The Drama Desk Awards were handed out May 20, and, surprisingly, the bulk of them went to a struggling, little-known production called The Producers. Gee, those awards will really help them at the box office, won't they?
But seriously, folks. The Producers, anointed in the media as The Biggest Hit Since The Lion King, continued on its triumphant course last night, winning no fewer than 11 Drama Desks, an all-time record. Scenic designer Robin Wagner and costume designer William Ivey Long were both cited for their witty work on the production, and its other winning categories included Outstanding Director of a Musical (Susan Stroman), Choreography (Stroman), Orchestrations (Doug Besterman), Book of a Musical (Mel Brooks, Thomas Meehan), Lyrics (Brooks), Featured Actress in a Musical (Cady Huffman), Featured Actor in a Musical (Gary Beach), Actor in a Musical (Nathan Lane) and, of course, Outstanding Musical. In fact, the musical categories not grabbed by The Producers were Actress in Musical, perhaps because the show has no female lead (Marla Schaffel, of Jane Eyre, took the award) and Outstanding Music, which went to David Yazbek for The Full Monty.
In other design categories, Bob Crowley won for his imaginative vision of the afterlife in The Invention of Love (The Drama Desk gives out two scenic design awards, one for a play and one for a musical). Lighting and sound design nods went to Paul Anderson and Christopher Shutt respectively, for the surreal English import Mnemonic.
The Drama Desk is the only organization to honor both Broadway and Off Broadway productions in the same categories, although, based on last night's statistics, Off Broadway is currently getting very little attention from the organization's voters. It's very likely that these results will be largely duplicated when the Tony Awards will be given out on June 3.
The awards, broadcast on the cable channel New York-1, will be re-aired later his week on New York's Channel 13. Consult your listings for more information
A complete list of nominees with winners in bold follows:
PLAY:
Boy Gets Girl
by Rebecca Gilman
Comic Potential by Alan Ayckbourn
The Invention Of Love by Tom Stoppard
Lobby Hero by Kenneth Lonergan
Proof by David Auburn
The Unexpected Man by Yasmina Reza
MUSICAL:
Bat Boy: The Musical
The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin
The Full Monty
The Producers
Urinetown!
REVUE
American Rhapsody
Forbidden Broadway: 2001 A Spoof Odyssey
Newyorkers
REVIVAL (PLAY):
Betrayal
The Best Man
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Richard II (BAM)
The Search For Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
Tiny Alice
REVIVAL (MUSICAL):
Bells Are Ringing
Follies
42nd Street
The Rocky Horror Show
ACTOR (PLAY):
Alan Bates (The Unexpected Man)
Richard Easton (The Invention of Love)
Ralph Fiennes (Richard II)
Brian Stokes Mitchell (King Hedley II)
John Ortiz (Jesus Hopped the A Train)
Liev Schreiber (Betrayal)
ACTRESS (PLAY):
Eileen Atkins (The Unexpected Man)
Jamie Dee (Comic Potential)
Mary Beth Fisher (Boy Gets Girl)
Mary-Louise Parker (Proof)
Marian Seldes (The Play About the Baby)
Lili Taylor (Dead Eye Boy)
ACTOR (MUSICAL):
Matthew Broderick (The Producers)
Nathan Lane (The Producers)
Kevin Chamberlin (Seussical)
Tom Hewitt (The Rocky Horror Show)
Deven May (Bat Boy)
Patrick Wilson (The Full Monty)
ACTRESS (MUSICAL):
Christine Ebersole (42nd Street)
Kaitlin Hopkins (Bat Boy)
La Chanze (The Bubbly Black Girl...)
Sally Mayes (Pete n' Keely)
Faith Prince (Bells)
Marla Schaffel (Jane Eyre)
FEATURED ACTOR (PLAY):
Charles Brown (King Hedley II)
Oliver Ford Davies (Richard II)
Aaron Himmelstein (Dead Eye Boy)
Justin Kirk (Ten Unknowns)
Maximilian Schell (Judgment at Nuremberg)
Lewis J. Stadlen (The Man Who Came To Dinner)
FEATURED ACTRESS (PLAY):
Viola Davis (King Hedley II)
Anita Durst (The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant)
Barbara Jefford (Coriolanus at BAM)
Marthe Keller (Judgment at Nuremberg)
Marian Seldes (The Butterfly Collection)
Robin Weigert (Madame Melville)
FEATURED ACTOR (MUSICAL):
Roger Bart (Producers)
Gary Beach (The Producers)
John Ellison Conlee (The Full Monty)
Andre de Shields (The Full Monty)
Mark Jacoby (Enter the Guardsman)
Jeff McCarthy (Urinetown!)
FEATURED ACTRESS (MUSICAL):
Polly Bergen (Follies)
Kathleen Freeman (The Full Monty)
Randy Graff (A Class Act)
Cady Huffman (The Producers)
Spencer Kayden (Urinetown!)
Janine LaManna (Seussical)
DIRECTOR (PLAY):
Mark Brokaw (Lobby Hero)
Michael Greif (Dogeaters)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Jesus Hopped the A Train)
Jonathan Kent (Richard II)
Jack O'Brien (The Invention of Love)
Matthew Warchus (The Unexpected Man)
DIRECTOR (MUSICAL):
Christopher Ashley (The Rocky Horror Show)
Wilfredo Medina (The Bubbly Black Girl...)
Jack O'Brien (The Full Monty)
John Rando (Urinetown!)
Scott Schwartz (Bat Boy)
Susan Stroman (The Producers)
CHOREOGRAPHY:
John Carrafa (Urinetown!)
Jerry Mitchell (The Full Monty
Jerry Mitchell (The Rocky Horror Show)
Randy Skinner (42nd Street)
Susan Stroman (The Producers)
BOOK
Mel Brooks & Thomas Meehan (The Producers)
Kirsten Childs (The Bubby Black Girl...)
Keythe Farley & Brian Flemming (Bat Boy)
Greg Kotis (Urinetown!)
Terrence McNally (The Full Monty)
MUSIC:
Kirsten Childs (The Bubbly Black Girl...)
Stephen Flaherty (Seussical)
Mark Hollman (Urinetown!)
Ed Kleban (A Class Act)
Laurence O'Keefe (Bat Boy)
David Yazbek (The Full Monty)
LYRICS:
Mel Brooks (The Producers)
Kirsten Childs (Bubbly Black Girl)
Mark Hollman & Greg Kotis (Urinetown!)
Ed Kleban (A Class Act
Laurence O'Keefe (Bat Boy)
David Yazbek (The Full Monty)
SOLO PERFORMANCE:
Eric Bogosian (Wake Up and Smell the Coffee)
Betty Bourne (Resident Alien)
Brian d'Arcy James (The Good Thief)
Pamela Gien (The Syringa Tree)
Sarah Jones (Surface Transit)
Ruben Santiago Hudson (Lackawanna Blues)
UNIQUE THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE:
And God Created Great Whales (Rinde Eckert)
The Laramie Project (Moises Kaufman & Tectonic Theatre Project)
Mnemonic (Simon McBurney)
ORCHESTRATIONS:
Doug Besterman (The Producers)
Bruce Coughlin (Urinetown!)
Michael Starobin (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer)
Jonathan Tunick (Follies)
Harold Wheeler (The Full Monty)
SET DESIGN (PLAY):
John Lee Beatty (Comic Potential)
Jeff Cowie (The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant)
Bob Crowley (The Invention of Love)
David Gallo (King Hedley II)
Thomas Lynch (Old Money)
Dean Taucher (Tabletop)
SET DESIGN (MUSICAL):
Heidi Ettinger (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer)
Richard Hoover & Bryan Johnson (Bat Boy)
David Rockwell (The Rocky Horror Show)
Douglas W. Schmidt (42nd Street)
Robin Wagner (The Producers)
COSTUME DESIGN:
Linda Cho (Princess Turandot)
Roger Kirk (42nd Street)
William Ivey Long (The Producers)
Bob Mackie (Pete n' Keely)
Chris March, Dana Peter Porras & Richard Sanchez (Christmas with the Crawfords)
Anthony Powell (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer)
LIGHTING DESIGN:
Paul Anderson (Mnemonic)
Howell Binkley (The Full Monty)
Peter Kaczorowski (The Producers)
Brian MacDevitt (The Invention of Love)
Kenneth Posner (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer)
Hugh Vanstone (The Unexpected Man)
SOUND DESIGN:
Mark Bennett & Michael Creason (Dogeaters)
Bruce Ellman (Comic Potential)
Gregory Kostroff (Lypsinka: The Boxed Set)
Mic Pool & David Bullard (The Unexpected Man)
Christopher Shutt (Mnemonic)
Jerry Yager (Up Against the Wind)
SPECIAL AWARDS (PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED):
Sean Campion & Conleth Hilll (Stones in His Pockets)
Reba McEntire (Annie Get Your Gun)
Entire casts of Cobb and Tabletop