LoveMusik, Coast of Utopia Lead 2007 Drama Desk Nominations

LoveMusik and The Coast of Utopia drew top honors among nominees for the 2007 Drama Desk Awards, which were announced on April 26 at the Friars Club by James Naughton Chicago and 2006 Drama Desk winner Beth Leavel The Drowsy Chaperone. The awards, which cover Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway and are voted on by professional theater critics, writers and editors, will be presented May 20 at the LaGuardia Concert Hall in a ceremony hosted by Kristin Chenoweth.

LoveMusik received 12 nominations, the most for any musical, followed by Curtains, Legally Blonde and Spring Awakening with 10 each. In the Heights received nine nominations for its off-Broadway production along with an award for its ensemble cast. The Coast of Utopia drew 10 nods.

Although every category included at least six nominees with the Best Actor and Actress in a Play swelling to seven, a number of high-profile Broadway shows were snubbed entirely, including A Chorus Line, The Vertical Hour, Translations, Prelude to a Kiss, Butley, High Fidelity, The Times They Are A-Changin' and Losing Louie. As usual with the Drama Desk, the nominators also chose to honor a few under-the-radar shows and performers, including Di Yam Gazlonim! a musical revival and Sarah Nina Hayon outstanding featured actress in a play for Rearviewmirror.

The complete list of nominees is as follows:

Outstanding Play
David Harrower, Blackbird
Terrence McNally, Some Men
Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon
Tom Stoppard, The Coast of Utopia
Bernard Weinraub, The Accomplices
August Wilson, Radio Golf

Outstanding Musical
Curtains
In the Heights
Legally Blonde
LoveMusik
Mary Poppins
Spring Awakening

Outstanding Revival of a Play:
The Hairy Ape
Hedda Gabler
Journey's End
Talk Radio
The Taming of the Shrew
Woyzeck

Outstanding Revival of a Musical
110 in the Shade
The Apple Tree
Company
Di Yam Gazlonim!
H.M.S. Pinafore
Les Miserables

Outstanding Actor in a Play
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jack Goes Boating
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Brían F. O'Byrne, The Coast of Utopia
Christopher Plummer, Inherit the Wind
Liev Schreiber, Talk Radio
Kevin Spacey, A Moon for the Misbegotten
Paul Sparks, Essential Self-Defense

Outstanding Actress in a Play
Eve Best, A Moon for the Misbegotten
Orlagh Cassidy, The Field
Blythe Danner, Suddenly Last Summer
Jennifer Mudge, Dutchman
Sandra Oh, Satellites
Annie Parisse, The Internationalist
Meryl Streep, Mother Courage and Her Children

Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Michael Cerveris, LoveMusik
Raúl Esparza, Company
John Gallagher, Jr., Spring Awakening
Jonathan Groff, Spring Awakening
David Hyde Pierce, Curtains
Martin Short, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me

Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Ashley Brown, Mary Poppins
Laura Bell Bundy, Legally Blonde
Kristin Chenoweth, The Apple Tree
Audra McDonald, 110 in the Shade
Lea Michele, Spring Awakening
Donna Murphy, LoveMusik

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Anthony Chisholm, Radio Golf
Billy Crudup, The Coast of Utopia
Boyd Gaines, Journey's End
John Ortiz, Jack Goes Boating
Andrew Polk, The Accomplices
Frederick Weller, Some Men

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Myriam Acharki, Woyzeck
Xanthe Elbrick, Coram Boy
Sarah Nina Hayon, Rearviewmirror
Jan Maxwell, Coram Boy
Martha Plimpton, The Coast of Utopia
Rita Wolf, The American Pilot

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Brooks Ashmanskas, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me
Christian Borle, Legally Blonde
Aaron Lazar, Les Misérables
Gavin Lee, Mary Poppins
Orville Mendoza, Adrift in Macao
David Pittu, LoveMusik

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Linda Balgord, The Pirate Queen
Celia Keenan-Bolger, Les Misérables
Debra Monk, Curtains
Orfeh, Legally Blonde
Barbara Walsh, Company
Karen Ziemba, Curtains

Outstanding Director of a Play
Declan Donnellan, Twelfth Night
Michael Grandage, Frost/Nixon
Doug Hughes, Inherit the Wind
Jack O'Brien, The Coast of Utopia
Ciarán O'Reilly, The Hairy Ape
Tom Ridgely, Marco Millions based on lies

Outstanding Director of a Musical
John Doyle, Company
Thomas Kail, In the Heights
Michael Mayer, Spring Awakening
Jerry Mitchell, Legally Blonde
Harold Prince, LoveMusik
Alex Timbers, Gutenberg! The Musical!

Outstanding Choreography
Patricia Birch, LoveMusik
Andy Blankenbuehler, In the Heights
Matthew Bourne, Edward Scissorhands
Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear, Mary Poppins
Bill T. Jones, Spring Awakening
Jerry Mitchell, Legally Blonde

Outstanding Music
John Kander, Curtains
Paul Leschen, Twist: Please, Sir, May I Have Some More?
Peter Melnick, Adrift in Macao
Lin-Manuel Miranda, In the Heights
Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin, Legally Blonde
Duncan Sheik, Spring Awakening

Outstanding Lyrics
Fred Ebb with added lyrics by John Kander and Rupert Holmes, Curtains
Lin-Manuel Miranda, In the Heights
Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin, Legally Blonde
Steven Sater, Spring Awakening
Bill Strauss, Elaina Newport and Mark Eaton, Capitol Steps
Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me

Outstanding Book of a Musical
Scott Brown and Anthony King, Gutenberg! The Musical!
Julian Fellowes, Mary Poppins
Heather Hach, Legally Blonde
Rupert Holmes and Peter Stone, Curtains
Steven Sater, Spring Awakening
Alfred Uhry, LoveMusik

Outstanding Music for a Play
Mark Bennett, The Coast of Utopia
Adam Cork, Frost/Nixon
Gerard McBurney, Oliver Twist
The Propeller Company, The Taming of the Shrew
Ray Rizzo, Adam Rapp, and Lucas Papaelias, Essential Self-Defense
David Van Tieghem, Inherit the Wind

Outstanding Orchestrations
William David Brohn, Curtains
Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Company
Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman, In the Heights
Duncan Sheik, Spring Awakening
Jonathan Tunick, The Apple Tree
Jonathan Tunick, LoveMusik

Outstanding Set Design of a Play
Bob Crowley and Scott Pask, The Coast of Utopia
David Gallo, Radio Golf
David Korins, Essential Self-Defense
David Korins, Jack Goes Boating
Garin Marschall, Hell House
Scott Pask, Blackbird

Outstanding Set Design of a Musical
Beowulf Boritt, LoveMusik
Bob Crowley, Mary Poppins
Anna Louizos, Curtains
Anna Louizos, In the Heights
David Rockwell, Legally Blonde
Kris Stone, Brundibar/But the Giraffe

Outstanding Costume Design
Mara Blumenfeld, Lookingglass Alice
Judith Dolan, LoveMusik
William Ivey Long, Curtains
Santo Loquasto, Suddenly Last Summer
Robert Morgan, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical
Catherine Zuber, The Coast of Utopia

Outstanding Lighting Design
Howell Binkley LoveMusik
Maruti Evans, Blindness
Paul Gallo, Blackbird
Jonathan Mark, Prometheus Bound
Kenneth Posner, Brian MacDevitt, Natasha Katz, The Coast of Utopia
Japhy Weideman, Jack Goes Boating

Outstanding Sound Design
Acme Sound Partners, In the Heights
Mark Bennett, The Coast of Utopia
Gregory Clarke, Journey's End
Duncan Robert Edwards, LoveMusik
Frank Gaeta, Dai enough
Richard Woodbury, Talk Radio

Outstanding Solo Performance
Iris Bahr, Dai enough
Ed Harris, Wrecks
Capathia Jenkins, misUnderstanding Mammy: The Hattie McDaniel Story
Anna Manahan, Sisters
Vanessa Redgrave, The Year of Magical Thinking
Nilaja Sun, No Child

Unique Theatrical Experience
Absinthe
Amajuba: Like Doves We Rise
Be
Brundibar/But the Giraffe
Edward Scissorhands
Hell House

Special Award Winners
Outstanding Ensemble: In the Heights
Outstanding Ensemble: Lebensraum
John Kander and Fred Ebb
Austin Pendleton
Transport Group
National Yiddish Theatre Folksbeine

The Drama Desk nominating committee consisted of theater journalists Barbara Siegel chair, Glenda Frank, Tony Phillips, Andrew Propst, Richard Ridge and Drama Desk President William Wolf.