DRAMA DESK AWARDS: 2016 Winners to be Named at Ceremony on June 5. Nominees and My Choices

The Drama Desk will be honoring the winners of its 2016 awards at ceremonies to be held on June 5 at Town Hall. 

Below is the list of nominees in each of the categories, along with my choices. Note that while there is overlap with the Outer Critics Circle Awards (discussed here), each organization functions independently, including how it identifies candidates for each of its categories.  

Best Play
The Christians
The Humans
John
King Charles III
The Royale

Best Play Revival

Cloud Nine 

Death Of A Salesman (New Yiddish Rep)

Henry IV (Donmar Warehouse at St. Ann's)

Long Day's Journey Into Night

A View From The Bridge

Women Without Men (Mint Theater)

Best Actor In A Play

Andrew Garman: The Christians

Avi Hoffman: Death of a Salesman

Frank Langella: The Father

Tim Pigott-Smith: King Charles III

Mark Strong: A View from the Bridge

Best Actress In A Play

Georgia Engel: John

Mamie Gummer: Ugly Lies the Bone 

Marin Ireland: Ironbound 

Jessica Lange: Long Day's Journey Into Night

Nicola Walker: A View From The Bridge

Best Featured Actor/Play
Bill Camp: The Crucible
David Furr: Noises Off
Matt McGrath: The Legend Of Georgia McBride
Richard Thomas: Incident At Vichy
Michael Shannon: Long Day's Journey Into Night

Best Featured Actress/Play
Brooke Bloom: Cloud Nine
Megan Hilty: Noises Off
Nellie Overbey: Women Without Men
Saycon Sengbloh: Eclipsed
Jeanine Serralles: Gloria

Best Director Of A Play
Rachel Chavkin: The Royale
Sam Gold: John
Rupert Goold: King Charles III
Joe Mantello: The Humans
Jenn Thompson: Women Without Men
Ivo van Hove: A View From The Bridge

Best Musical

First Daughter Suite
Daddy Long Legs
School of Rock
Shuffle Along
Waitress


Best Musical Revival
The Color Purple
The Golden Bride (National Yiddish Theater)
Fiddler On The Roof
She Loves Me
Spring Awakening

Best Actor In A Musical
Danny Burstein: Fiddler On The Roof
Robert Creighton: Cagney
Michael C. Hall: Lazarus
Zachary Levi: She Loves Me
Benjamin Walker:  American Psycho


Best Actress In A Musical
Laura Bennati: She Loves Me
Carmen Cusack: Bright Star
Cynthia Erivo: The Color Purple
Jessie Mueller: Waitress
Annette O'Toole: Southern Comfort

Best Featured Actor In A Musical
Nicholas Barasch: She Loves Me
Christopher Fitzgerald: Waitress
Baylee Littrell: Disaster!
Paul Alexander Nolan: Bright Star
A. J. Shively: Bright Star

Best Featured Actress in a Musical
Danielle Brooks: The Color Purple
Alison Fraser: First Daughter Suite
Rachel Bay Jones: Dear Evan Hansen
Jane Krakowski: She Loves Me
Mary Testa: First Daughter Suite

Best Director of a Musical
Michael Arden: Spring Awakening
John Doyle: The Color Purple
Rupert Goold: American Psycho
Bartlett Sher: Fiddler On The Roof
Bryna Wasserman/Motl Didner: The Golden Bride


Best Choreographer
Joshua Bagasse: Cagney
Spencer Liff: Spring Awakening
Lynne Page: American Psycho
Randy Skinner: Dames At Sea
Savion Glover: Shuffle Along

Best Costume Design/Play
Jessica Ford: These Paper Bullets
Maria Hally: Women Without Men
Constance Hoffman: Pericles
William Ivey Long: Show For Days
Anita Yavich: The Legend of Georgia McBride

Best Costume Design/Musical
Jane Greenwood: Bright Star
Katrina Lindsay: American Psycho
Jeff Mahshie: She Loves Me
Alejo Vietti: Allegiance
Ann Roth: Shuffle Along


Best Set Design/Play
Riccardo Hernandez: Red Speedo
Mimi Lien:  John
G. W. Mercier: Head of Passes
Christopher Oram: Hughie
Derek McLane: Fully Committed

Best Set Design/Musical
Es Devlin: American Psycho
Emily Oring, Matt Saunders, Eric Farber: Futurity
David Rockwell: She Loves Me

Outstanding Projection Design
Nicholas Hussong: These Paper Bullets
Darrel Maloney: Tappin' Thru Life
Peter Nigrini: Dear Evan Hansen
Finn Ross: American Psycho
Tai Yarden: Lazarus

Feel free to share this blog with your friends, and to offer up your own theater stories by posting a comment. I also invite you to check out the new website Show-Score.Com, where you will find capsule reviews of current plays from Yours Truly and many other New York critics.  

2016 OUTER CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS: An Analysis

The Outer Critics Circle winners were announced at midnight. Here's how my picks turned out, along with an analysis of the winners, non-winners, and some that did not make it onto the final list of nominees. As an FYI, Hamilton was not eligible for consideration, as its Off Broadway production at the Public Theater won last year. And Shuffle Along opened too late for voters to be able to see it in time for this year's awards; it will be eligible for next year. 

To begin with, we agreed on the winners in 9 (or 9.5 if you include the tie for outstanding featured actress) of the 25 competitive categories. Here's where we concurred:

Outstanding Solo Performance
James Lecesne, The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey.

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical
Dear Evan Hansen

Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Cynthia Erivo: The Color Purple

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Christopher Fitzgerald: Waitress

Outstanding Director of a Musical
Michael Arden: Spring Awakening

Outstanding Book of a Musical
Dear Evan Hansen

Outstanding Choreographer
Sergio Trujillo: On Your Feet!

Outstanding Lighting Design
Justin Townsend: American Psycho

Outstanding Projection Design
Finn Ross:  American Psycho

All things being equal, I prefer a strong ensemble effort over allowing the performers to take turns in the spotlight.  Similarly, I am more drawn to innovative productions over the tried-and-true.  Where my choices veer from the winners, you'll see these predilections reflected in my thinking. 

Outstanding New Broadway Play
The Humans edged out my pick, Eclipsed.  I actually thought they were equally good. I selected Eclipsed because of its broader global significance. On the other hand, as a production, The Humans was nigh unto flawless, a view supported by my selections for outstanding actor, actress, and director.

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play
The Christians won over my selection, Hold On To Me Darling. If truth be told, I thought there were better plays that didn't make the cut.  Among these was Red Speedo, written by Lucas Hnath, the same playwright who gave us The Christians. Others were Martyna Majok's Ironbound, Tarell Alvin McCraney's Head of Passes, and Anna Ziegler's Boy, though the best of the lot was Annie Baker's John, which held me spellbound for its entire three-and-a-quarter-hours running time.

John Gassner Playwriting Award for American Play
Marco Ramirez's The Royale took the award over my favorite, Boy, written by Anna Ziegler. The Royale benefited from a truly compelling production under Rachel Chavkin's direction, but Boy struck me as the better play, with its sensitive handling of the potentially tabloid-screaming subject matter of gender identity and the "nature vs. nurture" debate. 

Outstanding Revival of a Play
Long Day's Journey Into Night got the nod over my pick, The Crucible. I thought the production of Long Day's Journey Into Night lacked the kind of ensemble feel I look for, with too much over-the-top idiosyncratic acting vying for our attention. Actually, I thought the Signature Theatre's production of Incident At Vichy was better than either of these.

Outstanding Actor in a Play
Frank Langella was the winner for his brave and emotionally powerful performance as a man getting further and further lost in the crushing jaws of Alzheimers in The Father. No complaints here, but my preference was for Reed Birney for his portrayal of a man who was also lost (though for different reasons) in The Humans. Missing from the list of nominees was Bobby Steggert, for his richly layered performance in Boy.

Outstanding Actress in a Play
The winner, Jessica Lange, gave a rich and starry performance as Mary Tyrone in Long Day's Journey Into Night. I picked Jayne Houdyshell for her equally stellar work in The Humans.  I was surprised at not seeing Phylicia Rashad on the list of nominees for her fiery performance in Head of Passes, or Georgia Engel for her terrific work in John. 

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Michael Shannon won for Long Day's Journey Into Night.  I chose Sanjit De Silva for his work in the satirical Dry Powder at the Public, but missing from the nominations was the standout performance of Richard Thomas as the conscious-stricken aristocrat in Incident At Vichy.

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
I went back and forth between Pascale Armand in Eclipsed and Judith Light in the otherwise jaw-droppingly gothic Thérèse Requin. I went with Pascale Armand, but how nice that they tied.

Outstanding Director of a Play
Ivo van Hove got the award for his direction of A View From The Bridge, over my preference of Joe Mantello for The Humans. I found the production of A View From The Bridge to be decidedly overwrought, and that of The Humans to be...well...more human.

Outstanding New Broadway Musical
I really liked Bright Star, and I am not unhappy that it won over my choice of Waitress. Neither was perfect, but both boast excellent casts and big-hearted stories. I thought another contender, American Psycho, had potential but that it was presented with the wrong tone: too tongue-in-cheek where it needed to exude irony.

Outstanding Revival of a Musical
She Loves Me, the much-loved 1963 romantic comedy by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, won over John Doyle's reimagined version of The Color Purple and Deaf West's production of Spring Awakening -- both of which more than justified their quick appearance after recent original Broadway runs. I opted for Spring Awakening's innovative take on the original (which closed just six years ago), for its seamless integration of deaf and hearing actors, along with one cast member in a wheelchair and terrific performances all around. The creative team behind the revival of She Loves Me opted to give each of its very talented cast members an opportunity to shine in individual numbers -- an approach that takes away from the ensemble feel.  

Outstanding Actor in a Musical
What's not to like about Danny Burstein? Loved him in the pitch perfect revival of Lanford Wilson's Talley's Folly, and in the musical revivals of South Pacific, Follies, and Cabaret. He's also doing beautiful work as Tevye in Fiddler On The Roof, a performance that deservedly garnered the Outer Critics Circle award. My pick, however, was Alex Brightman, whose acting career hit the big time with his starring role in School of Rock. Keep an eye, too, on Ben Platt, especially if Dear Evan Hansen makes the leap to Broadway.

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Jane Krakowski won for her excellent performance in She Loves Me. I went for Andrea Burns's tangy turn as Gloria Estefan's mother in On Your Feet!, a standout performance that helped to raise the quality of that show above that of the typical jukebox musical.

Outstanding New Score
I very much enjoyed Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's bluegrass-infused score for the winning Bright Star, but I went with Dear Evan Hansen by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who also penned the equally excellent Dogfight and A Christmas Story.

Outstanding Costume Design
Jeff Mashie won for She Loves Me. I was more taken with ESosa's colorful salsa-inspired costumes for On Your Feet!

Outstanding Set Design
David Rockwell won for She Loves Me. I opted, instead, for Mimi Lien's lovely old creaky boarding house in John. Someone I wish had been included as a nominee was G. W. Mercier for the highly imaginative and versatile design for Head of Passes.  

So that's a wrap.  Next up, we'll take a look at the nominations for the Drama Desk Awards.  


Feel free to share this blog with your friends, and to offer up your own theater stories by posting a comment. I also invite you to check out the new website Show-Score.Com, where you will find capsule reviews of current plays from Yours Truly and many other New York critics.

OUTER CRITICS CIRCLE: 2016 Theater Awards To Be Announced Tomorrow. Nominees and My Choices.

The Outer Critics Circle, now celebrating its 66th year of recognizing outstanding achievement in Broadway and Off-Broadway theater, will be identifying the winners of the 2016 awards on Monday, May 9.   

Here is the list of nominees in each of the categories, along with my choices.  

Outstanding New Broadway Play

Eclipsed

The Father 

The Humans

King Charles III

Thérèse Requin

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play

The Christians

Familiar

Gloria

Hold On To Me Darling

The Legend of Georgia McBride

John Gassner Playwriting Award for American Play

Lindsey Ferrentino: Ugly Lies The Bone

Lauren Gunderson: I And You

Martyna Majok: Ironbound

Marco Ramirez: The Royale

Anna Ziegler: Boy

Outstanding Revival of a Play

Blackbird

The Crucible

Fool for Love

Long Day's Journey Into Night

A View From The Bridge

Outstanding Actor in a Play

Reed Birney: The Humans

Gabriel Byrne: Long Day's Journey Into Night

Frank Langella: The Father

Mark Strong: A View From The Bridge

Ben Whishaw: The Crucible

Outstanding Actress in a Play

Jayne Houdyshell: The Humans

Jessica Lange: Long Day's Journey Into Night

Lupita Nyong'o: Eclipsed

Nicola Walker: A View from the Bridge

Michelle Williams: Blackbird

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play

Sanjit De Silva: Dry Powder

Matt McGrath: The Legend of Georgia McBride

Jim Norton: The Crucible

Robert Sella: Sylvia

Michael Shannon: Long Day's Journey Into Night

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play

Pascale Armand: Eclipsed

Zainab Jah: Eclipsed

Judith Light: Thérèse Requin

Seycon Sengbloh: Eclipsed

Myra Lucretia Taylor: Familiar

Outstanding Solo Performance

Mike Bisbiglia: Thank God For Jokes

Kathleen Chalfont: Rose

Anne Hathaway: Grounded

James Lecesne: The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey

Daphne Rubin-Vega: Empanada Loca

Outstanding Director of a Play

Evan Cabnet: Gloria

Mike Donahue: The Legend of Georgia McBride

Rupert Goold: King Charles III

Joe Mantello: The Humans

Ivo van Hove: A View From The Bridge

Outstanding New Broadway Musical

American Psycho

Bright Star

On Your Feet!

Tuck Everlasting

Waitress

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical

Cagney

Daddy Long Legs

Dear Evan Hansen

Lazarus

Southern Comfort

Outstanding Revival of a Musical

The Color Purple

Dames At Sea

Fiddler On The Roof

She Loves Me

Spring Awakening

Outstanding Actor in a Musical

Alex Brightman:  School of Rock

Danny Burstein: Fiddler on the Roof

Robert Creighton: Cagney

Ben Platt:  Dear Evan Hansen

Benjamin Walker: American Psycho

Outstanding Actress in a Musical

Laura Benanti: She Loves Me

Carmen Cusack: Bright Star

Cynthia Erivo: The Color Purple

Jessie Mueller: Waitress

Ana Villafañe:  On Your Feet!

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical

Nicholas Barasch: She Loves Me

Roger Bart: Disaster!

Michael Esper: Lazarus

Christopher Fitzgerald: Waitress

Terrence Mann: Tuck Everlasting

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical

Danielle Brooks: The Color Purple

Andrea Burns: On Your Feet!

Sophia Anne Caruso: Lazarus

Jane Krakowski: She Loves Me

Heléne Yorke: American Psycho

Outstanding Director of a Musical

Michael Arden: Spring Awakening

Walter Bobbie: Bright Star

Scott Ellis: She Loves Me

Rupert Goold: American Psycho

Michael Greif: Dear Evan Hansen

Outstanding Book of a Musical

Bright Star

Daddy Long Legs

Dear Evan Hansen

Lazarus

On Your Feet!

Outstanding New Score

American Psycho

Bright Star

Daddy Long Legs

Dear Evan Hansen

Waitress

Outstanding Choreographer

Joshua Bagasse: Cagney

Spencer Liff: Spring Awakening

Josh Rhodes: Bright Star

Randy Skinner: Dames At Sea

Sergio Trujillo: On Your Feet!

Outstanding Costume Design

ESosa:  On Your Feet!

Jane Greenwood: Bright Star

Katrina Lindsay: American Psycho

Jeff Mahshie: She Loves Me

Tom Scutt: King Charles III

Outstanding Set Design

Beowulf Buritt: Thérèse Requin

David Korins: Misery

Mimi Lien: John

David Rockwell: She Loves Me

Walt Spangler: Tuck Everlasting

Outstanding Lighting Design

Donald Holder: She Loves Me

Natasha Katz: Long Day's Journey Into Night

Kenneth Posner: On Your Feet!

Ben Stanton: Spring Awakening

Justin Townsend: American Psycho

Outstanding Projection Design

Lucy MacKinnon: Spring Awakening

Peter Nigrini: Grounded

Peter Nigrini: Dear Evan Hansen

Finn Ross:  American Psycho

Tal Yarden: Lazarus

Feel free to share this blog with your friends, and to offer up your own theater stories by posting a comment. I also invite you to check out the new website Show-Score.Com, where you will find capsule reviews of current plays from Yours Truly and many other New York critics.