2007 Drama Desk Award Nominations Announced

Broadway stars Beth Leavel and James Naughton announced the nominees for this year’s Drama Desk Awards this morning at The Friars Club. The awards honor the best of Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway.

As previously announced, Kristin Chenoweth — who was nominated as Outstanding Actress in a Musical for The Apple Tree — will host the awards ceremony on Sunday, May 20 at the F.H. LaGuardia Concert Hall. The event will be telecast by PBS on Sunday, May 27 at 12:30pm and by NYC TV (Channel 25) on Thursday, May 24 at 8pm and Saturday, May 26 at 10pm. The ceremony will be webcast live by TheaterMania.com.

Manhattan Theatre Club’s production of LoveMusik, a new musical about the love affair between composer Kurt Weill and singer Lotte Lenya, received 12 nominations — the most for any show. Three other Broadway musicals, Curtains, Legally Blonde, and Spring Awakening, received 10 nominations each. The Off-Broadway musical In the Heights received nine nominations as well as a special award for Outstanding Ensemble (which meant none of its cast members were eligible for individual awards).

Tom Stoppard’s The Coast of Utopia received 10 nominations, the most for any play, while Frost/Nixon and Jack Goes Boating each received four nominations. Company received six nominations, the most for any revival. In total, 34 shows received two or more nominations.

The Broadway show Deuce was declared ineligible by its producers, while Grey Gardens, a winner last year, did not have enough new elements to be deemed eligible. Among the eligible Broadway shows that were shut out of nominations are the revival of A Chorus Line, Prelude to a Kiss, The Vertical Hour, The Times They Are A-Changin’, Butley, Translations, and Losing Louie.

In some categories, individuals received multiple nominations. Jerry Mitchell was nominated for both direction and choreography of Legally Blonde; Jonathan Tunick was nominated for his orchestrations of The Apple Tree and LoveMusik; David Korins was nominated for the sets of Essential Self-Defense and Jack Goes Boating; Scott Pask was nominated for the sets of The Coast of Utopia and Blackbird; and Anna Louizos was nominated for the sets of Curtains and In the Heights. Bob Crowley also received two nominations, one for the sets of The Coast of Utopia and one for the sets of Mary Poppins.

This year’s nominating committee consists of Barbara Siegel, chairperson (TalkinBroadway.com, TheaterMania.com); Glenda Frank (Plays International, nytheatre-wire.com); Tony Phillips (New York Press); Andrew Propst (Americantheatreweb.com and XM Sattelite Radio); Richard Ridge (Broadway Beat TV); and William Wolf, Drama Desk President (Wolfentertainmentguide.com).

A complete list of nominees and special award winners follows:

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Outstanding Play:
David Harrower, Blackbird
Terrence McNally, Some Men
Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon

Tom Stoppard, The Coast of Utopia
Bernard Weinraub, The Accomplices
August Wilson, Radio Golf

Outstanding Musical:
Curtains
In the Heights
Legally Blonde
LoveMusik
Mary Poppins
Spring Awakening

Outstanding Revival of a Play:
The Hairy Ape
Hedda Gabler
Journey’s End
Talk Radio
The Taming of the Shrew
Woyzeck

Outstanding Revival of a Musical:
110 in the Shade
The Apple Tree
Company
Di Yam Gazlonim!
H.M.S. Pinafore
Les Miserables

Outstanding Actor in a Play:
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jack Goes Boating
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Brían F. O’Byrne, The Coast of Utopia
Christopher Plummer, Inherit the Wind
Liev Schreiber, Talk Radio
Kevin Spacey, A Moon for the Misbegotten
Paul Sparks, Essential Self-Defense

Outstanding Actress in a Play:
Eve Best, A Moon for the Misbegotten
Orlagh Cassidy, The Field
Blythe Danner, Suddenly Last Summer
Jennifer Mudge, Dutchman
Sandra Oh, Satellites
Annie Parisse, The Internationalist
Meryl Streep, Mother Courage and Her Children

Outstanding Actor in a Musical:
Michael Cerveris, LoveMusik
Raúl Esparza, Company
John Gallagher, Jr., Spring Awakening
Jonathan Groff, Spring Awakening
David Hyde Pierce, Curtains
Martin Short, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me

Outstanding Actress in a Musical:
Ashley Brown, Mary Poppins
Laura Bell Bundy, Legally Blonde
Kristin Chenoweth, The Apple Tree
Audra McDonald, 110 in the Shade
Lea Michele, Spring Awakening
Donna Murphy, LoveMusik

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play:
Anthony Chisholm, Radio Golf
Billy Crudup, The Coast of Utopia
Boyd Gaines, Journey’s End
John Ortiz, Jack Goes Boating
Andrew Polk, The Accomplices
Frederick Weller, Some Men

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play:
Myriam Acharki, Woyzeck
Xanthe Elbrick, Coram Boy
Sarah Nina Hayon, Rearviewmirror
Jan Maxwell, Coram Boy
Martha Plimpton, The Coast of Utopia
Rita Wolf, The American Pilot

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical:
Brooks Ashmanskas, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me
Christian Borle, Legally Blonde
Aaron Lazar, Les Misérables
Gavin Lee, Mary Poppins
Orville Mendoza, Adrift in Macao
David Pittu, LoveMusik

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical:
Linda Balgord, The Pirate Queen
Celia Keenan-Bolger, Les Misérables
Debra Monk, Curtains
Orfeh, Legally Blonde
Barbara Walsh, Company
Karen Ziemba, Curtains

Outstanding Director of a Play:
Declan Donnellan, Twelfth Night
Michael Grandage, Frost/Nixon
Doug Hughes, Inherit the Wind
Jack O’Brien, The Coast of Utopia
Ciarán O’Reilly, The Hairy Ape
Tom Ridgely, Marco Millions (based on lies)

Outstanding Director of a Musical:
John Doyle, Company
Thomas Kail, In the Heights
Michael Mayer, Spring Awakening
Jerry Mitchell, Legally Blonde
Harold Prince, LoveMusik
Alex Timbers, Gutenberg! The Musical!

Outstanding Choreography:
Patricia Birch, LoveMusik
Andy Blankenbuehler, In the Heights
Matthew Bourne, Edward Scissorhands
Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear, Mary Poppins
Bill T. Jones, Spring Awakening
Jerry Mitchell, Legally Blonde

Outstanding Music:
John Kander, Curtains
Paul Leschen, Twist: Please, Sir, May I Have Some More?
Peter Melnick, Adrift in Macao
Lin-Manuel Miranda, In the Heights
Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, Legally Blonde
Duncan Sheik, Spring Awakening

Outstanding Lyrics:
Fred Ebb with added lyrics by John Kander and Rupert Holmes, Curtains
Lin-Manuel Miranda, In the Heights
Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, Legally Blonde
Steven Sater, Spring Awakening
Bill Strauss, Elaina Newport and Mark Eaton, Capitol Steps
Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me

Outstanding Book of a Musical:
Scott Brown and Anthony King, Gutenberg! The Musical!
Julian Fellowes, Mary Poppins
Heather Hach, Legally Blonde
Rupert Holmes and Peter Stone, Curtains
Steven Sater, Spring Awakening
Alfred Uhry, LoveMusik

Outstanding Music for a Play:
Mark Bennett, The Coast of Utopia
Adam Cork, Frost/Nixon
Gerard McBurney, Oliver Twist
The Propeller Company, The Taming of the Shrew
Ray Rizzo, Adam Rapp, and Lucas Papaelias, Essential Self-Defense
David Van Tieghem, Inherit the Wind

Outstanding Orchestrations:
William David Brohn, Curtains
Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Company
Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman, In the Heights
Duncan Sheik, Spring Awakening
Jonathan Tunick, The Apple Tree
Jonathan Tunick, LoveMusik

Outstanding Set Design of a Play:
Bob Crowley and Scott Pask, The Coast of Utopia
David Gallo, Radio Golf
David Korins, Essential Self-Defense
David Korins, Jack Goes Boating
Garin Marschall, Hell House
Scott Pask, Blackbird

Outstanding Set Design of a Musical:
Beowulf Boritt, LoveMusik
Bob Crowley, Mary Poppins
Anna Louizos, Curtains
Anna Louizos, In the Heights
David Rockwell, Legally Blonde
Kris Stone, Brundibar/But the Giraffe

Outstanding Costume Design:
Mara Blumenfeld, Lookingglass Alice
Judith Dolan, LoveMusik
William Ivey Long, Curtains
Santo Loquasto, Suddenly Last Summer
Robert Morgan, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical
Catherine Zuber, The Coast of Utopia

Outstanding Lighting Design:
Howell Binkley LoveMusik
Maruti Evans, Blindness
Paul Gallo, Blackbird
Jonathan Mark, Prometheus Bound
Kenneth Posner, Brian MacDevitt, Natasha Katz, The Coast of Utopia
Japhy Weideman, Jack Goes Boating

Outstanding Sound Design:
Acme Sound Partners, In the Heights
Mark Bennett, The Coast of Utopia
Gregory Clarke, Journey’s End
Duncan Robert Edwards, LoveMusik
Frank Gaeta, Dai (enough)
Richard Woodbury, Talk Radio

Outstanding Solo Performance:
Iris Bahr, Dai (enough)
Ed Harris, Wrecks
Capathia Jenkins, (mis)Understanding Mammy: The Hattie McDaniel Story
Anna Manahan, Sisters
Vanessa Redgrave, The Year of Magical Thinking
Nilaja Sun, No Child…

Unique Theatrical Experience:
Absinthe
Amajuba: Like Doves We Rise
Be
Brundibar/But the Giraffe
Edward Scissorhands
Hell House

Special Award Winners:
Outstanding Ensemble: In the Heights
Outstanding Ensemble: Lebensraum
John Kander and Fred Ebb
Austin Pendleton
Transport Group
National Yiddish Theatre Folksbeine