Doubt & Piazza Top 2005 Drama Desk Awards; Spamalot is Tuner Fave

Winners of the 50th Annual Drama Desk Awards were announced on May 22 at the LaGuardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center in a ceremony hosted by Harvey Fierstein. Doubt and The Light in the Piazza proved to be big winners of the evening--each received five awards. Doubt's honors included the Best Play prize; however, The Light in the Piazza lost in the Best Musical category to Spamalot, which took home three Drama Desk Awards in total.

While Altar Boyz was the most nominated off-Broadway show with seven, it failed to pick up any awards. Only two off-Broadway shows received honors: Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit and Slava's Snowshow, and both won in categories Outstanding Revue and Unique Theatrical Experience, respectively where they were not up against Broadway shows.

Here's the complete list of the winners:

Outstanding Play
Doubt by John Patrick Shanley

Outstanding Musical
Spamalot

Outstanding Revival of a Play
Twelve Angry Men

Outstanding Revival of a Musical
La Cage aux Folles

Outstanding Revue
Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit

Outstanding Actor in a Play
Brían F. O'Byrne, Doubt

Outstanding Actress in a Play
Cherry Jones, Doubt

Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Norbert Leo Butz, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Victoria Clark, The Light in the Piazza

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Michael Stuhlbarg, The Pillowman

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Adriane Lenox, Doubt

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Denis O'Hare, Sweet Charity

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Jan Maxwell, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Outstanding Director of a Play
Doug Hughes, Doubt

Outstanding Director of a Musical
James Lapine, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Outstanding Choreography
Jerry Mitchell, La Cage aux Folles

Outstanding Music
Adam Guettel, The Light in the Piazza

Outstanding Lyrics
Eric Idle, Spamalot

Outstanding Book of a Musical
Rachel Sheinkin, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Outstanding Orchestrations
Ted Sperling, Adam Guettel, Bruce Coughlin, The Light in the Piazza

Outstanding Set Design of a Play
Santo Loquasto, Glengarry Glen Ross

Outstanding Set Design of a Musical
Michael Yeargan, The Light in the Piazza

Outstanding Costume Design
Tim Hatley, Spamalot

Outstanding Lighting Design
Christopher Akerlind, The Light in the Piazza

Outstanding Sound Design
Paul Arditti, The Pillowman

Outstanding Solo Performance
Billy Crystal, 700 Sundays

Unique Theatrical Experience
Slava's Snowshow

The following noncompetitive awards were also presented by the Drama Desk at its awards ceremony:

Outstanding Ensemble Performance
The cast of Glengarry Glen Ross
The cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee