The Drama Desk Awards 2012 *with some extra 'orchestrated' controversy

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Posted: 5/6/12 at 6:25pm

Nominations for the 57th Annual Drama Desk Awards were announced on Fri 27th Apr 2012 at Feinstein's at Loews Regency by Drama Desk Award winners Brian d' Arcy James and Donna Murphy.

The winners of the 57th Annual Drama Desk Awards will be announced on 3rd Jun 2012 at a ceremony held at The Town Hall in Manhattan.

The annual awards honor excellence in theater for Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway during the season.
The musical 'Death Takes a Holiday' leads the slate with eleven nominations.
'Follies' received ten nominations.


The 2012 Drama Desk Award nominations by category:

**Outstanding Play:
David Henry Hwang: Chinglish
Dan LeFranc: The Big Meal
Members of the Plastic Theatre: Unnatural Acts
Ita mar Moses: Completeness
Lynn Nottage: By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
Nina Raine: Tribes
Nicky Silver: The Lyons

**Outstanding Musical:
Bonnie & Clyde
Death Takes a Holiday
Leap of Faith
Newsies The Musical
Nice Work If You Can Get It
Once
Queen of the Mist

**Outstanding Revival of a Play:
A Little Journey
Death of a Salesman
Edward Albee's The Lady from Dubuque
Gore Vidal's The Best Man
Lost in Yonkers
Richard III

**Outstanding Revival of a Musical:
Carrie
Evita
Follies
Jesus Christ Superstar
The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
The Threepenny Opera

**Outstanding Actor in a Play:
James Corden: One Man, Two Guvnors
Hugh Dancy: Venus in Fur
Claybourne Elder: One Arm
Santino Fontana: Sons of the Prophet
Joseph Franchini: The Navigator
Philip Seymour Hoffman: Death of a Salesman
Kevin Spacey: Richard III

**Outstanding Actress in a Play:
Tracie Bennett: End of the Rainbow
Sanaa Lathan: By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
Linda Lavin: The Lyons
Jennifer Lim: Chinglish
Kim Martin-Cotten: A Moon for the Misbegotten
Carey Mulligan: Through a Glass Darkly
Joely Richardson: Side Effects

**Outstanding Actor in a Musical:
Danny Burstein: Follies
Kevin Earley: Death Takes a Holiday
Raul Esparza: Leap of Faith
Jeremy Jordan: Newsies The Musical
Norm Lewis: The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
Ricky Martin: Evita

**Outstanding Actress in a Musical:
Miche Braden: The DeviI's Music: The Life & Blues of Bessie Smith
Jan Maxwell: Follies
Audra McDonald: The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
Kelli O'Hara: Nice Work If You Can Get It
Bernadette Peters: Follies
Molly Ranson: Carrie

**Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play:
Bill Camp: Oeath of a Salesman
Jim Dale: The Road to Mecca
Tom Edden: One Man, Two Guvnors
Bill Irwin: King Lear
Jefferson Mays: Blood and Gifts
Will Rogers: Unnatural Acts
Morgan Spector: Russian Transport

**Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play:
Stephanie J. Block: By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
Anna Camp: All New People
Kimberly Hebert Gregory: By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
Lisa Joyce: The Ugly One
Joaquina Kalukango: Hurt Village
Angela Lansbury: Gore Vidal's The Best Man
Judith Light: Other Desert Cities

**Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical:
Phillip Boykin: The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
Matt Cavenaugh: Death Takes a Holiday
Michael Cerveris: Evita
Michael McGrath: Nice Work If You Can Get It
Patrick Page: Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
Andrew Samonsky: Queen of the Mist

**Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical:
Judy Kaye: Nice Work If You Can Get It
Marin Mazzie: Carrie
Jessie Mueller: On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
Elaine Paige: Follies
Sarah Sokolovic: The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World
Melissa van der Schyff: Bonnie & Clyde

**Outstanding Director of a Play:
Jo Bonney: By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
David Cromer: Tribes
Ed Sylvanus Iskandar: These Seven Sicknesses
Sam Mendes: Richard III
Mike Nichols: Death of a Salesman
Tony Speciale: Unnatural Acts

**Outstanding Director of a Musical:
Christopher Ashley: Leap of Faith
Jack Cummings III: Queen of the Mist
Doug Hughes: Death Takes a Holiday
Kathleen Marshall: Nice Work If You Can Get It
Eric Schaeffer: Follies
John Tiffany: Once

**Outstanding Choreography:
Rob Ashford: Evita
Warren Carlyle: Follies
Breandan de Gallal: Noctu
Christopher Gattelli: Newsies The Musical
Kathleen Marshall: Nice Work If You Can Get It
Sergio Trujillo: Leap of Faith

**Outstanding Music:
Glen Hansard and Marketa lrqlova: Once
Michael John LaChiusa: Queen of the Mist
Alan Menken: Leap of Faith
Alan Menken: Newsies The Musical
Frank Wildhorn: Bonnie & Clyde
Maury Yeston: Death Takes a Holiday

**Outstanding Lyrics:
Don Black: Bonnie & Clyde
Jack Feldman: Newsies The Musical
Joy Gregory and Gunnar Madsen: The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World
Glen Hansard and Marketa lrqlova: Once
Michael John LaChiusa: Queen of the Mist
Maury Yeston. Death Takes a Holiday

**Outstanding Book of a Musical:
Douglas Carter Beane: Lysistrata Jones
Janus Cercone and Warren Leight: Leap of Faith
Joe DiPietro: Nice Work If You Can Get It
Joy Gregory: The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World
Michael John LaChiusa: Queen of the Mist
Thomas Meehan and Peter Stone: Death Takes a Holiday

**Outstanding Music in a Play
Mark Bennett: An Iliad
Mark Bennett: Richard III
Tom Kitt: All's Well That Ends Well
Gina Leishman: Septimus and Clarissa
Grant Olding: One Man, Two Guvnors
Suzanne Vega and Duncan Sheik: Carson McCullers Talks About Love

**Outstanding Revue
Newsical the Musical: End of the World Edition
The Best Is Yet to Come: The Music of Cy Coleman

**Outstanding Set Design:
Jon Driscoll, Rob Howell and Paul Kieve: Ghost The Musical
David Gallo: The Mountaintop
Roger Hanna: A Little Journey
David Korins: Assistance
David Korins: Chinglish
Derek McLane: Follies

**Outstanding Costume Design:
Gregg Barnes: Follies
ESosa: By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
William Ivey Long: Lucky Guy
Jessica Pabst: She Kills Monsters
Martin Pakledinaz: Nice Work If You Can Get It
Catherine Zuber: Death Takes a Holiday

**Outstanding Lighting Design:
Kevin Adams: Carrie
Neil Austin: Evita
David Lander: One Arm
Brian MacDevitt: Death of a Salesman
Kenneth Posner: Death Takes a Holiday
Paul Pyant: Richard III

**Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical:
Acme Sound Partners: The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
Jonathan Deans: Carrie
Clive Goodwin: Once
Kai Harada: Follies
Steve Canyon Kennedy: Jesus Christ Superstar
Jon Weston: Death Takes a Holiday

**Outstanding Sound Design in a Play:
Quentin Chiappetta/mediaNoise: The Navigator
Gregory Clarke: Misterman
Gareth Fry: Richard III
John Gromada: Gore Vidal's The Best Man
Stowe Nelson: Samuel and Alasdair: A Personal History of the Robot War
Shane Rettig: She Kills Monsters

**Outstanding Solo Performnce:
Baba Brinkman: The Rap Guide to Evolution
Suli Holum: Chimera
Jeff Key: The Eyes of Babylon
Cillian Murphy: Misterman
Denis O'Hare: An Iliad
Stephen Spinella: An Iliad

**Unique Theatrical Experience:
Give Me Your Hand
Gob Squad's Kitchen (You've Never Had It So Good)
Noctu
The Complete & Condensed Stage Directions of Eugene O'Neill, Vol. 1: Early Plays/Lost Plays
The Ryan Case 1873
White
Note: The nominating committee made the following decisions related to the scope of technical award nominations:

Basil Twist’s puppetry was included in the nomination for Outstanding Set Design for The Addams Family.

Bob Flanagan's puppet and mask design were included in the Outstanding Costume Design nomination for The Emperor Jones.

Fela! was considered last season in its off-Broadway premiere and received four nominations— Outstanding Musical; Sahr Ngaujah as Outstanding Actor in a Musical; Bill T. Jones for Outstanding Choreography and Aaron Johnson and Antibalas were nominated for Outstanding Orchestrations. Under Drama Desk rules, only new elements in a transfer can be considered.

Ragtime: The musical was initially nominated in two categories: Outstanding Costume Design: Santo Loquasto and Outstanding Orchestrations: William David Brohn. Both nominations were later removed as the Drama Desk Award's committee decided that both the costumes and the orchastrations were two similar to the earlier 1998 production of Ragtime, that both artists worked on.

Productions that received multiple nominations:

**Death Takes a Holiday
(11 nominations) Outstanding Musical
Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Outstanding Director of a Musical
Outstanding Music
Outstanding Lyrics
Outstanding Book of a Musical
Outstanding Orchestrations
Outstanding Costume Design
Outstanding Lighting Design
Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical

**Follies
(10 nominations) Outstanding Revival of a Musical
Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Outstanding Actress in a Musical (x2)
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Outstanding Director of a Musical
Outstanding Choreography
Outstanding Set Design
Outstanding Costume Design
Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical

**Nice Work If You Can Get It
(9 nominations) Outstanding Musical
Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Outstanding Featurd Actor in a Musical
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Outstanding Director of a Musical
Outstanding Choreography
Outstanding Orchestrations
Outstanding Book of a Musical
Outstanding Costume Design

**Queen of the Mist
(7 nominations) Outstanding Musical
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Outstanding Director of a Musical
Outstanding Music
Outstanding Lyrics
Outstanding Book of a Musical
Outstanding Orchestrations

**By the Way Meet Vera Stark
(6 nominations) Outstanding Play
Outstanding Actress in a Play
Outstanding Feaured Actress in a Play (x2)
Outstanding Director of a Play
Outstanding Costume Design

**Leap of Faith
(6 nominations) Outstanding Musical
Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Outstanding Director of a Musical
Outstanding Choreography
Outstanding Music
Outstanding Book of a Musical

**Newsies the Musical
(6 nominations) Outstanding Musical
Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Outstanding Choreography
Outstanding Music
Outstanding Lyrics
Outstanding Orchestrations

**Once
(6 nominations) Outstanding Musical
Outstanding Director of a Musical
Outstanding Music
Outstanding Orchestrations
Outstanding Lyrics
Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical

**Richard III
(6 nominations) Outstanding Revival of a Play
Outstanding Actor in a Play
Outstanding Director of a Play
Outstanding Music in a Play
Outstanding Light Design
Outstanding Sound Design in a Play

**Bonnie & Clyde
(5 nominations) Outstanding Musical
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Outstanding Music
Outstanding Lyrics
Outstanding Orchestrations

**Carrie
(5 nominations) Outstanding Revival of a Musical
Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Outstanding Lighting Design
Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical

**Death of a Salesman
(5 nominations) Outstanding Revival of a Play
Outstanding Actor in a Play
Outstanding Director of a Play
Outstanding Orchestrations
Outstanding Lighting Design

**Evita
(5 nominations) Outstanding revival of a Musical
Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Outstanding Choreography
Outstanding Lighting Design

**The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
(5 nominations) Outstanding Revival of a Musical
Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical

**An Iliad
(3 nominations) Outstanding Music in a Play
Outstanding Solo Performance (x2)

**Chinglish:
(3 nominations) Outstanding Play
Outstanding Actress in a Play
Outstanding Set Design

**Gore Vidal's The Best Man
(3 nominations) Outstanding Revival of a Play
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Outstanding Sound Design in a Play

**One Man, Two Guvnors
(3 nominations) Outstanding Actor in a Play
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Outstanding Music in a Play

**The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World
(3 nominations) Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Outstanding Lyrics
Outstanding Book of a Musical

**Unnatural Acts
(3 nominations) Outstanding Play
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Outstanding Director of a Play

**A Little Journey
(2 nominations) Outstanding Revival of a Play
Outstanding Set Design

**Jesus Christ Superstar
(2 nominations) Outstanding Revival of a Musical
Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical

**Misterman
(2 nominations) Outstanding Sound Design in a Play
Outstanding Solo Performance

**Noctu
(2 nominations) Outstanding Choreography
Unique Theatrical Experience

**One Arm
(2 nominations) Outstanding Actor in a Play
Outstanding Lighting Design

**The Lyons
(2 nominations) Outstanding Play
Outstanding Actress in a Play

The Navigator
(2 nominations) Outstanding Actor in a Play
Outstanding Sound Design in a Play

**Tribes
(2 nominations) Outstanding Play
Outstanding Director of a Play










Updated On: 5/6/12 at 06:25 PM

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Posted: 5/6/12 at 6:27pm

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Last week the Drama Desk announced its nominees for the 2011-2012 season celebrating the best of On, Off and Off-Off Broadway. Absent from this year’s list was a category honoring the “Outstanding Orchestrations.”

Following an outcry from the theatre community, that was led by Composer Jason Robert Brown who blogged, "Every New York theatre musician I know is offended and confused by the decision of this year's Drama Desk Nominating Committee. I'll tell you one thing: it certainly wasn't for lack of competition. There was some extraordinary work this year from some fantastic arrangers, some of whom have been recognized repeatedly in the past for their consistently glorious work, and some of whom (like Once's amazing Martin Lowe and Nice Work If You Can Get It swingmonster Bill Elliott) are much less familiar to New York audiences and totally thrilling."

A petition calling for the the reinstating of the category was also begain on Change.org, which received the support of composers, such as Stephen Oremus and Alex Lacamoire.

Isa Goldberg, Drama Desk President said, “The Drama Desk prides itself on celebrating New York’s rich theatrical community. Our Executive Board appreciates the forthright and passionate response to our nominations announcement and have taken your comments to heart. The Executive Board is very happy to reinstate the Outstanding Orchestrations category and honor the dedication and hard work of this season’s talented orchestrators.”

Barbara Siegel, Chairperson of the Drama Desk Nominating Committee commented, “The Drama Desk Nominating Committee members have worked tirelessly to create a list of nominees that incorporate the very best of New York’s theatrical community. We are very proud to include the nominations for Outstanding Orchestrations.”

The Nominating Committee reassembled over the weekend to select this year’s most Outstanding Orchestrations.

This year’s nominees for Outstanding Orchestrations are:

Bill Elliott: Nice Work If You Can Get It
Larry Hochman: Death Takes a Holiday
Martin Lowe: Once
John McDaniel: Bonnie & Clyde
Michael Starobin: Queen of the Mist
Danny Troob: Newsies

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Posted: 5/6/12 at 6:37pm

Soooooooo much more exciting than the boring old Tony Awards, don't you think!