sandoval, 72 Miles to Go…
Kyle Soller, The Inheritance

Outstanding Actress in a Play
Rose Byrne, Medea
*Liza Colón-Zayas, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Emily Davis, Is This A Room
April Matthis, Toni Stone
Ruth Negga, Hamlet

Outstanding Actor in a Musical
David Aron Damane, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Chris Dwan, Enter Laughing
Joshua Henry, The Wrong Man
Francis Jue, Soft Power
*Larry Owens, A Strange Loop

Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Tammy Blanchard, Little Shop of Horrors
Beth Malone, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Saycon Sengbloh, The Secret Life of Bees
Elizabeth Stanley, Jagged Little Pill
*Adrienne Warren, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Victor Almanzar, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Esteban Andres Cruz, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
David Alan Grier, A Soldier's Play
*Paul Hilton, The Inheritance
Chris Perfetti, Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Patrice Johnson Chevannes, runboyrun & In Old Age
Kristina Poe, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Belange Rodríguez, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Elizabeth Rodriguez, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
*Lois Smith, The Inheritance

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
George Abud, Emojiland
*Christian Borle, Little Shop of Horrors
Jay Armstrong Johnson, Scotland, PA
Conrad Ricamora, Soft Power
Ryan Vasquez, The Wrong Man

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Yesenia Ayala, West Side Story
Paula Leggett Chase, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
LaChanze, The Secret Life of Bees
Alyse Alan Louis, Soft Power
*Lauren Patten, Jagged Little Pill

Outstanding Solo Performance
David Cale, We’re Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time
Kate del Castillo, the way she spoke
*Laura Linney, My Name is Lucy Barton
Jacqueline Novak, Get on Your Knees
Deirdre O’Connell, Dana H.

Outstanding Director of a Play
Jessica Blank, Coal Country
*Stephen Daldry, The Inheritance
John Ortiz, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Tina Satter, Is This A Room
Erica Schmidt, Mac Beth

Outstanding Director of a Musical
*Stephen Brackett, A Strange Loop
Thomas Kail, The Wrong Man
Kathleen Marshall, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Leigh Silverman, Soft Power
Annie Tippe, Octet

Outstanding Choreography
Camile A. Brown, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, West Side Story
Keone Madrid and Mari Madrid, Beyond Babel
Kathleen Marshall, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
*Sonya Tayeh, Moulin Rouge!
Travis Wall, The Wrong Man

Outstanding Music
Ross Golan, The Wrong Man
Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop
*Dave Malloy, Octet
Joshua Rosenblum, Einstein’s Dreams
Duncan Sheik, The Secret Life of Bees
Jeanine Tesori, Soft Power

Outstanding Lyrics
Susan Birkenhead, The Secret Life of Bees
Adam Gwon, Scotland, PA
*Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop
Joanne Sydney Lessner and Joshua Rosenblum, Einstein’s Dreams
Dave Malloy, Octet
Mark Saltzman, Romeo & Bernadette

Outstanding Book of a Musical
David Henry Hwang, Soft Power
*Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop
Dave Malloy, Octet
Lynn Nottage, The Secret Life of Bees
Mark Saltzman, Romeo & Bernadette
Dick Scanlan, The Unsinkable Molly Brown

Outstanding Orchestrations
*Tom Kitt, Jagged Liittle Pill
Alex Lacamoire, The Wrong Man
Or Matias and Dave Malloy, Octet
Danny Troob, John Clancy and Larry Hochman, Soft Power
Jonathan Tunick, West Side Story

Outstanding Music in a Play
Steve Earle, Coal Country
Frightened Rabbit, Square Go
Jim Harbourne, Feral
*Martha Redbone, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Adam Seidel, Jane Bruce and Daniel Ocanto, Original Sound

Outstanding Set Design of a Play
Catherine Cornell, Mac Beth
*Clint Ramos, Grand Horizons
Adam Rigg, Fefu and Her Friends
Paul Steinberg, Judgement Day
B.T. Whitehill, The Confession of Lily Dare

Outstanding Set Design for a Musical
Julian Crouch, Little Shop of Horrors
Anna Louizos, Scotland ,PA
*Derek McLane, Moulin Rouge!
Amy Rubin and Brittany Vasta, Octet

Outstanding Costume Design for a Play
Asa Benally, Blues for an Alabama Sky
Montana Levi Blanco, Fefu and Her Friends
Toni-Leslie James, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Antony McDonald, Judgment Day
*Rachel Townsend and Jessica Jahn, The Confession of Lily Dare
Kaye Voyce, Coriolanus

Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical
Vanessa Leuck, Emojiland
Jeff Mahshie, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Mark Thompson, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Anita Yavich, Soft Power
*Catherine Zuber, Moulin Rouge!

Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play
Isabella Byrd, Heroes of the Fourth Turning
Oona Curley, Dr. Ride’s American Beach House
*Heather Gilbert, The Sound Inside
Mimi Jordan Sherin, Judgment Day
Yi Zhao, Greater Clements

Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical
Betsy Adams, The Wrong Man
Jane Cox, The Secret Life of Bees
Herrick Goldman, Einstein’s Dreams
Bruno Poet, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
*Justin Townsend, Moulin Rouge!

Outstanding Sound Design in a Play
*Paul Arditti and Christopher Reid, The Inheritance
Justin Ellington, Heroes of the Fourth Turning
Mikhail Fiksel, Dana H.
Palmer Hefferan, Fefu and Her Friends
Lee Kinney and Sanae Yamada, Is This A Room

Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical
Tom Gibbons, West Side Story
Kai Harada, Soft Power
*Peter Hylenski, Moulin Rouge!
Hidenori Nakajo, Octet
Nevin Steinberg, The Wrong Man

Outstanding Projection Design
David Bengali, Einstein’s Dreams
Julia Frey, Medea
*Luke Halls, West Side Story
Lisa Renkel and POSSIBLE, Emojiland
Hannah Wasileski, Fires in the Mirror

Outstanding Wig and Hair Design
*Campbell Young Associates, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Cookie Jordan, Fefu and Her Friends
Nikiya Mathis, STEW
Tom Watson, The Great Society
Bobbie Zlotnik, Emojiland

Outstanding Fight Choreography
Vicki Manderson, Square Go
*Thomas Schall, A Soldier's Play
UnkleDave’s Fight House, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven

Outstanding Puppet Design
*Raphael Mishler, Tumacho
Rockefeller Productions, Paddington Gets in a Jam
Amanda Villalobos, Is This A Room

Unique Theatrical Experience
Beyond Babel
Feral
*Is This A Room
Midsummer: A Banquet

Outstanding Adaptation
*A Christmas Carol
Judgment Day
Mojada
Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow

Ensemble Award: "To the eight pitch-perfect performers in Dave Malloy’s a cappella musical Octet: Adam Bashian, Kim Blanck, Starr Busby, Alex Gibson, Justin Gregory Lopez, J.D. Mollison, Margo Seibert and Kuhoo Verma proved instrumental in giving a layered look at modern forms of addiction."

Sam Norkin Award: "To actress Mary Bacon, who continued her versatile career of compassionate, searing work for such companies as The Mint, Primary Stages, The Public Theater and The Actors Theater Company, with two of Off-Broadway’s most humane performances this season in Coal Country at the Public Theater and Nothing Gold Can Stay presented by Partial Comfort Productions."

"To The Actors Fund, Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley for connecting members of the theater community and lifting spirits during the coronavirus crisis. The Actors Fund has worked tirelessly to provide financial and health resources to those impacted by the pandemic; Rudetsky and Wesley’s semi-daily Stars in the House webcast is raising funds for The Actors Fund, while providing performances, reunions, and medical updates."

"To The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit, a reinvention of Joseph Papp’s “Mobile Theater” that began in 1957 and evolved into the New York Shakespeare Festival and The Public Theater. The current Mobile Unit tours free Shakespeare throughout the five boroughs, including prisons, homeless shelters and community centers, reminding audiences new and old that the play really is the thing. "

"To WP Theater and Julia Miles, the company’s founder who died this spring. Formerly known as The Women’s Project and Productions, the company began in 1978 at American Place Theatre, where Miles served as associate to visionary artistic director Wynn Handman, who also died this spring. WP is the largest, most enduring American company that nurtures and produces works by female-identified creators. Over a little more than four decades, it has changed the demographics of American drama through an unwavering focus on women writers, directors, producers, performers and craftspeople."

"To Claire Warden for her pioneering work as an intimacy choreographer in such recent projects as Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune and Linda Vista and her leadership in the rapidly emerging movement of intimacy direction. As part of the creative team of Intimacy Directors & Coordinators and Director of Engagement for and co-founder of Intimacy Directors International, she is helping create theater experiences that are safer for performers and more authentic for contemporary audiences."

Productions with multiple wins:

Moulin Rouge! — 5 
The Inheritance — 5
A Strange Loop— 5
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical — 2
Jagged Little Pill — 2
A Soldier's Play — 2
Little Shop of Horrors— 2