Omar Metwally and Arian Moayed in Atlantic Theater Company’s world premiere of Rajiv Joseph’s Guards at the Taj. Photo by Doug Hamilton
On Friday, June 26, 2020, Atlantic Theater is presenting Live with Atlantic: Creators’ Cut of Guards at the Taj featuring the playwright behind their award-winning, world premiere production of Guards at the Taj, Rajiv Joseph, in conversation with actors Omar Metwally and Arian Moayed. Click here to register for the 4pm virtual program.
Rajiv Joseph, Arian Moayed and Omar Metwally. Photo by Lia Chang
Atlantic Theater Company’s world premiere of Pulitzer Prize® finalist Rajiv Joseph’s play Guards at the Taj, starring Tony Award® nominees Omar Metwally and Arian Moayed, and directed by Tony Award® nominated actor and director Amy Morton,opened to critical acclaim on June 11, 2015. Guards at the Taj was awarded the 2015 Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Award, given annually for an unproduced, full-length play of social relevance by an emerging American playwright.
Omar Metwally and Arian Moayed in Atlantic Theater Company’s world premiere of Rajiv Joseph’s Guards at the Taj. Photo by Doug Hamilton
In 1648 India, two Imperial Guards watch from their post as the sun rises for the first time on the newly-completed Taj Mahal – an event that shakes their respective worlds. When they are ordered to perform an unthinkable task, the aftermath forces them to question the concept of friendship, beauty and duty, and changes them forever.
Arian Moayed in Atlantic Theater Company’s world premiere of Rajiv Joseph’s Guards at the Taj. Photo by Doug Hamilton
Guards at the Taj features scenic design by Timothy R. Mackabee, costume design by Bobby Frederick Tilley II, lighting design by David Weiner, original music and sound design by Rob Milburn & Michael Bodeen, special effects design by Jeremy Chernick and fight direction by J. David Brimmer.
Omar Metwally and Arian Moayed in Atlantic Theater Company’s world premiere of Rajiv Joseph’s Guards at the Taj. Photo by Doug HamiltonOmar Metwally and Arian Moayed in Atlantic Theater Company’s world premiere of Rajiv Joseph’s Guards at the Taj. Photo by Doug HamiltonArian Moayed in Atlantic Theater Company’s world premiere of Rajiv Joseph’s Guards at the Taj. Photo by Doug HamiltonRajiv Joseph. Photo by Lia Chang
Rajiv Joseph’s play BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO was a 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist for Drama and also awarded a grant for Outstanding New American Play by the National Endowment for the Arts. He has twice won the Obie Award for Best New American Play, first in 2016 with GUARDS AT THE TAJ (also a 2016 Lortel Winner for Best Play) and then, in 2018, for DESCRIBE THE NIGHT. Other plays include ARCHDUKE, GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES, ANIMALS OUT OF PAPER, THE LAKE EFFECT, THE NORTH POOL and MR. WOLF. Mr. Joseph has been awarded artistic grants from the Whiting Foundation, United States Artists and the Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust. He is a board member of the Lark Play Development Center in New York City, and a company member of the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. He served for three years in the Peace Corps in Senegal and now lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs.
Huntington Theatre Company presented their annual Spotlight Spectacular Gala virtually on the Huntington’s Facebook and YouTube channels on June 15.
Watch the video of the gala below.
In an effort to assure the safety of gala attendants while gathering to celebrate the honorees, the Huntington decided to transform this year’s Spotlight Spectacular to a virtual event. Trustee and civic leader Sandra O. Moose and Tony Award winner and Huntington alumnus Ruben Santiago-Hudson (American Gangster, Selma, ABC’s “Castle”) were honored with the Wimberly Award at the 2020 Spotlight Spectacular. The event was co-hosted by WCVB’s host of “CityLine” and Director of Public Affairs and Community Services, Karen Holmes Ward and Joyce Kulhawik, Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist and President of the Boston Theater Critics Association. This year’s Spotlight Spectacular Chairs are Ann Merrifield and Wayne Davis.
Joyce Kulhawik and Karen Holmes Ward
Emmy Award winner Keith David (Seven Guitars at the Huntington, There’s Something About Mary, Crash), Tony Award-nominee Kate Baldwin (Hello Dolly!,Big Fish, Finian’s Rainbow), Tony Award winner Santino Fontana (Tootsie, Disney feature film Frozen, CW’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”), and award-winning actress, R&B singer Marva Hicks (The Lion King, Caroline or Change, Motown The Musical) and Lily Santiago-Hudson performed at this year’s gala.
Kate Baldwin, Keith David, Santino Fontana and Marva HicksRuben Santiago-Hudson receives the 2020 Wimberly Award at the Virtual 2020 Spotlight Spectacular.
Tony and Obie Award-winning director, actor, and writer Ruben Santiago-Hudson appeared in Huntington productions of August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean and Seven Guitars. Both productions transferred to Broadway, the latter earning Santiago-Hudson the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. In a career that spans over four decades, Santiago-Hudson has starred in a number of films including American Gangster, Shaft, Devil’s Advocate, and Selma. His television credits include Showtime’s “Billions,” ABC’S “Castle,” and “The West Wing.” Santiago-Hudson wrote, executive produced, and co-starred in the HBO film Lackawanna Blues based on his OBIE and Helen Hayes Award-winning play. The movie received honors including Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe, NAACP Image Awards, The Christopher Award and the Humanitas Prize. He directed the recent Broadway production of August Wilson’s Jitney which garnered several awards for Outstanding Revival including the Tony Award and six Tony nominations. Santiago-Hudson recently adapted Wilson’s play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom for the screen. The film, which is produced by Denzel Washington and will be released later this year on Netflix, is directed by George C. Wolfe, starring Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman.
“Ruben Santiago-Hudson is an essential American theatre artist, an accomplished and prize-winning actor, director, writer and musician,” says Huntington Managing Director Michael Maso. “He demonstrates every day how talent, commitment and compassion can serve as a model for life as an artist. I was introduced to Ruben in 1995 by two giants, director Lloyd Richards and playwright August Wilson, when Ruben originated his Tony Award-winning role of Canewell in August Wilsons’s Seven Guitars, moving Huntington audiences along with an extraordinary cast including Viola Davis and Keith David. It is a privilege to be able to celebrate his career at this year’s Spotlight Spectacular while he is still at the height of his creative powers.”
Sandra O. Moose
Sandra (Sandy) O. Moose is a deeply respected leader and has made her mark on the business and philanthropic sectors of Boston and beyond. She has been a dedicated member of the Huntington’s board for over 16 years and has received many professional and personal accolades over her distinguished career. Sandy has been a trailblazer for women in the consulting industry, being the first woman hired and the first woman to become Partner/Senior Managing Partner as well as Leader of the New York Office for 10 years and Chair of the East Coast region at the Boston Consulting Group. After her formal career, Sandy has served as a leader on corporate and non-profit boards. Locally, she was President of the Board of Trustees at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Chair of the Boston Public Library Foundation; Chair of Natixis Advisor and Loomis Sayles Funds. She was also the first Lead Director of Verizon Communications, Inc. and the first woman Chair of the Board of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Corporate Governance from the National Association of Corporate Directors in New England in 2018.
“Sandy Moose has brought mentorship and leadership to our organization, and she has the ability to shape vision in a powerful way,” says Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois. “She has introduced many amazing people into our orbit, while she herself remains one of our brightest stars. Her late partner Eric Birch will be greatly missed as her co-pilot in her love of theatre. Sandy always has a family with us, because we just love her so much.”
Ticket buyers and sponsors will be given access to a VIP experience including a custom party box and an exclusive Zoom cocktail reception with Huntington artists and guests. The Huntington’s festive annual event raises funds to support the Huntington’s programs, including its award-winning youth, education, and community initiatives that reach more than 30,000 annually. The 2019 Spotlight Spectacular honored Huntington Theatre Company Board Chairman David Epstein, Education Committee Chair Betsy Banks Epstein, and Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director Peter DuBois. The event raised over $1,000,000 and was attended by over 400 guests.
The Gerard & Sherryl Cohen Award for Excellence will be given to two Huntington staff members who consistently go above and beyond in their contribution to the company: Graphic Designer Lauren Calder and Calderwood Pavilion House Electrician Taylor Ness. Guests will also have the opportunity to “raise a paddle” during the virtual event to support the Huntington’s education programs and other initiatives for our region’s youth. For more information on the event please visit huntingtontheatre.org/support/gala.
Lia Chang. Photo by Garth Kravits
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs.
Floating World Pictures is celebrating the life and legacy of the late Tony® Award-Winning playwright and LGBTQ activist Terrence McNally through the award-winning American Masters documentary TERRENCE MCNALLY: EVERY ACT OF LIFE, streaming on pbs.org/americanmasters and the PBS Video app June 15 – August 31, 2020. In addition, special virtual online discussions and talkbacks with some of Broadway’s brightest stars.
On Wednesday, Jun 17, 2020, at 8:00 PM EDT, in an event presented on Ovee, Moderator Lucy Merkjee of the Tribeca Film Festival and filmmaker Jeff Kaufman will be leading a discussion about the life and legacy of the Tony Award winning playwright and LGBTQ activist Terrence McNally.
2019 Tony Awards winners Terrence McNally and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
John Benjamin Hickey, John Glover, and André De Shields will be joining the conversation. John Benjamin Hickey and John Glover worked with McNally on his Tony Award Winning play “Love! Valour! Compassion!”, while André De Shields originated the role of Noah “Horse” T. Simmons in the Terrence McNally / David Yazbek musical adaptation of the film “The Full Monty.”
The discussion will begin with some clips from the film – TERRENCE MCNALLY: EVERY ACT OF LIFE, directed by Jeff Kaufman and produced by Marcia Ross – which will be followed by the discussion. Near the end of the event, audience will have an opportunity to ask questions. For more information and to register for the event click here.
Click here to watch TERRENCE MCNALLY: EVERY ACT OF LIFE.
The complete film is now streaming on PBS. It is also available on Amazon Prime. More information about viewing the film, and other special events are available at www.EveryActOfLife.com
TERRENCE MCNALLY: EVERY ACT OF LIFE, directed, written and produced by Jeff Kaufman and produced by Marcia Ross, traces McNally’s life – from escaping his troubled home in Corpus Christi, Texas to becoming one of America’s most groundbreaking and honored playwrights. The film includes interviews with actors Nathan Lane, Angela Lansbury, Rita Moreno, Chita Rivera, F. Murray Abraham, Audra Macdonald, Edie Falco, John Slattery, and Billy Porter, to name a few, discussing McNally’s remarkable legacy. McNally sadly passed away from COVID-19 complications on March 24, 2020.
Terrence McNally takes a walk through Broadway in a scene from EVERY ACT OF LIFE. Photo courtesy of Floating World Pictures
The film captures McNally’s essence and acts as a beacon of hope for future generations of writers, LGBTQ+ youth, and storytellers who also dream of living out loud. It premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival to stellar reviews and endearing audience reactions. In June 2019, American Masters broadcast the film nationally on PBS. The film has been submitted for the 2020 EMMYS® consideration in several craft categories including Non-fiction Directing; Non-fiction Editing; and Non-Fiction Sound Mixing.
TERRENCE MCNALLY: EVERY ACT OF LIFE is a production of Floating World Pictures in association with Lakeview Productions and Talu Productions. Jeff Kaufman is producer, director and writer. Marcia S. Ross is producer. Jay Alix and Una Jackman, Suzi Dietz, Tom Kirdahy, Mark Lee, Ted Snowdon and Duffy Violante, and Buddy Steves and Rowena Young are executive producers. Marion Swaybill is consulting executive producer. Asher Bingham is editor with music by Laura Karpman and Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum. Jordan Black, Autumn Eakin and Anthony Lucido are cinematographers. Michael Kantor is executive producer for American Masters.
Funding for TERRENCE MCNALLY: EVERY ACT OF LIFE is provided in part by National Endowment for the Arts, plus The Edward F. Limato Foundation, The Noël Coward Foundation, and The Hunter Ward Foundation.
Lucy Mukerjee
Lucy Mukerjee is a Senior Programmer at the Tribeca Film Festival and the cofounder of the Programmers Of Colour Collective. A queer British bi-racial activist, she has been empowering storytellers for two decades as a fiction editor, film producer and film festival programmer. Previously, Lucy was the Director of Programming at Outfest, where she oversaw the curation of their trio of LGBTQ+ film festivals and founded the now annual Trans Summit event. Before that, she produced feature films for Lionsgate and Warner Bros. Over her career, Lucy has built a reputation as a connector and changemaker. With a track record of helping organizations to authentically embrace the demographics of the communities they serve, her expertise is the intersection of curation and inclusion.
Jeff Kaufman
Jeff Kaufman produced, directed, and wrote the documentaries Every Act Of Life (2018 Tribeca premiere, aired June 2019 on American Masters), The State of Marriage, Father Joseph, The Savoy King: Chick Webb and the Music That Changed America, Brush With Life: The Art of Being Edward Biberman, and Education Under Fire, plus a number of short films for Amnesty International, and programs for The Discovery Channel, and The History Channel. He also edited/designed a book based on the film Every Act Of Life, contributed cartoons to The New Yorker, and illustrations to The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times, wrote/illustrated several children’s books, and hosted daily radio shows in Vermont and Los Angeles.
John Benjamin Hickey is currently preparing to make his Broadway directorial debut with the revival of Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite, starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, following a sold out run at the Colonial Theatre in Boston. John recently played the role of Henry Wilcox in the acclaimed play The Inheritance on Broadway and in the West End. He won a 2020 Outer Critics Circle award for his performance. John made his Broadway debut in Terrence McNally’s Love! Valour! Compassion!, and went on to repeat his role in the film version. John’s latest film, SUBLET, is premiering at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival. His other film credits include MAPPLETHORPE, TALLULAH, BARRY, THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS, TRUTH, BIG STONE GAP, GET ON UP, PITCH PERFECT, FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, THE ANNIVERSARY PARTY, TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN, and TAKING OF PELHAM 123. On television, John received an Emmy Award nomination for his work on the Showtime series “The Big C”. John later went on to star in the critically acclaimed WGN America series “Manhattan”. Other television credits include, “The Good Wife”, “Modern Family”, “Hannibal”, “The New Normal”, “Sex and the City”, “Law & Order”, and “Mom”. On Broadway, John won the 2011 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Drama Desk Award for his performance in The Normal Heart.
John Soursby Glover, Jr., is an American actor, known for a range of villainous roles in films and television, including Lionel Luthor on the Superman-inspired television series “Smallville”. In 1993 he co-starred in the dark comedy Ed and His Dead Mother with Steve Buscemi and Ned Beatty.Glover was born in Salisbury, Maryland, the son of Cade (née Mullins) and John Soursby Glover, Sr., a television salesman. Glover attended Wicomico High School and acted at Towson University. Glover began his career at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, and later studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse under Milton Katselas. Aside from his theatrical endeavors, Glover is also actively involved with the Alzheimer’s Association. His inspiration for joining this cause was his own father’s experience with Alzheimer’s disease.
André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields is the triple-crown winner of the 2019 awards season, having won the Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Tony awards for Best Featured Actor in a musical for his critically acclaimed performance as Hermes, Messenger to the Gods, in Hadestown. The Actors’ Equity Foundation followed suit with the Richard Seff Award, honoring veteran stage actors’ best supporting performances of the year. Mr. De Shields recently received the 2020 Grammy Award for Musical Theater Album for Hadestown, an Honorary Doctor of Arts Degree from Boston Conservatory at Berklee, the inaugural Harlem Week Pride 50 Award; the Project1Voice Lifetime Achievement Award; the Joyce Warshow Lifetime Achievement Award from SAGE; the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre; and an induction into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
Lia Chang. Photo by Garth Kravits
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs.
Vinie Burrows, 2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields, Lia Chang at the 2019 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 9, 2019 in New York City. Photo by Garth Kravits
Last year, after a half century in the theater, Broadway veteran André De Shields took home his first Tony Award at the age of 73 for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for his role as Hermes in Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown.
This was his 3rd nomination. He was previously nominated for Play On andThe Full Monty.
Photo by Lia Chang
André received the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical and the Actors’ Equity Foundation’s 2019 Richard Seff Award.
Tony Award Winner André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
He recently received the 2020 Grammy Award for Musical Theater Album for Hadestown, an honorary Doctor of Arts Degree from Boston Conservatory at Berklee, the 2019 Project1Voice Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2019 SAGE Joyce Warshow Lifetime Achievement Award, The York Theatre Company’s 2019 Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre, and was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young presented André with the Key to the City of Baltimore in August, 2019.
André De Shields receives the Key to the City of Baltimore from Mayor Jack Young in the Ceremonial Room. Photo by Lia Chang
During his acceptance speech for the Tony Award, André gave a shoutout to his hometown of Baltimore, Md and shared his three cardinal rules of his ability and longevity which included:
1. Surround yourself with people whose eyes light up when they see you coming.
2. Slowly is the fastest way to get to where you want to be.
3. The top of one mountain is the bottom of the next, so keep climbing.
Below is my flashback coverage of last year’s Tony Awards celebration.
The cast and crew of Hadestown accept the award for Best Musical onstage during the 2019 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 9, 2019 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Hadestown was named Best Musical at The American Theatre Wing’s 73rd Annual Tony Awards on June 9th winning in eight categories. Hadestown won for Best Director for Rachel Chavkin, Best Score for Anaïs Mitchell, Best Scenic Design for Rachel Hauck, Best Lighting Design for Bradley King, Best Sound Design for Jessica Paz and Nevin Steinberg, and Best Orchestrations for Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose.
André De Shields, Reeve Carney and the cast of Hadestown perform onstage during the 2019 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 9, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 09: André De Shields accepts the Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical award for Hadestown onstage during the 2019 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 9, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
André De Shields, winner of the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for “Hadestown,” poses in the press room for the 73rd Annual Tony Awards at 3 West Club on June 9, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
Rachel Hauck, winner of the award for Best Scenic Design of a Musical for “Hadestown,” poses in the press room for the 73rd Annual Tony Awards at 3 West Club on June 9, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz, winners of the award for Best Sound Design of a Musical award for “Hadestown,” pose in the press room for the 73rd Annual Tony Awards at 3 West Club on June 9, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose, winner of the award for Best Orchestrations for “Hadestown,” poses in the press room for the 73rd Annual Tony Awards at 3 West Club on June 9, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
Bradley King, winner of the award for Best Lighting Design of a Musical for “Hadestown,” poses in the press room for the 73rd Annual Tony Awards at 3 West Club on June 9, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
Rachel Chavkin, winner of the award for Best Direction of a Musical for “Hadestown,” poses in the press room for the 73rd Annual Tony Awards at 3 West Club on June 9, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
Anaïs Mitchell, winner of the award for Best Original Score for “Hadestown,” poses in the press room for the 73rd Annual Tony Awards at 3 West Club on June 9, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
Hosted by James Corden, live from Radio City Music Hall and broadcast on the CBS Television Network, the ceremony honored the incredibly talented theatre professionals for their remarkable achievements on Broadway during the 2018-2019 season.
Rachel Hauck wins a Tony Award for Scenic Design of a Musical for Hadestown during the 2019 Tony Awards with Jewelle Blackman, John Krause, Cherie B. Tay, Malcolm Armwood, Ahmad Simmons, Kimberly Marable, Jessie Shelton, Afra Hines, Timothy Hughes and Khaila Wilcoxon. Photo by Jenny Anderson, Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions(L-R) Nevin Steinberg, Jessica Paz, Bradley King, Rachel Hauck, Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose, 2019 Tony Award winners from HADESTOWN. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)The team from Hadestown (l-r) Producer Tom Kirdahy, Director Rachel Chavkin, Producer Dale Franzen, Creator Anais Mitchell, Producer Mara Isaacs, Producer Hunter Arnold and Producer Jordan Roth, winner of Best Musical. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
Below is André’s photo diary of the night from Radio City Music Hall, the victory lap at The Plaza Hotel and the Hadestown party at The Times Square Edition.
RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL JUNE 9, 2019 AT 6:30 P.M.
Tony nominee Camille A. Brown attends the 73rd Annual Tony Awards. Photo by Lia ChangJose Antonio Vargas and 2019 Tony nominee Clint Ramos. Photo by Lia ChangJose Antonio Vargas, with 2019 Tony nominee Clint Ramos and his mother. Photo by Lia ChangHattie Winston with her husband, Harold Wheeler, winner of the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre at Radio City Music Hall on June 9, 2019 in New York City. Photo by Lia ChangL-R: Marion Henderson, Samantha Wheeler, Hattie Winston, 2019 Tony Award Winner Harold Wheeler, Andrew Henderson, Lena Henderson, India Henderson. Photo by Lia ChangSpecial Tony Award recipient Jason Michael Webb with his mother, Sharon Webb. Photo by Lia ChangGarth Kravits, Bob Martin and Jen Bender. Photo by Lia ChangTom Kirdahy and Terrence McNally, winner of the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre at Radio City Music Hall on June 9, 2019 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony Honor Recipient Michael McElroy, founder of Broadway Inspirational Voices and Schele Williams. Photo by Lia ChangGarth Kravits and 2019 Tony nominee Beth Leavel. Photo by Lia ChangTony nominee Lilli Cooper with her mother, Tisa Farley. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony nominee Kenneth Lonergan and a guest. Photo by Lia ChangRichie Jackson and Jordan Roth. Photo by Lia ChangMichael Urie and guests. Photo by Lia Chang73rd Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 9, 2019 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang73rd Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 9, 2019 in New York City. Photo by Lia ChangAmerican Theatre Wing Chairman David Henry Hwang73rd Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 9, 2019 in New York City. Photo by Lia ChangLorenzo Thione congratulates 2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields. Photo by Lia ChangVinie Burrows with André De Shields, winner of the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for “Hadestown,” at Radio City Music Hall on June 9, 2019 in New York. Photo by Lia ChangVinie Burrows with André De Shields, winner of the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for “Hadestown,” at Radio City Music Hall on June 9, 2019 in New York. Photo by Lia ChangAndré De Shields, winner of the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for “Hadestown” and Harold Wheeler, winner of the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre at Radio City Music Hall on June 9, 2019 in New York City. Photo by Lia ChangVinie Burrows with André De Shields, winner of the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for “Hadestown,” at Radio City Music Hall on June 9, 2019 in New York. Photo by Lia ChangVinie Burrows, 2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields and Garth Kravits. Photo by Lia Chang
THE PLAZA HOTEL, JUNE 10, 2019 AT MIDNIGHT
Vinie Burrows Special Tony Award recipient Jason Michael Webb, 2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields, Lelund Durond Thompson. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony Award winner Rachel Hauck with her mother and Lisa Peterson. Photo by Lia ChangGarth Kravits and MOULIN ROUGE star Danny Berstein. Photo by Lia ChangTom Kirdahy and Terrence McNally, winner of the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre at The Plaza Hotel on June 9, 2019 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony Award winner Rachel Hauck and Mara Isaacs. Photo by Lia ChangLisa Peterson, 2019 Tony Awards winner Rachel Hauck and Mara Isaacs, Danielle Mellman. Photo by Lia ChangEisa Davis, 2019 Tony nominee Dominique Morisseau and Saycon Sengbloh . Photo by Lia ChangA guest, Eva Price, producer of the 2019 Tony Award winning Best Revival of a Musical for Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, Lisa Peterson and 2019 Tony Award winner Rachel Hauck. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony Award winner Rachel Hauck. Photo by Lia ChangTaylor Mac and Vinie Burrows. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony Award winner Anaïs Mitchell. Photo by Lia ChangNoah Hahn and his wife 2019 Tony Award winner Anaïs Mitchell. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony Award winner Todd Sickafoose and Ilana Umansky. Photo by Lia ChangKathryn Layng and American Theatre Wing Chair David Henry Hwang. Photo by Lia ChangGrace Hwang, Kathryn Layng and American Theatre Wing Chair David Henry Hwang. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony nominee David Neumann and his wife, Erica Sweany. Photo by Lia ChangHamish Bowles, Vinie Burrows and 2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields. Photo by Lia ChangHamish Bowles, Vinie Burrows and 2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields with Paul Wontorek. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields, Vinie Burrows and Chris Jackson. Photo by Lia ChangKirsty Woodward and 2019 Tony nominee Damon Daunno. Photo by Lia ChangAward winner André De Shields, Lelund Durond Thompson. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
THE TIMES SQUARE EDITION JUNE 10, 2019 at 2:15 A.M.
2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields, Vinie Burrows, Liza Streb Melamed and Ken Melamed. Photo by Lia ChangVinie Burrows and 2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields and Liam Robinson. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony nominee Michael Strauss, 2019 Tony Award winners André De Shields and Rachel Chavkin, Jake Heinrichs. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony Award winners Rachel Hauck and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields and guests. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony nominee Eva Noblezada and Lorenzo Thione. Photo by Lia Chang 2019 Tony nominee Eva Noblezada and Reeve Carney. Photo by Lia Chang 2019 Tony nominee Eva Noblezada and Reeve Carney. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields, 2019 Tony nominee Eva Noblezada, Vinie Burrows and Reeve Carney. Photo by Lia ChangAngie Noblezada and her daughter, 2019 Tony nominee Eva Noblezada. Photo by Lia ChangReeve Carney and his mother, Marti Heil. Photo by Lia ChangReeve Carney and Beverly Edwards. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony Award winners André De Shields and Mara Isaacs. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony Award winner Bradley King. Photo by Lia ChangTamilla Woodard. photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields, Danielle King and 2019 Tony Award winner Bradley King. Photo by Lia ChangReeve Carney with his mother, Marti Heil and 2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields. Photo by Lia ChangGarth Kravits and Cherie Tay. Photo by Lia ChangKen Melamed, Liza Streb Melamed and 2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields. Photo by Lia ChangAline Kovacs and Cherie Tay. Photo by Lia ChangAline Kovacs, 2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields, Cherie Tay. Photo by Lia ChangCody Owen Stine, a guest, Jean Rohe and Liam Robinson. Photo by Lia ChangSeth Mellman, 2019 Tony Award winner Mara Isaacs and Danielle Mellman. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony Award winners André De Shields and Jessica Paz, Corrine Livingston. Photo by Lia ChangLiam Robinson and 2019 Tony Award winner Todd Sickafoose. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields and Vinie Burrows. Photo by Lia Chang2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields and Vinie Burrows. Photo by Lia ChangVinie Burrows with André De Shields, winner of the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for “Hadestown.” Photo by Lia Chang
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs.
The 65th Annual Drama Desk Awards will air Saturday, June 13th on Spectrum News NY1 and stream on NY1.com and DramaDeskAwards.com at 7:30pm ET. The telecast, which was pre-recorded prior to its original May 31 air date, was originally set to take place at The Town Hall theater in New York City and then moved to television and streaming in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and postponed from its original air date as Black Lives Matter protests began in New York City and around the globe.
As previously announced, the evening will be hosted by Frank DiLella and feature appearances by Tituss Burgess, Drama Desk Award winner James Corden, two-time Drama Desk Award winner Kristin Chenoweth, Drama Desk Award winner Alan Cumming, Beanie Feldstein, two-time Drama Desk Award winner Santino Fontana, Drama Desk Award winner Renée Elise Goldsberry, two-time Drama Desk Award winner Jesse Tyler Ferguson, two-time Drama Desk Award winner Jane Krakowski, three-time Drama Desk Award winner Patti LuPone, five-time Drama Desk Award winner Audra McDonald, Drama Desk Award winner Cynthia Nixon, two-time Drama Desk Award nominee Ashley Park, Drama Desk Award nominee Andrew Rannells, Drama Desk Award winner Ali Stroker, and five-time Drama Desk Award winner Susan Stroman.
The ceremony will also celebrate the life and legacy of American theater producer and director Hal Prince with the Drama Desk Awards’ first-ever lifetime achievement honor. The Harold Prince Award will be bestowed annually for outstanding contributions to theater, and this year will be awarded posthumously to Mr. Prince. Prince passed away on July 31, 2019 at the age of 91.
The event will also feature a first look at the brand-new Drama Desk Awards statuette.
SOFT POWER. Photos by Joan MarcusConrad Ricamora and Alyse Alan Louis. Photo Credit: Craig Schwartz
David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori’s Soft Power, produced by The Public Theater and Center Theatre Group, was nominated in eleven categories including Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Book of a Musical for David Henry Hwang, Outstanding Music for Jeanine Tesori, Outstanding Director of a Musical for Leigh Silverman, Outstanding Orchestrations for Danny Troob, John Clancy, and Larry Hochman, Outstanding Scenic Design for Clint Ramos, Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical for Anita Yavich, Outstanding Sound Design for a Musical for Kai Harada, Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for Conrad Ricamora, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical for Alyse Alan Louis and Outstanding Actor in a Musical for Francis Jue.
Sam Pinkleton, Jeanine Tesori, Francis Jue, Leigh Silverman, David Henry Hwang, Conrad Ricamora, Alyse Alan Louis. Photo by Lia Chang
Joe Ngo, Abraham Kim, Francis Jue, Jane Lui, Courtney Reed and Moses Villarama in CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND. Photo by Joan Marcus
Lauren Yee’s Cambodian Rock Band, produced by Signature Theatre Company, was nominated for Outstanding Play and Jue received a second Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Play for his performance as Duch.
Francis Jue as Duch in Lauren Yee’s CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND. Photo by Joan Marcus
Atlantic Theater’s Production of Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven by Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Adly Guirgis (Between Riverside and Crazy), directed by Obie Award winner John Ortiz, and co-produced with LAByrinth Theater Company, received eight nominations including Outstanding Play, Outstanding Actress in a Play for Liza Colón-Zayas, Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for Victor Almanzar and Esteban Andres Cruz, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for Kristina Poe and Elizabeth Rodriguez and Outstanding Director for John Ortiz and Outstanding Fight Choreography for UnkleDave’s Fight House.
The nominees for the 65th Annual Drama Desk Awards are:
Outstanding Play Cambodian Rock Band, by Lauren Yee, Signature Theatre Greater Clements, by Samuel D. Hunter, Lincoln Center Theater Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven, by Stephen Adly Guirgis, Atlantic Theater Company/LAByrinth Theater Company Heroes of the Fourth Turning, by Will Arbery, Playwrights Horizons The Inheritance, by Matthew Lopez
Conrad Ricamora and the cast of SOFT POWER. Photo by Joan Marcus
Outstanding Musical Octet, Signature Theatre The Secret Life of Bees, Atlantic Theater Company Soft Power, The Public Theater A Strange Loop, Playwrights Horizons/Page 73 Productions The Wrong Man, MCC Theater
Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop. Playwrights Horizons, New York, 2019. From left to right: James Jackson, Jr., John-Michael Lyles, Jason Veasey, Larry Owens, Antwayn Hopper, John-Andrew Morrison, L Morgan Lee.
Outstanding Revival of a Play Fefu and Her Friends, Theatre for a New Audience for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, The Public Theater Mac Beth, Red Bull Theater/Hunter Theater Project Much Ado About Nothing, The Public Theater A Soldier’s Play, Roundabout Theatre Company
Outstanding Revival of a Musical Little Shop of Horrors The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Transport Group West Side Story
Kendal Sparks, Charles Busch, Christopher Borg, Nancy Anderson, Jennifer Van Dyck, and Howard McGillin in THE CONFESSION OF LILY DARE. Photo by Carol Rosegg
Outstanding Actor in a Play
Charles Busch, The Confession of Lily Dare
Edmund Donovan, Greater Clements
Raúl Esparza, Seared
Francis Jue, Cambodian Rock Band
Triney Sandoval, 72 Miles to Go…
Kyle Soller, The Inheritance
Raúl Esparza in Seared. Photo by Joan MarcusEric Berryman, Jonathan Burke, April Matthis, Daniel J. Bryant, and Ezra Knight inThe Roundabout Theatre Company production of Lydia R. Diamond’s Toni Stone. Photo by Joan Marcus
Outstanding Actress in a Play
Rose Byrne, Medea
Liza Colón-Zayas, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Emily Davis, Is This A Room
April Matthis, Toni Stone
Ruth Negga, Hamlet
Outstanding Actor in a Musical
David Aron Damane, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Chris Dwan, Enter Laughing
Joshua Henry, The Wrong Man
Francis Jue, Soft Power
Larry Owens, A Strange Loop
Adrienne Warren, company, ‘Tina – The Tina Turner Musical’ Photo by Manuel Harlan
Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Tammy Blanchard, Little Shop of Horrors
Beth Malone, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Saycon Sengbloh, The Secret Life of Bees
Elizabeth Stanley, Jagged Little Pill
Adrienne Warren, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Victor Almanzar, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Esteban Andres Cruz, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
David Alan Grier, A Soldier’s Play
Paul Hilton, The Inheritance
Chris Perfetti, Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow
Elizabeth Canavan, Patrice Johnson Chevannes, Elizabeth Rodriguez & Liza Colón-Zayas. Photo by Lia Chang
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Patrice Johnson Chevannes, runboyrun & In Old Age
Kristina Poe, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Belange Rodríguez, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Elizabeth Rodriguez, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Lois Smith, The Inheritance
The cast of Emojiland, The Musical. Photo by Jeremy Daniel
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
George Abud, Emojiland
Christian Borle, Little Shop of Horrors
Jay Armstrong Johnson, Scotland, PA
Conrad Ricamora, Soft Power
Ryan Vasquez, The Wrong Man
Conrad Ricamora and Francis Jue. Photo Credit: Craig Schwartz
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Yesenia Ayala, West Side Story
Paula Leggett Chase, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
LaChanze, The Secret Life of Bees
Alyse Alan Louis, Soft Power
Lauren Patten, Jagged Little Pill
Stephen Adly Guirgis & John Ortiz. Photo by Lia Chang
Outstanding Director of a Play
Jessica Blank, Coal Country
Stephen Daldry, The Inheritance
John Ortiz, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Tina Satter, Is This A Room
Erica Schmidt, Mac Beth
Outstanding Director of a Musical
Stephen Brackett, A Strange Loop
Thomas Kail, The Wrong Man
Kathleen Marshall, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Leigh Silverman, Soft Power
Annie Tippe, Octet
Cast of Octet. Photo by Joan Marcus
Outstanding Choreography
Camille A. Brown, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, West Side Story
Keone Madrid and Mari Madrid, Beyond Babel
Kathleen Marshall, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Sonya Tayeh, Moulin Rouge!
Travis Wall, The Wrong Man
Outstanding Music
Ross Golan, The Wrong Man
Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop
Dave Malloy, Octet
Joshua Rosenblum, Einstein’s Dreams
Duncan Sheik, The Secret Life of Bees
Jeanine Tesori, Soft Power
Saycon Sengbloh, Nathaniel Stampley, Eisa Davis, Anastacia McCleskey, and LaChanze in The Secret Life of Bees. Photo: Ahron R. Foster
Outstanding Lyrics
Susan Birkenhead, The Secret Life of Bees
Adam Gwon, Scotland, PA
Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop
Joanne Sydney Lessner and Joshua Rosenblum, Einstein’s Dreams
Dave Malloy, Octet
Mark Saltzman, Romeo & Bernadette
Outstanding Book of a Musical
David Henry Hwang, Soft Power
Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop
Dave Malloy, Octet
Lynn Nottage, The Secret Life of Bees
Mark Saltzman, Romeo & Bernadette
Dick Scanlan, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Outstanding Orchestrations
Tom Kitt, Jagged Little Pill
Alex Lacamoire, The Wrong Man
Or Matias and Dave Malloy, Octet
Danny Troob, John Clancy, and Larry Hochman, Soft Power
Jonathan Tunick, West Side Story
Outstanding Music in a Play
Steve Earle, Coal Country
Frightened Rabbit, Square Go
Jim Harbourne, Feral
Martha Redbone, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Adam Seidel, Jane Bruce, and Daniel Ocanto, Original Sound
Ronete Levenson (Sue), Lindsay Rico (Paula), Helen Cespedes (Emma), Jennifer Lim (Cindy), and Brittany Bradford (Julia) in Fefu and Her Friends. Photo: Henry Grossman
Outstanding Scenic Design for a Play
Catherine Cornell, Mac Beth
Clint Ramos, Grand Horizons
Adam Rigg, Fefu and Her Friends
Paul Steinberg, Judgment Day
B.T. Whitehill, The Confession of Lily Dare
Outstanding Scenic Design for a Musical
Julian Crouch, Little Shop of Horrors
Anna Louizos, Scotland, PA
Derek McLane, Moulin Rouge!
Clint Ramos, Soft Power
Amy Rubin and Brittany Vasta, Octet
Outstanding Costume Design for a Play
Asa Benally, Blues for an Alabama Sky
Montana Levi Blanco, Fefu and Her Friends
Toni-Leslie James, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Antony McDonald, Judgment Day
Rachel Townsend and Jessica Jahn, The Confession of Lily Dare
Kaye Voyce, Coriolanus
Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical
Vanessa Leuck, Emojiland
Jeff Mahshie, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Mark Thompson, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Anita Yavich, Soft Power
Catherine Zuber, Moulin Rouge!
Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play
Isabella Byrd, Heroes of the Fourth Turning
Oona Curley, Dr. Ride’s American Beach House
Heather Gilbert, The Sound Inside
Mimi Jordan Sherin, Judgment Day
Yi Zhao, Greater Clements
Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical
Betsy Adams, The Wrong Man
Jane Cox, The Secret Life of Bees
Herrick Goldman, Einstein’s Dreams
Bruno Poet, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Justin Townsend, Moulin Rouge!
Outstanding Projection Design
David Bengali, Einstein’s Dreams
Julia Frey, Medea
Luke Halls, West Side Story
Lisa Renkel and POSSIBLE, Emojiland
Hannah Wasileski, Fires in the Mirror
Outstanding Sound Design for a Play
Paul Arditti and Christopher Reid, The Inheritance
Justin Ellington, Heroes of the Fourth Turning
Mikhail Fiksel, Dana H.
Palmer Hefferan, Fefu and Her Friends
Lee Kinney and Sanae Yamada, Is This A Room
Outstanding Sound Design for a Musical
Tom Gibbons, West Side Story
Kai Harada, Soft Power
Peter Hylenski, Moulin Rouge!
Hidenori Nakajo, Octet
Nevin Steinberg, The Wrong Man
Outstanding Wig and Hair Design
Campbell Young Associates, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Cookie Jordan, Fefu and Her Friends
Nikiya Mathis, STEW
Tom Watson, The Great Society
Bobbie Zlotnik, Emojiland
Outstanding Solo Performance
David Cale, We’re Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time
Kate del Castillo, the way she spoke
Laura Linney, My Name is Lucy Barton
Jacqueline Novak, Get on Your Knees
Deirdre O’Connell, Dana H.
Unique Theatrical Experience Beyond Babel, Hideaway Circus Feral, Tortoise in a Nutshell/Cumbernauld Theatre/59E59 Is This A Room, Vineyard Theatre Midsummer: A Banquet, Food of Love Productions/Third Rail Projects
Outstanding Fight Choreography
Vicki Manderson, Square Go
Thomas Schall, A Soldier’s Play
UnkleDave’s Fight House, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Rebecca Henderson and Ako in Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow. Photo by Joan Marcus
Outstanding Adaptation A Christmas Carol, by Jack Thorne Judgment Day, by Christopher Shinn Mojada, by Luis Alfaro Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow, by Halley Feiffer
Outstanding Puppet Design
Raphael Mishler, Tumacho
Rockefeller Productions, Paddington Gets in a Jam
Amanda Villalobos, Is This A Room
Special Awards:
Ensemble Award: To the eight pitch-perfect performers in Dave Malloy’s a cappella musical Octet: Adam Bashian, Kim Blanck, Starr Busby, Alex Gibson, Justin Gregory Lopez, J.D. Mollison, Margo Seibert, and Kuhoo Verma proved instrumental in giving a layered look at modern forms of addiction.
Sam Norkin Award: To actress Mary Bacon, who continued her versatile career of compassionate, searing work for such companies as The Mint, Primary Stages, The Public Theater, and The Actors Theater Company, with two of Off-Broadway’s most humane performances this season in Coal Country at the Public Theater and Nothing Gold Can Stay presented by Partial Comfort Productions.
To The Actors Fund, Seth Rudetsky, and James Wesley for connecting members of the theater community and lifting spirits during the coronavirus crisis. The Actors Fund has worked tirelessly to provide financial and health resources to those impacted by the pandemic; Rudetsky and Wesley’s semi-daily “Stars in the House” webcast is raising funds for The Actors Fund, while providing performances, reunions, and medical updates.
To The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit, a reinvention of Joseph Papp’s “Mobile Theater” that began in 1957 and evolved into the New York Shakespeare Festival and The Public Theater. The current Mobile Unit tours free Shakespeare throughout the five boroughs, including prisons, homeless shelters, and community centers, reminding audiences new and old that the play really is the thing.
To WP Theater and Julia Miles, the company’s founder who died this spring. Formerly known as The Women’s Project and Productions, the company began in 1978 at American Place Theatre, where Miles served as associate to visionary artistic director Wynn Handman, who also died this spring. WP is the largest, most enduring American company that nurtures and produces works by female-identified creators. Over a little more than four decades, it has changed the demographics of American drama through an unwavering focus on women writers, directors, producers, performers, and craftspeople.
To Claire Warden for her pioneering work as an intimacy choreographer in such recent projects as Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune and Linda Vista, and her leadership in the rapidly emerging movement of intimacy direction. As part of the creative team of Intimacy Directors & Coordinators and Director of Engagement for and co-founder of Intimacy Directors International, she is helping create theater experiences that are safer for performers and more authentic for contemporary audiences.
Founded in 1955, the Drama Desk Awards honor outstanding achievement by professional theatre artists on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway. The Drama Desk Awards are voted on and bestowed by theatre critics, journalists, editors, publishers, and broadcasters covering theatre.
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs.
Superintendent Vincent Matthews and Elena Rodriguez.Elena Rodriguez
Congratulations to my cousin Elena Rodriguez, a senior from Mission High School and one of six SF Unified School District 2020 graduates to receive the Superintendent’s 21st Century Award. The Award comes with a $3000 scholarship from SFUSD for exemplifying the skills of the SFUSD Graduate Profile.
San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Vincent Matthews informed each of the honorees over Zoom. Due to the COVID-19 shutdown, a public event was impossible this year.
Elena was highlighted in an article which appeared in the June 1, 2020 edition of the San Francisco Examiner.
San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Vincent Matthews writes, “Elena Rodriguez from Mission High School was one of seven students selected to attend the Model United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Bringing everything she learned about social justice and human rights to an international conference, she witnessed how young people from all over the world have similar passions and drive to change the world. Elena had the opportunity to learn Spanish and Mandarin while attending Mission, helping her connect to her dual cultural heritage and her greater community.” Click here to read to complete article.
Tami Chang, Asia Flores, Marissa Chang-Fores, Lia Chang, Garth Kravits, Katharine Fong and Elena Rodriguez at dinner at Nizza in New York on July 5, 2019.
Last summer, Elena attended a Barnard Pre-college program for the Young Women’s Leadership Institute in New York and I had the chance to spend some time with her and her mother, Katharine Fong.
Elena is also one of two San Francisco high school graduates to win the California Interscholastic Federation’s 2020 CIF Scholar-Athlete Award (and a $1,000 scholarship) for her four years as a starter for Mission High’s Varsity Girl Soccer team and her “perfect” academic record during that time.
The graduation ceremony will take place on Zoom on Tuesday, June 9, 2020. She will attend UC San Diego in the Fall.
Lia Chang. Photo by Garth Kravits
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs.
On Sunday, June 7 at 10:00 am E.T., Mo Rocca talks with Hadestown star André De Shields about keeping the lights burning on Broadway during the COVID-19 shutdown and the Great White Way then and now.
Updated: June 7, 2020
COVID-19 has shuttered stages on the Great White Way, but there are some traditions in Broadway theatres that can’t be totally turned off. In addition to De Shields, Mo Rocca talks with multiple Tony-winner Bernadette Peters, Broadway producer Jennifer Ashley Tepper, and Seth Rudetsky & James Wesley, the couple behind the “Stars In the House” web series, about how the theater world is coping with the shutdown, and when shows may be expected to reopen.
The Emmy Award-winning “CBS Sunday Morning” is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET. Executive producer is Rand Morrison.
March 9, 10, 11 – Prior to the COVID-19 shutdown in New York, André performed his theatrical concert OLD DAWG; NEW TRICKS for the Broadway Cabaret Series at Old School Square’s Crest Theatre and The Broadway Concert Series Presented by Vi at Aventura at Aventura Arts & Cultural Center. Below are highlights of the show. Click here to read more about the show.
April 10 – The Baltimore native collaborated with the Office of the Mayor to deliver an important message on how we all can stay healthy and safe during the #COVID19 pandemic.
May 3 – THE FULL MONTY’s André De Shields, John Ellison Conlee, Jason Danieley, Romain Fruge, Marcus Neville, Patrick Wilson and David Yazbek Reunite for STARS IN THE HOUSE Click here to read more.
May 9 – André Received an Honorary Doctor of Arts Degree from the Boston Conservatory of Music at Berklee. Click here to read more and below for his speech.
May 12 – The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues – “COVID & Incarceration” collaborated with several arts and advocacy organizations – The Broadway Advocacy Coalition; The Confined Arts; RAPP; Zealous, The Center for Institutional and Social Change at Columbia Law School and American Friends Service Committee – to feature real stories from those currently and previously incarcerated, their families, and the advocates serving them during this global pandemic.
André performed a monologue from A Father’s Sorrow, written by Shaka Senghor. This Special Edition of Viral Monologues is made possible by the support of Broadway Cares / Equity Fights Aids. Click here to read more.
May 20 – NYU Gallatin’91 Alum André De Shields presented a NYU Class of 2020 All-University Commencement Message.
NYU Gallatin’91 Alum André De Shields presented a NYU Class of 2020 All-University Commencement Message.
May 28- The Jimmy Kimmel Show
May 29 – Yin & Yang, aka André De Shields and Garth Kravits, put their own spin on the Sam Cooke R & B classic, “Bring It On Home To Me,” accompanied by Andrew Gutauskas on saxophone.
Yin & Yang, aka André De Shields and Garth Kravits, put their own spin on the Sam Cooke R & B classic, “Bring It On Home To Me,” accompanied by Andrew Gutauskas on saxophone.
When asked what inspired the pair to collaborate virtually on this song, De Shields shared, “my ambition for collaborating with Garth on what will ultimately be a series of duets is to restore joy and love to a world that has lost its way.” Kravits said, “André and I very quickly agreed that the essence of this cover and the others that will follow, would be fun, pure and simple. Just to enjoy singing with one another so that the viewing and listening audience might share in what we’re laying down.” Click here to read more the pair.
May 25 – André chatted with Hadestown castmateT. Oliver Reid on Native Son Now Instagram Live.
June 1 – NPR released the Tiny Desk Concert featuring Hadestown cast members, musicians and creator Anaïs Mitchell. The concert was filmed on March 2.
HADESTOWN at NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert on March 2, 2020. Photo: NPRAndré De Shields, Kimberly Marable, Kay Trinidad, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, Jewelle Blackman, Eva Noblezada and Reeve Carney of Hadestown plays a Tiny Desk concert on March 2. (Kisha Ravi/NPR).
The set list includes “Way Down Hadestown”, “Come Home With Me/Wedding Song”, “When The Chips Are Down”, “Flowers”, and “Why We Build The Wall.”
André De Shields. Photo: NPR
Cast members and musicians featured are: André De Shields: Hermes; Kimberly Marable: Persephone; Jewelle Blackman: Fate, accordion; Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Fate, violin; Kay Trinidad: Fate, percussion; Reeve Carney: Orpheus; Eva Noblezada: Eurydice; Patrick Page: Hades; Anaïs Mitchell: composer, vocals, guitar; Liam Robinson: piano, accordion; Brian Drye: trombone, glockenspiel; Megan Gould: violin; Ilusha Tsinadze: guitar; Ben Perowsky: drums; Malcolm Parson: cello; and Chris Tordini: bass
The Company of HADESTOWN at NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert on March 2, 2020. Photo: NPR
June 4 – A Virtual Town Hall: The Impact of Covid-19 and Systemic Inequity in Communities of Color, A Holistic Plan for Healing Our Communities via Zoom.
Presented by The Arts and Culture Committee of The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, the Harlem Arts Alliance, and Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance, the office of the Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer and the 42 members of the Coalition of Theatres of Color (CTC) a 501(c)3 not for profit consortium. The meeting addressed the proposed FY21 city funding for arts institutions. Given the codependent nature of arts, community and culture in New York, survival of CTC institutions is indissoluble from the survival of New York. The impact of COVID-19 on the arts and culture community has been devastating. Each of our members – large and small – are struggling to survive the next few months and sadly many may not; drastically and irrevocably shifting the landscape of our field for many years to come. Today our institutions and missions are more vital than ever in playing a key role in the recovery of our great city as many of our organizations are more than just theaters.
Speakers included Corey Johnson, Speaker of the NYC Council;
I. Daneek Miller, Council Member, BLAC Co-Chair; Laurie Cumbo, Council Member, BLAC Vice Chair; Inez E. Dickens, New York State Assemblymember; André De Shields, Actor, Choreographer; Danny Glover, Actor, Activist; Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Actor, Playwright, Director; David Martine (Chiricuhau Apache/Shinnecock); Sade Lythcott, CTC Chair, National Black Theatre; Diane Fraher, American Indian Artists Inc. (AMERINDA); Madaha Kinsey-Lamb, Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center; Carl Clay, Black Spectrum Theatre; Tisa Chang, Pan Asian Rep; and Libertad O. Guerra, The Clemente.
André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields is the triple-crown winner of the 2019 awards season, having won the Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Tony Awards for best featured actor in a musical for his critically acclaimed performance as Hermes in Hadestown. The Actors’ Equity Foundation followed suit with the Richard Seff Award, honoring veteran stage actors’ best supporting performances of the year. Mr. De Shields recently received the 2020 Grammy Award for Musical Theater Album for Hadestown, an honorary Doctor of Arts Degree from Boston Conservatory at Berklee, the 2019 Project1Voice Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2019 SAGE Joyce Warshow Lifetime Achievement Award, The York Theatre Company’s 2019 Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre, and was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. He received the Key to the City of Baltimore from Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young in August, 2019. Prior to his Tony Award win, Mr. De Shields was best known for his show-stopping performances in four legendary Broadway productions: The Wiz, Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Emmy Award), Play On! (Tony Nomination), and The Full Monty (Tony Nomination). In a career spanning fifty-one years, he has distinguished himself as an unparalleled actor, director, and educator, receiving in 2018 the 8th Annual Off Broadway Alliance Legend Award, and the 33rd Annual Bob Harrington Life Achievement Bistro Award. Among his other accolades are the 2009 National Black Theatre Festival’s Living Legend Award and the 2007 Village Voice Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Performance. De Shields can currently be seen on Netflix as the Algebra Tutor in “John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch” and on The CW as Chubby in “Katy Keene.” De Shields is a proud member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and SDC. andredeshields.com
André De Shields and Ashleigh Murray in The CW’s “Katy Keene”.
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs.
HADESTOWN at NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert on March 2, 2020. Photo: NPR
Cast members from Hadestown united for a Tiny Desk Concert, hosted by NPR. The concert was filmed back on March 2, but has just been released.
André De Shields, Kimberly Marable, Kay Trinidad, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, Jewelle Blackman, Eva Noblezada and Reeve Carney of Hadestown plays a Tiny Desk concert on March 2. (Kisha Ravi/NPR).
The set list includes “Way Down Hadestown”, “Come Home With Me/Wedding Song”, “When The Chips Are Down”, “Flowers”, and “Why We Build The Wall.”
André De Shields. Photo: NPR
Cast members and musicians featured are: André De Shields: Hermes; Kimberly Marable: Persephone; Jewelle Blackman: Fate, accordion; Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Fate, violin; Kay Trinidad: Fate, percussion; Reeve Carney: Orpheus; Eva Noblezada: Eurydice; Patrick Page: Hades; Anaïs Mitchell: composer, vocals, guitar; Liam Robinson: piano, accordion; Brian Drye: trombone, glockenspiel; Megan Gould: violin; Ilusha Tsinadze: guitar; Ben Perowsky: drums; Malcolm Parson: cello; and Chris Tordini: bass
Anaïs Mitchell. Photo: NPR
Anaïs Mitchell developed Hadestown with director and Tony Award winner Rachel Chavkin. Hadestown opened on Broadway on April 17, 2019. The production stars Reeve Carney, André De Shields, Amber Gray, Eva Noblezada, and Patrick Page swith Jewelle Blackman, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, and Kay Trinidad as the Fates.
Kay Trinidad, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer and Jewelle Blackman. Photo: NPR
Hadestown was the most honored and critically acclaimed new musical of 2019. In addition to the show’s eight Tony Awards, it has been honored with the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, four Drama Desk Awards, six Outer Critics Circle Awards including Outstanding New Broadway Musical and the Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical.
André De Shields and Kimberly Marable. Photo: NPR
André De Shields and Kimberly Marable. Photo: NPR
Eva Noblezada, Reeve Carney, Anais Mitchell and Patrick Page. Photo: NPR
Eva Noblezada. Photo: NPR
Patrick Page. Photo: NPR
The creative team for Broadway features Tony Award winner Rachel Hauck (set design); four-time Tony Award nominee Michael Krass (costume design); two-time Tony Award winner Bradley King (lighting design); Tony Award winners Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz (sound design); Chita Rivera Award® winner and threetime Bessie Award® winner David Neumann (choreography); Liam Robinson (music direction and vocal arrangements); Tony Award winners Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose (arrangements and orchestrations); Ken Cerniglia (dramaturgy); and Stewart/Whitley (casting). Hadestown is produced on Broadway by Mara Isaacs, Dale Franzen, Hunter Arnold, and Tom Kirdahy.
The Company of HADESTOWN at NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert on March 2, 2020. Photo: NPR
The Grammy Award-winning Original Broadway Cast Recording of Hadestown from Sing It Again Records is available on CD, vinyl and streaming. The album was released digitally this summer, and topped Billboard’s Broadway Cast Recording chart, and debuted at #8 on the Top Album chart. To date, the album has been streamed over 85M times. The CD edition features a 64-page booklet and a two-disc set, while the triple vinyl edition features a 16-page booklet. Both editions include complete song lyrics and never before seen photos of the Hadestown cast and creative team in the studio, and other exclusive content.
The Company of HADESTOWN at NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert on March 2, 2020. Photo: NPRThe Company of HADESTOWN at NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert on March 2, 2020. Photo: NPRThe Company of HADESTOWN at NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert on March 2, 2020. Photo: NPRThe Company of HADESTOWN at NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert on March 2, 2020. Photo: NPR
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs.
Due to breaking news events in New York this weekend, Spectrum News NY1 and the Drama Desk organization have made the decision to postpone tonight’s planned airing of The 65th Annual Drama Desk Awards. More details on a rescheduled date and time will be made available soon. For the latest information, visit dramadeskawards.com.
“The Drama Desk celebrates all that’s outstanding in the work of New York’s diverse theater artists and craftspeople. We regret the postponement of our awards ceremony tonight but, as an organization committed to the principle that all voices must be heard, we stand together with our black colleagues against the racial injustice and violence in our nation and city. We are grateful to Spectrum News NY1 for its comprehensive news coverage of this painful moment.” —Drama Desk Co-Presidents Charles Wright & David Barbour
Founded in 1955, the Drama Desk Awards honor outstanding achievement by professional theatre artists on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway. The Drama Desk Awards are voted on and bestowed by theatre critics, journalists, editors, publishers, and broadcasters covering theatre.
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, in lieu of a traditional ceremony, the 65th Annual Drama Desk Awards will be announced during a special presentation of Spectrum News NY1’s On Stage on Sunday, May 31, at 7:30 PM. The awards special also will stream on NY1.com, and DramaDeskAwards.com.
SOFT POWER. Photos by Joan MarcusConrad Ricamora and Alyse Alan Louis. Photo Credit: Craig Schwartz
David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori’s Soft Power, produced by The Public Theater and Center Theatre Group, was nominated in eleven categories including Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Book of a Musical for David Henry Hwang, Outstanding Music for Jeanine Tesori, Outstanding Director of a Musical for Leigh Silverman, Outstanding Orchestrations for Danny Troob, John Clancy, and Larry Hochman, Outstanding Scenic Design for Clint Ramos, Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical for Anita Yavich, Outstanding Sound Design for a Musical for Kai Harada, Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for Conrad Ricamora, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical for Alyse Alan Louis and Outstanding Actor in a Musical for Francis Jue.
Sam Pinkleton, Jeanine Tesori, Francis Jue, Leigh Silverman, David Henry Hwang, Conrad Ricamora, Alyse Alan Louis. Photo by Lia Chang
Lauren Yee’s Cambodian Rock Band, produced by Signature Theatre Company, was nominated for Outstanding Play and Jue received a second Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Play for his performance as Duch.
Francis Jue as Duch in Lauren Yee’s CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND. Photo by Joan Marcus
Atlantic Theater’s Production of Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven by Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Adly Guirgis (Between Riverside and Crazy), directed by Obie Award winner John Ortiz, and co-produced with LAByrinth Theater Company, received eight nominations including Outstanding Play, Outstanding Actress in a Play for Liza Colón-Zayas, Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for Victor Almanzar and Esteban Andres Cruz, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for Kristina Poe and Elizabeth Rodriguez and Outstanding Director for John Ortiz and Outstanding Fight Choreography for UnkleDave’s Fight House.
The nominees for the 65th Annual Drama Desk Awards are:
Outstanding Play Cambodian Rock Band, by Lauren Yee, Signature Theatre Greater Clements, by Samuel D. Hunter, Lincoln Center Theater Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven, by Stephen Adly Guirgis, Atlantic Theater Company/LAByrinth Theater Company Heroes of the Fourth Turning, by Will Arbery, Playwrights Horizons The Inheritance, by Matthew Lopez
Conrad Ricamora and the cast of SOFT POWER. Photo by Joan Marcus
Outstanding Musical Octet, Signature Theatre The Secret Life of Bees, Atlantic Theater Company Soft Power, The Public Theater A Strange Loop, Playwrights Horizons/Page 73 Productions The Wrong Man, MCC Theater
Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop. Playwrights Horizons, New York, 2019. From left to right: James Jackson, Jr., John-Michael Lyles, Jason Veasey, Larry Owens, Antwayn Hopper, John-Andrew Morrison, L Morgan Lee.
Outstanding Revival of a Play Fefu and Her Friends, Theatre for a New Audience for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, The Public Theater Mac Beth, Red Bull Theater/Hunter Theater Project Much Ado About Nothing, The Public Theater A Soldier’s Play, Roundabout Theatre Company
Outstanding Revival of a Musical Little Shop of Horrors The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Transport Group West Side Story
Kendal Sparks, Charles Busch, Christopher Borg, Nancy Anderson, Jennifer Van Dyck, and Howard McGillin in THE CONFESSION OF LILY DARE. Photo by Carol Rosegg
Outstanding Actor in a Play
Charles Busch, The Confession of Lily Dare
Edmund Donovan, Greater Clements
Raúl Esparza, Seared
Francis Jue, Cambodian Rock Band
Triney Sandoval, 72 Miles to Go…
Kyle Soller, The Inheritance
Raúl Esparza in Seared. Photo by Joan MarcusEric Berryman, Jonathan Burke, April Matthis, Daniel J. Bryant, and Ezra Knight inThe Roundabout Theatre Company production of Lydia R. Diamond’s Toni Stone. Photo by Joan Marcus
Outstanding Actress in a Play
Rose Byrne, Medea
Liza Colón-Zayas, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Emily Davis, Is This A Room
April Matthis, Toni Stone
Ruth Negga, Hamlet
Outstanding Actor in a Musical
David Aron Damane, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Chris Dwan, Enter Laughing
Joshua Henry, The Wrong Man
Francis Jue, Soft Power
Larry Owens, A Strange Loop
Adrienne Warren, company, ‘Tina – The Tina Turner Musical’ Photo by Manuel Harlan
Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Tammy Blanchard, Little Shop of Horrors
Beth Malone, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Saycon Sengbloh, The Secret Life of Bees
Elizabeth Stanley, Jagged Little Pill
Adrienne Warren, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Victor Almanzar, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Esteban Andres Cruz, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
David Alan Grier, A Soldier’s Play
Paul Hilton, The Inheritance
Chris Perfetti, Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow
Elizabeth Canavan, Patrice Johnson Chevannes, Elizabeth Rodriguez & Liza Colón-Zayas. Photo by Lia Chang
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Patrice Johnson Chevannes, runboyrun & In Old Age
Kristina Poe, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Belange Rodríguez, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Elizabeth Rodriguez, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Lois Smith, The Inheritance
The cast of Emojiland, The Musical. Photo by Jeremy Daniel
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
George Abud, Emojiland
Christian Borle, Little Shop of Horrors
Jay Armstrong Johnson, Scotland, PA
Conrad Ricamora, Soft Power
Ryan Vasquez, The Wrong Man
Conrad Ricamora and Francis Jue. Photo Credit: Craig Schwartz
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Yesenia Ayala, West Side Story
Paula Leggett Chase, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
LaChanze, The Secret Life of Bees
Alyse Alan Louis, Soft Power
Lauren Patten, Jagged Little Pill
Stephen Adly Guirgis & John Ortiz. Photo by Lia Chang
Outstanding Director of a Play
Jessica Blank, Coal Country
Stephen Daldry, The Inheritance
John Ortiz, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Tina Satter, Is This A Room
Erica Schmidt, Mac Beth
Outstanding Director of a Musical
Stephen Brackett, A Strange Loop
Thomas Kail, The Wrong Man
Kathleen Marshall, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Leigh Silverman, Soft Power
Annie Tippe, Octet
Cast of Octet. Photo by Joan Marcus
Outstanding Choreography
Camille A. Brown, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, West Side Story
Keone Madrid and Mari Madrid, Beyond Babel
Kathleen Marshall, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Sonya Tayeh, Moulin Rouge!
Travis Wall, The Wrong Man
Outstanding Music
Ross Golan, The Wrong Man
Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop
Dave Malloy, Octet
Joshua Rosenblum, Einstein’s Dreams
Duncan Sheik, The Secret Life of Bees
Jeanine Tesori, Soft Power
Saycon Sengbloh, Nathaniel Stampley, Eisa Davis, Anastacia McCleskey, and LaChanze in The Secret Life of Bees. Photo: Ahron R. Foster
Outstanding Lyrics
Susan Birkenhead, The Secret Life of Bees
Adam Gwon, Scotland, PA
Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop
Joanne Sydney Lessner and Joshua Rosenblum, Einstein’s Dreams
Dave Malloy, Octet
Mark Saltzman, Romeo & Bernadette
Outstanding Book of a Musical
David Henry Hwang, Soft Power
Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop
Dave Malloy, Octet
Lynn Nottage, The Secret Life of Bees
Mark Saltzman, Romeo & Bernadette
Dick Scanlan, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Outstanding Orchestrations
Tom Kitt, Jagged Little Pill
Alex Lacamoire, The Wrong Man
Or Matias and Dave Malloy, Octet
Danny Troob, John Clancy, and Larry Hochman, Soft Power
Jonathan Tunick, West Side Story
Outstanding Music in a Play
Steve Earle, Coal Country
Frightened Rabbit, Square Go
Jim Harbourne, Feral
Martha Redbone, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Adam Seidel, Jane Bruce, and Daniel Ocanto, Original Sound
Ronete Levenson (Sue), Lindsay Rico (Paula), Helen Cespedes (Emma), Jennifer Lim (Cindy), and Brittany Bradford (Julia) in Fefu and Her Friends. Photo: Henry Grossman
Outstanding Scenic Design for a Play
Catherine Cornell, Mac Beth
Clint Ramos, Grand Horizons
Adam Rigg, Fefu and Her Friends
Paul Steinberg, Judgment Day
B.T. Whitehill, The Confession of Lily Dare
Outstanding Scenic Design for a Musical
Julian Crouch, Little Shop of Horrors
Anna Louizos, Scotland, PA
Derek McLane, Moulin Rouge!
Clint Ramos, Soft Power
Amy Rubin and Brittany Vasta, Octet
Outstanding Costume Design for a Play
Asa Benally, Blues for an Alabama Sky
Montana Levi Blanco, Fefu and Her Friends
Toni-Leslie James, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Antony McDonald, Judgment Day
Rachel Townsend and Jessica Jahn, The Confession of Lily Dare
Kaye Voyce, Coriolanus
Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical
Vanessa Leuck, Emojiland
Jeff Mahshie, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Mark Thompson, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Anita Yavich, Soft Power
Catherine Zuber, Moulin Rouge!
Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play
Isabella Byrd, Heroes of the Fourth Turning
Oona Curley, Dr. Ride’s American Beach House
Heather Gilbert, The Sound Inside
Mimi Jordan Sherin, Judgment Day
Yi Zhao, Greater Clements
Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical
Betsy Adams, The Wrong Man
Jane Cox, The Secret Life of Bees
Herrick Goldman, Einstein’s Dreams
Bruno Poet, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Justin Townsend, Moulin Rouge!
Outstanding Projection Design
David Bengali, Einstein’s Dreams
Julia Frey, Medea
Luke Halls, West Side Story
Lisa Renkel and POSSIBLE, Emojiland
Hannah Wasileski, Fires in the Mirror
Outstanding Sound Design for a Play
Paul Arditti and Christopher Reid, The Inheritance
Justin Ellington, Heroes of the Fourth Turning
Mikhail Fiksel, Dana H.
Palmer Hefferan, Fefu and Her Friends
Lee Kinney and Sanae Yamada, Is This A Room
Outstanding Sound Design for a Musical
Tom Gibbons, West Side Story
Kai Harada, Soft Power
Peter Hylenski, Moulin Rouge!
Hidenori Nakajo, Octet
Nevin Steinberg, The Wrong Man
Outstanding Wig and Hair Design
Campbell Young Associates, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Cookie Jordan, Fefu and Her Friends
Nikiya Mathis, STEW
Tom Watson, The Great Society
Bobbie Zlotnik, Emojiland
Outstanding Solo Performance
David Cale, We’re Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time
Kate del Castillo, the way she spoke
Laura Linney, My Name is Lucy Barton
Jacqueline Novak, Get on Your Knees
Deirdre O’Connell, Dana H.
Unique Theatrical Experience Beyond Babel, Hideaway Circus Feral, Tortoise in a Nutshell/Cumbernauld Theatre/59E59 Is This A Room, Vineyard Theatre Midsummer: A Banquet, Food of Love Productions/Third Rail Projects
Outstanding Fight Choreography
Vicki Manderson, Square Go
Thomas Schall, A Soldier’s Play
UnkleDave’s Fight House, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven
Rebecca Henderson and Ako in Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow. Photo by Joan Marcus
Outstanding Adaptation A Christmas Carol, by Jack Thorne Judgment Day, by Christopher Shinn Mojada, by Luis Alfaro Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow, by Halley Feiffer
Outstanding Puppet Design
Raphael Mishler, Tumacho
Rockefeller Productions, Paddington Gets in a Jam
Amanda Villalobos, Is This A Room
Special Awards:
Ensemble Award: To the eight pitch-perfect performers in Dave Malloy’s a cappella musical Octet: Adam Bashian, Kim Blanck, Starr Busby, Alex Gibson, Justin Gregory Lopez, J.D. Mollison, Margo Seibert, and Kuhoo Verma proved instrumental in giving a layered look at modern forms of addiction.
Sam Norkin Award: To actress Mary Bacon, who continued her versatile career of compassionate, searing work for such companies as The Mint, Primary Stages, The Public Theater, and The Actors Theater Company, with two of Off-Broadway’s most humane performances this season in Coal Country at the Public Theater and Nothing Gold Can Stay presented by Partial Comfort Productions.
To The Actors Fund, Seth Rudetsky, and James Wesley for connecting members of the theater community and lifting spirits during the coronavirus crisis. The Actors Fund has worked tirelessly to provide financial and health resources to those impacted by the pandemic; Rudetsky and Wesley’s semi-daily “Stars in the House” webcast is raising funds for The Actors Fund, while providing performances, reunions, and medical updates.
To The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit, a reinvention of Joseph Papp’s “Mobile Theater” that began in 1957 and evolved into the New York Shakespeare Festival and The Public Theater. The current Mobile Unit tours free Shakespeare throughout the five boroughs, including prisons, homeless shelters, and community centers, reminding audiences new and old that the play really is the thing.
To WP Theater and Julia Miles, the company’s founder who died this spring. Formerly known as The Women’s Project and Productions, the company began in 1978 at American Place Theatre, where Miles served as associate to visionary artistic director Wynn Handman, who also died this spring. WP is the largest, most enduring American company that nurtures and produces works by female-identified creators. Over a little more than four decades, it has changed the demographics of American drama through an unwavering focus on women writers, directors, producers, performers, and craftspeople.
To Claire Warden for her pioneering work as an intimacy choreographer in such recent projects as Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune and Linda Vista, and her leadership in the rapidly emerging movement of intimacy direction. As part of the creative team of Intimacy Directors & Coordinators and Director of Engagement for and co-founder of Intimacy Directors International, she is helping create theater experiences that are safer for performers and more authentic for contemporary audiences.
The evening will feature appearances by Tituss Burgess, James Corden, Kristin Chenoweth, Alan Cumming, Beanie Feldstein, Santino Fontana, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jane Krakowski, Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Cynthia Nixon, Ashley Park, Andrew Rannells, Ali Stroker, and Susan Stroman.
Founded in 1955, the Drama Desk Awards honor outstanding achievement by professional theatre artists on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway. The Drama Desk Awards are voted on and bestowed by theatre critics, journalists, editors, publishers, and broadcasters covering theatre.
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs.
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“The Drama Desk celebrates all that’s outstanding in the work of New York’s diverse theater artists and craftspeople. We regret the postponement of our awards ceremony tonight but, as an organization committed to the principle that all voices must be heard, we stand together with our black colleagues against the racial injustice and violence in our nation and city. We are grateful to Spectrum News NY1 for its comprehensive news coverage of this painful moment.” —Drama Desk Co-Presidents Charles Wright & David Barbour
