2025 Drama Desk Awards announced

The full list of winners is available below.

In keeping with the Drama Desk’s mission, the nominators considered shows that opened on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off Broadway during the 2024-2025 season for this year’s awards. Shows were eligible with 21 or more unique live performances.

The Drama Desk Awards were executive produced by Staci Levine and Jessica R. Jenen.

As was the case last year, all performance categories are gender-free. The updated gender-free categories are: Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play, Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical, Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play, and Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical.

Each of these categories had twice as many nominees as the former gendered categories and these categories have two winners each. (In the case of Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical, there was a 3-way tie, so there are 3 winners).

In determining the eligibility of plays or performances from prior seasons, the nominating committee considered only those elements that constituted new work. These productions included Buena Vista Social Club, Hold On to Me Darling, Job, Odd Man Out, Our Class, Still, Teeth, The Christine Jorgensen Show, and Yellow Face. While some members of the Floyd Collins creative team also worked on the original 1996 Playwrights Horizons production, the nominating committee determined their contributions to this revival were eligible as new work.

Productions deemed not eligible either because they were considered in their entirety in prior seasons or because they did not invite awards consideration included A Child’s Christmas in Wales, All In: Comedy About Love, Bringer of Doom, Dead Outlaw, English, Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, Invasive Species, Oh, Mary!, On Beckett, and The Dead, 1904. Due to rescheduling factors, Grief Camp and Rheology will be considered in the 2025-2026 season.

David Barbour and Charles Wright are the Drama Desk co-presidents and 100% of net proceeds from the 2025 Drama Desk Awards benefited the Entertainment Community Fund.

At this year’s ceremony, Gavin Creel received the Harold S. Prince Award for Lifetime Achievement (posthumously) and stage and screen star Brian Stokes Mitchell received the William Wolf Award.

What sets the Drama Desk Awards apart is that they 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 2024-25 Drama Desk Nominating Committee is comprised of: Martha Wade Steketee (Chair; freelance: UrbanExcavations.com), Linda Armstrong (New York Amsterdam News), Dan Dinero (Theatre is Easy), Peter Filichia (Broadway Radio), Kenji Fujishima (freelance: Theatermania), Raven Snook (TDF Stages, freelance: Time Out New York), and Charles Wright, ex-officio.

2025 DRAMA DESK WINNERS

(winners are highlighted in boldface and starred)

Outstanding Play

Blood of the Lamb, by Arlene Hutton

Deep Blue Sound, by Abe Koogler

Grangeville, by Samuel D. Hunter

John Proctor is the Villain, by Kimberly Belflower

Liberation, by Bess Wohl

**Purpose, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Outstanding Musical

BOOP! The Musical

Death Becomes Her

Just in Time

**Maybe Happy Ending

Music City

Outstanding Revival of a Play

**Eureka Day

Garside’s Career

Home

Wine in the Wilderness

Yellow Face

Outstanding Revival of a Musical

Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

Floyd Collins

**Gypsy

Once Upon a Mattress

See What I Wanna See

Sunset Blvd.

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play

Betsy Aidem, The Ask

**Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California

Patsy Ferran, A Streetcar Named Desire

Danny J. Gomez, All of Me

Doug Harris, Redeemed

Patrick Keleher, Fatherland

Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Lily Rabe, Ghosts

Jay O. Sanders, Henry IV (Theatre for a New Audience)

**Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Paul Sparks, Grangeville

Olivia Washington, Wine in the Wilderness

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical

Tatianna Córdoba, Real Women Have Curves

Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending

Sutton Foster, Once Upon a Mattress

Tom Francis, Sunset Blvd.

Jonathan Groff, Just in Time

Grey Henson, Elf

Jeremy Jordan, Floyd Collins

**Audra McDonald, Gypsy

**Jasmine Amy Rogers, BOOP! The Musical

Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Blvd.

Helen J Shen, Maybe Happy Ending

Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play

Greg Keller, Pre-Existing Condition

Julia Lester, All Nighter

Adrienne C. Moore, The Blood Quilt

Deirdre O’Connell, Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.

Maria-Christina Oliveras, Cymbeline

Maryann Plunkett, Deep Blue Sound

Michael Rishawn, Table 17

Jude Tibeau, Bad Kreyòl

Anjana Vasan, A Streetcar Named Desire

Frank Wood, Hold On to Me Darling

**Amalia Yoo, John Proctor is the Villain

**Kara Young, Purpose

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical (3-way tie)

**Brooks Ashmanskas, Smash

Nicholas Barasch, Pirates! The Penzance Musical

André De Shields, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

John El-Jor, We Live in Cairo

Jason Gotay, Floyd Collins

Gracie Lawrence, Just in Time

**Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat

Lesli Margherita, Gypsy

Zachary Noah Piser, See What I Wanna See

Jenny Lee Stern, Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song

**Michael Urie, Once Upon a Mattress

Natalie Walker, The Big Gay Jamboree

Outstanding Solo Performance

David Greenspan, I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan

Ryan J. Haddad, Hold Me in the Water

Sam Kissajukian, 300 Paintings

Mark Povinelli, The Return of Benjamin Lay

**Andrew Scott, Vanya

Outstanding Direction of a Play

David Cromer and Caitlin Sullivan, The Antiquities

Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Tyne Rafaeli, Becoming Eve

Jack Serio, Grangeville

**Danya Taymor, John Proctor is the Villain

Whitney White, Liberation

Kip Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Outstanding Direction of a Musical

**Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending

Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

Jamie Lloyd, Sunset Blvd.

Jerry Mitchell, BOOP! The Musical

Alex Timbers, Just in Time

George C. Wolfe, Gypsy

Outstanding Choreography

Camille A. Brown, Gypsy

Warren Carlyle, Pirates! The Penzance Musical

Jakob Karr, Ain’t Done Bad

Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

**Jerry Mitchell, BOOP! The Musical

Sergio Trujillo, Real Women Have Curves

Outstanding Music

**Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending

David Foster, BOOP! The Musical

Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez, Real Women Have Curves

Zoe Sarnak, The Lonely Few

The Lazours, We Live in Cairo

Outstanding Lyrics

Gerard Alessandrini, Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song

**Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending

David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts, Operation Mincemeat

Adam Gwon, All the World’s a Stage

Marla Mindelle and Philip Drennen, The Big Gay Jamboree

Luis Quintero, Medea: Re-Versed

Outstanding Book of a Musical

**Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending

David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts, Operation Mincemeat

Warren Leight and Isaac Oliver, Just in Time

Bob Martin, BOOP! The Musical

Marla Mindelle and Jonathan Parks-Ramage, The Big Gay Jamboree

Marco Pennette, Death Becomes Her

Outstanding Orchestrations

Will Aronson, Maybe Happy Ending

Doug Besterman, BOOP! The Musical

Joseph Joubert and Daryl Waters, Pirates! The Penzance Musical

**Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber, Just in Time

Michael Starobin, All the World’s a Stage

Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play

Miriam Buether, Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.

**Miriam Buether, and Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher (illusions and visual effects), Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Gabriel Hainer Evansohn and Grace Laubacher, Life and Trust

Rob Howell, The Hills of California

Johan Kølkjær, Dark Noon

Matt Saunders, Walden

Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical

Clifton Chadick, Music City

Rachel Hauck, Swept Away

**Dane Laffrey and George Reeve, Maybe Happy Ending (includes video design)

Derek McLane, Just in Time

David Rockwell and Finn Ross (projections), BOOP! The Musical

Outstanding Costume Design of a Play

Brenda Abbandandolo, The Antiquities

**Dede Ayite, Our Town

Christopher Ford, The Beastiary

Camilla Lind, Dark Noon

Karl Ruckdeschel, Twelfth Night

Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical

**Gregg Barnes, BOOP! The Musical

Sarah Cubbage, The Big Gay Jamboree

Toni-Leslie James, Gypsy

Qween Jean, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

Paul Tazewell, Death Becomes Her

Catherine Zuber, Just in Time

Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play

Isabella Byrd, Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.

**Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Natasha Katz, John Proctor is the Villain

Tyler Micoleau, The Antiquities

Paul Whitaker, SUMO

Outstanding Lighting Design of a Musical

Kevin Adams, Swept Away

Adam Honoré, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

**Jack Knowles, Sunset Blvd.

Philip S. Rosenberg, BOOP! The Musical

Scott Zielinski and Ruey Horng Sun (projections), Floyd Collins

Outstanding Sound Design of a Play

**Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Johnny Gasper, Two Sisters Find a Box of Lesbian Erotica in the Woods

Matt Otto, All of Me

Bray Poor, Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.

Clemence Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Fan Zhang, Good Bones

Outstanding Sound Design of a Musical

Adam Fisher, Sunset Blvd.

**Peter Hylenski, Just in Time

Scott Lehrer, Gypsy

Mick Potter, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends

Dan Moses Schreier, Floyd Collins

Outstanding Projection and Video Design

Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom, Sunset Blvd.

Jake Barton, McNeal

**David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Jesse Garrison, The 7th Voyage of Egon Tichy [redux]

Hana S. Kim, Redwood

Outstanding Wig and Hair

Alberto “Albee” Alvarado, SUMO

**Charles G. LaPointe, Death Becomes Her

Sabana Majeed, BOOP! The Musical

Nikiya Mathis, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

Nikiya Mathis, Liberation

Outstanding Puppetry

Dorothy James, Bill’s 44th

Tom Lee, See What I Wanna See

Simple Mischief Studio, Small Acts of Daring Invention

**Amanda Villalobos, Becoming Eve

Kirjan Waage, Dead as a Dodo

Outstanding Fight Choreography

Drew Leary, Romeo + Juliet

Chelsea Pace and James Yaegashi, SUMO

**Rick Sordelet and Christian Kelly-Sordelet, Pirates! The Penzance Musical

Bret Yount, King Lear

Outstanding Adaptation

Becoming Eve, by Emil Weinstein

Cymbeline, by Andrea Thome

Medea: Re-Versed, by Luis Quintero

**Pirates! The Penzance Musical, by Rupert Holmes

The Devil’s Disciple, by David Staller

Outstanding Revue

**Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song

Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now!

The Jonathan Larson Project

The World According to Micki Grant

Unique Theatrical Experience

Odd Man Out

The 7th Voyage of Egon Tichy [redux]

**The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Voices in Your Head

The Wind and the Rain: A story about Sunny’s Bar

Special Awards

Ensemble Award

The ensemble of Roundabout Theatre Company’s Liberation (Betsy Aidem, Audrey Corsa, Kayla Davion, Susannah Flood, Kristolyn Lloyd, Irene Sofia Lucio, Charlie Thurston, and Adina Verson) for bringing to vibrant life the specific and universal stories of women staring across the social battle lines of the 1970s from their perch “somewhere in Ohio” in Bess Wohl’s beautiful new play.

Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award

The incredibly versatile Stephen Michael Spencer for his electric and empathetic performances in two of this season’s strongest new Off-Broadway musicals. In Medea: Re-Versed, Spencer’s funny yet revelatory take on a character we all thought we knew allowed us the rare opportunity to actually understand Jason’s motivations. And then in Music City, Spencer was almost unrecognizable as TJ, a charismatic singer-songwriter who we couldn’t help but root for.

Additional Special Awards

Pregones/PRTT: Pregones (founded in 1979) and the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater (founded in 1967) merged in 2014 to become a powerhouse producer of Latinx shows on two NYC stages: one in Manhattan’s Theater District, the other in the South Bronx, both evoking an atmosphere of warmth and inclusivity. This season brought the blazing world premiere of Matthew Barbot’s the beautiful land i seek (la linda tierra que busco yo), a history-inspired fantasia about two Puerto Rican freedom fighters that deftly explores colonialism while riffing on Waiting for Godot, plus dozens of one-offs showcasing Latinx artists and culture.

Lighting designer Stacey Derosier for her deeply intimate and consistently gorgeous work across this season’s Off-Broadway stages. Whether lighting the minimalist theatricality of The Welkin and Grangeville, or the rich naturalism of The Counter and Danger and Opportunity, Derosier shows us not only that less is often so much more, but also that just a single light can have such a profound impact in the darkness.

The team behind Danger and Opportunity – playwright Ken Urban, director Jack Serio, and ensemble Juan Castano, Julia Chan, and Ryan Spahn – for their genuinely serious, deeply moving consideration of the messy implications of a three-way relationship, done in an imaginatively immersive way that made such a small-scale story feel like a meaningful event.

Shows with Multiple Awards

6 Wins

Maybe Happy Ending

3 Wins

BOOP! The Musical

Stranger Things: The First Shadow

The Picture of Dorian Gray

2 Wins

Danger and Opportunity (2 Special Awards)

Gypsy

John Proctor is the Villain

Just in Time

Pirates! The Penzance Musical

Purpose

# # #

About The Drama Desk

The Drama Desk was founded in 1949 to explore key issues in the theater and to bring together critics and writers in an organization to support the ongoing development of theater in New York. The organization began presenting its awards in 1955, and it is the only critics’ organization to honor achievement in the theater with competition among Broadway, Off Broadway, and Off-Off Broadway productions in the same categories.

All Drama Desk officers and nominating committee members perform their various services for the organization on a voluntary basis. The organization takes pride in announcing that the awards are then voted on “by impartial media people only,” without any vested interests in the results. Today, 100 New York theater critics, reporters, writers, and arts editors vote on the awards.

About the Entertainment Community Fund

The Entertainment Community Fund, formerly The Actors Fund, is a national human services organization that addresses the unique needs of people who work in performing arts and entertainment with services focused on health and wellness, career and life, and housing. Since 1882, the Fund has sought to ensure stability, encourage resiliency and be a safety net for those who shape our country’s cultural vibrancy. Learn more at entertainmentcommunity.org.

www.DramaDeskAward.com