2025 Drama Desk Awards Nominations Are Announced

The nominations for New York's professional theatre Drama Desk Awards have been announced. In the design categories, there were no clear leaders with many shows getting multiple nominations including Stranger Things: The First Shadow,  Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp., Sunset Blvd., Just In Time, and Boop! The Musical which each got three noms for designers.  The leader in all categories is Boop! The Musical, with 11 nominations in total. 

The Drama Desk Award winners will be announced on June 1, during an event at the NYU Skirball Center hosted by Debra Messing & Tituss Burgess. This year, 100% of net proceeds from the Drama Desk Awards will benefit the Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund.) 

Design Categories:

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 Honore, 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 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
Rob Howell, The Hills of California
Johan Kølkjær, Dark Noon
Grace Laubacher, Life and Trust
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

Nominations In Other Categories:

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

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