2026 Drama Desk Award Nominations Announced: Full List

Nominations for the 70th Annual Drama Desk Awards, the theater award honoring excellence across all of New York City’s theatrical landscape, were announced live on the Broadway.com YouTube channel by Raúl Esparza (upcoming Galileo) and Helen J Shen (original Claire in Maybe Happy Ending) from The Lambs Club in New York City, America’s oldest professional theatrical club.

Beau the Musical and Mexodus earned 10 nominations, tied for the most awarded off-Broadway production, followed by The Seat of Our Pants with nine. Ragtime and The Balusters lead the Broadway productions with eight each.

In determining the eligibility of plays or performances from prior seasons, the nominating committee considered only those elements that constituted new work.

First bestowed in 1955 (as the Vernon Rice Awards), the Drama Desk Awards are voted on by theater critics, journalists, editors and publishers covering theater.

Here is the complete list of 2026 nominees:

Outstanding Play

Caroline, Preston Max Allen

Cold War Choir Practice, Ro Reddick

Meet the Cartozians, Talene Monahon

Prince F****t, Jordan Tannahill

The Balusters, David Lindsay-Abaire

The Porch on Windy Hill, Sherry Stregnack Lutken, Lisa Helmi Johanson, Morgan Morse and David M. Lutken

Well, I’ll Let You Go, Bubba Weiler

Outstanding Musical

Beau the Musical

Mexodus

Schmigadoon!

The Seat of Our Pants

Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

Outstanding Revival of a Play

Becky Shaw

Ceremonies in Dark Old Men

Death of a Salesman

Los Soles Truncos

Titus Andronicus

You Got Older

Outstanding Revival of a Musical

Amahl and The Night Visitors

Chess

Ragtime

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

The Baker’s Wife

The Rocky Horror Show

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play

Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Well, I’ll Let You Go

Noah Galvin, The Reservoir

Synnøve Karlsen, Pygmalion

John Krasinski, Angry Alan

Nathan Lane, Death of a Salesman

John Lithgow, Giant

Lesley Manville, Oedipus

Laurie Metcalf, Death of a Salesman

Aigner Mizzelle, The Monsters

Patrick Page, Titus Andronicus

Anika Noni Rose, The Balusters

Kara Young, Gruesome Playground Injuries

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical

Nicholas Christopher, Chess

Micaela Diamond, The Seat of Our Pants

Luke Evans, The Rocky Horror Show

Joshua Henry, Ragtime

Dulé Hill, Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole

Amber Iman, Goddess

Caissie Levy, Ragtime

Brian Quijada, Mexodus

Nygel D. Robinson, Mexodus

Matt Rodin, Beau the Musical

Sam Tutty, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

Brandon Uranowitz, Ragtime

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play

Caroline Aaron, The Reservoir

Edoardo Benzoni, Are the Bennett Girls OK?

Maria-Christina Oliveras, The Balusters

Nathan Darrow, (un)conditional

Emily Davis, Well, I’ll Let You Go

West Duchovny, Diversion

Alden Ehrenreich, Becky Shaw

Linda Emond, Becky Shaw

David Greenspan, Prince F****t

River Lipe-Smith, Caroline

Lizan Mitchell, Cold War Choir Practice

Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Joe Turner's Come and Gone

Richard Thomas, The Balusters

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical

Chris Blisset, Beau the Musical

Max Clayton, Schmigadoon!

Lilli Cooper, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Stephanie Hsu, The Rocky Horror Show

Judy Kuhn, The Baker's Wife

McKenzie Kurtz, Schmigadoon!

Ruthie Anne Miles, The Seat of Our Pants

Erin Morton, Heathers the Musical

Jackson Kanawha Perry, Saturday Church

Jasmine Amy Rogers, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Ben Levi Ross, Ragtime

Layton Williams, Titanique

Outstanding Solo Performance

Savon Bartley, Holes in the Shape of My Father

Jack Holden, Kenrex

Hailey McAfee, and her Children

Natalie Palamides, Weer

Julia McDermott, Weather Girl

Josh Sharp, ta-da!

Outstanding Direction of a Play

Jesse Berger, Titus Andronicus

David Cromer, Caroline

Trip Cullman, Becky Shaw

Kenny Leon, The Balusters

Joe Mantello, Death of a Salesman

Tarell Alvin McCraney and Bijan Sheibani, The Brothers Size

Jack Serio, Well, I’ll Let You Go

Outstanding Direction of a Musical

Lear deBessonet, Ragtime

Gordon Greenberg, The Baker's Wife

Danny Mefford, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

David Mendizábal, Mexodus

Josh Rhodes, Beau the Musical

Leigh Silverman, The Seat of Our Pants

Outstanding Choreography

Christopher Gattelli, Schmigadoon!

Edgar Godineaux and Jared Grime (tap choreography), Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole

Natalie Malotke, Jonathan Platero and Oksana Platero, Blood/Love

Toran X. Moore, Try/Step/Trip

Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons, Cats: The Jellicle Ball

Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher Cree Grant, The Lost Boys (includes aerial choreography)

Outstanding Music

The Lazours, Night Side Songs

Ethan Lipton, The Seat of Our Pants

Ethan D. Pakchar and Douglas Lyons, Beau the Musical

Michael Thurber, Goddess

Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson, Mexodus

Outstanding Lyrics

Jim Barne and Kit Buchan, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

Dahlak Brathwaite, Try/Step/Trip

Ethan Lipton, The Seat of Our Pants

Douglas Lyons, Beau the Musical

Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson, Mexodus

Outstanding Book of a Musical

Dahlak Brathwaite, Try/Step/Trip

Ethan Lipton, The Seat of Our Pants

Douglas Lyons, Beau the Musical

Jesse Malin and Lauren Ludwig, Silver Manhattan

Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson, Mexodus

Outstanding Orchestrations

Bryan Carter (music supervisor and arranger), The Fear of 13

Daniel Kluger, The Seat of Our Pants

David M. Lutken, Morgan Morse, Lisa Helmi Johanson and Sherry Stregack Lutken, The Porch on Windy Hill

John McDaniel, Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole

The Bengsons and Or Matias, My Joy is Heavy

Outstanding Music in a Play

John Patrick Elliot, Kenrex

Donald Lawrence, Oh, Happy Day!

Stan Mathabane (composer) and Munir Zakee (musician), The Brothers Size

Jonathan Moore, The Imaginary Invalid (Molière in the Park)

Ro Reddick, Cold War Choir Practice

Darron L. West and Alexander Sovronsky, The Wild Duck

Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play

Harry Feiner, Ceremonies in Dark Old Men

Soutra Gilmour, Waiting for Godot

Tatiana Kahvegian Meet the Cartozians

Chloe Lamford, Death of a Salesman

Derek McLane, The Adding Machine

Derek McLane, The Balusters

Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical

Daniel Allen, Beau the Musical

dots, The Rocky Horror Show

Rachel Hauck, Cats: The Jellicle Ball

Dane Laffrey, The Lost Boys

Arnulfo Maldonado, Goddess

Jason Sherwood, The Baker's Wife

Outstanding Costume Design of a Play

Kindall Almond, Initiative

Enver Chakartash, Meet the Cartozians

Enver Chakartash, Tartuffe (New York Theatre Workshop)

Qween Jean, Oh, Happy Day!

Emilio Sosa, The Balusters

Paul Tazewell, Joe Turner's Come and Gone

Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical

Qween Jean, Cats: The Jellicle Ball

Qween Jean, Saturday Church

David I. Reynoso, The Rocky Horror Show

Kaye Voyce, The Seat of Our Pants

Catherine Zuber, The Baker's Wife

Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play

Isabella Byrd, Prince F****t

Jeff Croiter, The Adding Machine

Stacy Derosier, Well, I'll Let You Go

Jack Knowles, Death of a Salesman

Kate McGee, without mirrors

Studio Luna, Marcel on the Train

Outstanding Lighting Design of a Musical

Mextly Couzin, Mexodus

Adam Honoré, Amahl and the Night Visitors

Adam Honoré and Donald Holder, Ragtime

Bradley King, The Baker's Wife

Jen Shriever and Michael Arden, The Lost Boys

​​Japhy Weideman, Beau the Musical

Outstanding Sound Design of a Play

Angela Baughman, Initiative

Caroline Eng, The Unknown

Tom Gibbons, Oedipus

Kieran Lucas, Weather Girl

Nevin Steinberg, Anna Christie

Giles Thomas, Kenrex

Outstanding Sound Design of a Musical

Jordana Abrenica, Beau the Musical

Jason Crystal, The Baker's Wife

Mikhail Fiksel, Mexodus (includes looping systems architecture)

Kai Harada, Ragtime

Alex Hawthorn and Drew Levy, Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole

Outstanding Projection and Video Design

David Bengali, My Joy is Heavy

Akhila Krishnan, Kyoto

Johnny Moreno, Mexodus

Tal Yarden, Oedipus

Outstanding Wig and Hair

Alberto “Albee” Alvarado, The Rocky Horror Show

David Brian Brown, The Lost Boys

David Brian Brown and Victoria Tinsman, Fallen Angels

Nikiya Mathis, Cats: The Jellicle Ball

Robert Pickens, Tartuffe (New York Theatre Workshop)

Outstanding Puppetry

Axtell Expressions, Amaze

Emily Batsford (creator) and Yuliya Tsukerman (puppet design), Cumulo

Julian Crouch, Goddess

Monkey Boys Productions, The Burning Cauldron of Fiery Fire

Outstanding Fight Choreography

Gerry Rodriguez, The Monsters

Thomas Schall, The Balusters

Rick Sordelet, Titus Andronicus

Rick Sordelet, Ulster American

Sordlet Inc., The Lost Boys

Outstanding Adaptation

and her Children by Rosie Glen Lambert and Haley McAfee

Are the Bennett Girls OK? by Emily Breeze

Oedipus by Robert Icke

Pride and Prejudice by Abigail Pickard Price, with Sarah Gobran and Matt Pinches

Room 204 by Taylor Massa

The Imaginary Invalid (Molière in the Park) by Lucie Tiberghien

Outstanding Revue

About Time

Baile Cangrejero

I Wish My Life Were Like a Musical

Unique Theatrical Experience

Amaze

Burnout Paradise

Color Theories

Rheology

Slanted Floors

Special Awards

Ensemble Awards

The resonant quartet of Second Stage Theater’s revival of Marjorie Prime—Danny Burstein, Christopher Lowell, Cynthia Nixon, and June Squibb—who palpably tap into the emotions that make us human, even when playing AI versions of their characters, in Jordan Harrison’s prescient play about memory, aging, technology, and grief.

The cast of Intar Theatre’s Spread—Daniel Bravo Hernández, Ricardy Fabre, Danny Gómez, Ishmael Gonzalez, and Jaden Perez—for creating warm camaraderie and individual vulnerability, bringing heft to Jesús I. Valles’s sharply observant and deeply compassionate coming-of-age tale of adolescents bravely facing challenges, current and future.

Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award

Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland for their collaborations on A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God and What If They Ate The Baby?.

Additional Special Awards

The epic yet intimate Initiative gave us the full high school experience, making five-plus hours in the theater somehow feel like no time at all thanks to the collective of writer Else Went, director Emma Rosa Went and the extraordinary ensemble cast of Olivia Rose Barresi, Brandon Burk, Greg Cuellar, Harrison Densmore, Carson Higgins, Andrea Lopez Alvarez, Jamie Sanders and Christopher Dylan White. Collaborating over almost nine years, the Initiative team tapped into the world of D&D to illuminate the magic that can be found in devoting time to process, showing how the richness of a shared language can conjure community, produce ambitious art, and captivate audiences.

Diane Paulus, and the outstanding team of creative collaborators she assembled for Masquerade, off-Broadway’s immersive reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, and Richard Stilgoe’s The Phantom of the Opera that has infused expansive ingenuity into a well-worn tale. Paulus’s “creative workshop” of directors, designers, stage managers, butlers and more has crafted an experience that exemplifies the value of rigorous theatrical collaboration across all departments and disciplines.

The William Wolf Award (given by the Board of the Drama Desk)

Named for a former president of the Drama Desk, the William Wolf Award honors individuals who’ve made valuable contributions to the New York theater and entertainment community. The 2026 Wolf Award goes to Richard Maltby Jr. and David Shire, collaborators ever since they met in college seven decades ago. In addition to their musical shows and witty, insightful cabaret songs, the two have been mentors to countless young theater artists and have devoted enormous time to charitable causes. This season, their revue About Time completed a trilogy that began with Starting Here, Starting Now (1976) and Closer Than Ever (1989), depicting the emotional terrain of youth, midlife, and maturity with poignance and splendid melody.

Watch the full nomination announcement below: