1985 Drama Desk Awards
Winners and nominees from the Drama Desk Awards.
1985 Drama Desk Awards
Note: Award winners appear on a red background.
| Category | Nominee | Show |
|---|---|---|
| Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Ron Richardson | Big River |
| Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Daniel H. Jenkins | Big River |
| Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Harry Groener, Mark Hamill | Harrigan 'n Hart |
| Outstanding Actor in a Musical | David Carroll, Gary Morris | La Boheme |
| Outstanding Actor in a Play | Jonathan Pryce | Accidental Death of an Anarchist |
| Outstanding Actor in a Play | Jonathan Hogan | As Is |
| Outstanding Actor in a Play | Derek Jacobi | Cyrano de Bergerac |
| Outstanding Actor in a Play | Anthony Heald | Digby |
| Outstanding Actor in a Play | Jim Dale | Joe Egg |
| Outstanding Actor in a Play | Derek Jacobi | Much Ado About Nothing |
| Outstanding Actor in a Play | Patrick McGoohan | Pack of Lies |
| Outstanding Actor in a Play | John Lithgow | Requiem for a Heavyweight |
| Outstanding Actor in a Play | Anthony Heald | The Foreigner |
| Outstanding Actress in a Play | Lynn Redgrave | Aren't We All? |
| Outstanding Actress in a Play | Roxanne Hart | Digby |
| Outstanding Actress in a Play | Stockard Channing | Joe Egg |
| Outstanding Actress in a Play | Rosemary Harris | Pack of Lies |
| Outstanding Actress in a Play | Elizabeth Wilson | Salonika |
| Outstanding Book of a Musical | Jerry Colker | Three Guys Naked from the Waist Down |
| Outstanding Costume Design | Patricia McGourty | Big River |
| Outstanding Costume Design | Anne Roth | Design for Living |
| Outstanding Costume Design | Rita Ryack | Digby |
| Outstanding Costume Design | Alexander Reid | Much Ado About Nothing |
| Outstanding Costume Design | Robert Morgan | The Loves of Anatol |
| Outstanding Costume Design | Carrie Robbins | The Octette Bridge Club |
| Outstanding Director of a Play | Marshall W. Mason | As Is |
| Outstanding Director of a Play | John Malkovich | Balm in Gilead |
| Outstanding Director of a Play | Gene Saks | Biloxi Blues |
| Outstanding Director of a Play | Ron Lagomarsino | Digby |
| Outstanding Director of a Play | Claudia Weill | Found a Peanut |
| Outstanding Ensemble Performances | Balm in Gilead | |
| Outstanding Ensemble Performances | Three Guys Naked from the Waist Down | |
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Rene Auberjonois | Big River |
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | John Goodman, Bob Gunton, John Short | Big River |
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Timothy Nolen | Grind |
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Howard McGillin | La Boheme |
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Ken Kliban | As Is |
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Barry Miller | Biloxi Blues |
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Bill Sadler | Biloxi Blues |
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Charles S. Dutton | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom |
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | David Proval | Requiem for a Heavyweight |
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Edward Petherbridge | Strange Interlude |
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Patti Cohenour | Big River |
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Leilani Jones | Grind |
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Sharon Murray | Grind |
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Charlaine Woodard | Hang on to the Good Times |
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Marianne Tatum | The Three Musketeers |
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Judith Ivey | Hurlyburly |
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Joanna Gleason | Joe Egg |
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Sudie Bond | The Foreigner |
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Nancy Marchand, Anne Pitoniak | The Octette Bridge Club |
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Margaret Tyzack | Tom and Viv |
| Outstanding Lighting Design | Kevin Rigdon | Balm in Gilead |
| Outstanding Lighting Design | Richard Riddell | Big River |
| Outstanding Lighting Design | Ken Billington | Grind |
| Outstanding Lighting Design | Ron Wallace | Requiem for a Heavyweight |
| Outstanding Lighting Design | Terry Wuthrich | Tracers |
| Outstanding Lighting Design | Jennifer Tipton | Whoopi Goldberg |
| Outstanding Lyrics | Roger Miller | Big River |
| Outstanding Lyrics | Ellen Fitzhugh | Grind |
| Outstanding Lyrics | Jerry Colker | Three Guys Naked from the Waist Down |
| Outstanding Music | Roger Miller | Big River |
| Outstanding Music | Larry Grossman | Grind |
| Outstanding Music | Michael Rupert | Three Guys Naked from the Waist Down |
| Outstanding Orchestrations | Steven Margoshes, Danny Troob | Big River |
| Outstanding Orchestrations | Bill Byers | Grind |
| Outstanding Orchestrations | Michael Starobin | La Boheme |
| Outstanding Orchestrations | Michael Starobin | Three Naked Guys from the Waist Down |
| Outstanding Play | William F. Hoffman | As Is |
| Outstanding Play | Neil Simon | Biloxi Blues |
| Outstanding Play | Joseph Dougherty | Digby |
| Outstanding Play | August Wilson | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom |
| Outstanding Revival of a Play | Aren't We All? | |
| Outstanding Revival of a Play | Balm in Gilead | |
| Outstanding Revival of a Play | Joe Egg | |
| Outstanding Revival of a Play | On Approval | |
| Outstanding Revival of a Play | Pacific Overtures | |
| Outstanding Set Design | Kevin Rigdon | Balm in Gilead |
| Outstanding Set Design | Heidi Landesman | Big River |
| Outstanding Set Design | James Leonard Joy | Digby |
| Outstanding Set Design | Clarke Dunham | Grind |
| Outstanding Set Design | Ralph Koltai | Much Ado About Nothing |
| Outstanding Set Design | Marjorie Bradley Kellogg | Requiem for a Heavyweight |
| Outstanding Set Design | John Lee Beatty | The Octette Bridge Club |
| Outstanding Solo Performance | Ekkehard Schall | An Evening with Ekkehard Schall |
| Outstanding Solo Performance | Avner Eisenberg | Avner the Eccentric |
| Outstanding Solo Performance | Lori Wilner | Hannah Senesh |
| Outstanding Solo Performance | Alec McCowan | Kipling |
| Outstanding Solo Performance | Spalding Gray | Swimming to Cambodia |
| Outstanding Solo Performance | Whoopi Goldberg | Whoopi Goldberg |
| Outstanding Sound Design in a Play | John Malkovich | Balm in Gilead |
| Outstanding Sound Design in a Play | Nigel Hess | Cyrano de Bergerac / Much Ado About Nothing |
| Outstanding Sound Design in a Play | John DiFusco | Tracers |
| Special Awards | Claudette Colbert, Rex Harrison, Veterans Ensemble Theatre Company | |
| Special Awards | Gerard Alessandrini | Forbidden Broadway |
| Special Awards | The Cast and Crew | The Mystery of Irma Vep |
| Unique Theatrical Experience | La Tempesta | |
| Unique Theatrical Experience | The Garden of Earthly Delights | |
| Unique Theatrical Experience | The Golden Land | |
| Unique Theatrical Experience | The Normal Heart | |
Vote in the BroadwayWorld Stage Recording Awards (voting open through April 3, 2026).
Tickets From $59
Tickets From $70
Tickets From $106
Tickets From $102