In tonight’s ceremony at NYU Skirball, co-hosted by Debra Messing and Tituss Burgess, the 69th annual Drama Desk Awards, for shows that opened between April 26, 2024-April 27, 2025, were presented in 31 competitive categories, along with previously announced special honors. The star-studded roster of presenters included Jeb Brown, Victoria Clark, Darren Criss, Brandon Victor Dixon, Andrew Durand, Cole Escola, Tom Francis, Jonathan Groff, Joshua Henry, Sarah Hyland, Jeremy Jordan, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Gracie Lawrence, Norm Lewis, Jinkx Monsoon, Alex Newell, Bebe Neuwirth, Adam Pascal, Lily Rabe, Nicole Scherzinger, Jennifer Simard, Ryan Spahn, Will Swenson, and Michael Urie, with performances by Joshua Henry, Norm Lewis, Lesli Margherita, and the cast of Dead Outlaw, the 2024 Drama Desk Award winner for Best Musical.
Voted on by theater critics, journalists, editors, and publishers, and benefitting the Entertainment Community Fund, the Drama Desk Awards are the only major NYC theater awards for which Broadway, Off- Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions are considered together, and also have gender-neutral performance categories, each with twice as many nominees as the former gendered categories, and each with two winners, or in the case of a tie, more than two. Leading this year’s awards was Maybe Happy Ending with six wins, followed by BOOP! The Musical, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, and The Picture of Dorian Gray with three each.
And the winners are:
Outstanding Play – Purpose, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Outstanding Musical – Maybe Happy Ending
Outstanding Revival of a Play – Eureka Day
Outstanding Revival of a Musical – Gypsy
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play – Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California; Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical – Audra McDonald, Gypsy; Jasmine Amy Rogers, BOOP! The Musical
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play – Amalia Yoo, John Proctor is the Villain; Kara Young, Purpose
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical – Brooks Ashmanskas, Smash; Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat; Michael Urie, Once Upon a Mattress
Outstanding Solo Performance – Andrew Scott, Vanya
Outstanding Direction of a Play – Danya Taymor, John Proctor is the Villain
Outstanding Direction of a Musical – Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending
Outstanding Choreography – Jerry Mitchell, BOOP! The Musical
Outstanding Music – Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending
Outstanding Lyrics – Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending
Outstanding Book of a Musical – Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending
Outstanding Orchestrations – Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber, Just in Time
Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play – Miriam Buether, and Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher (illusions and visual effects), Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical – Dane Laffrey and George Reeve, Maybe Happy Ending (includes video design)
Outstanding Costume Design of a Play – Dede Ayite, Our Town
Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical – Gregg Barnes, BOOP! The Musical
Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play – Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Outstanding Lighting Design of a Musical – Jack Knowles, Sunset Blvd.
Outstanding Sound Design of a Play – Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Outstanding Sound Design of a Musical – Peter Hylenski, Just in Time
Outstanding Projection and Video Design – David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Outstanding Wig and Hair – Charles G. LaPointe, Death Becomes Her
Outstanding Puppetry – Amanda Villalobos, Becoming Eve
Outstanding Fight Choreography – Rick Sordelet and Christian Kelly-Sordelet, Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Outstanding Adaptation – Pirates! The Penzance Musical, by Rupert Holmes
Outstanding Revue – Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song
Unique Theatrical Experience – The Picture of Dorian Gray.
In addition to the competitive awards, the following special honors were presented:
Harold S. Prince Award – Gavin Creel (posthumously) for Lifetime Achievement
William Wolf Award – Brian Stokes Mitchell
Ensemble Award – The ensemble of Roundabout Theatre Company’s Liberation (Betsy Aidem, Audrey Corsa, Kayla Davion, Susannah Flood, Kristolyn Lloyd, Irene Sofia Lucio, Charlie Thurston, and Adina Verson)
Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award – Stephen Michael Spencer for his electric and empathetic performances in two of this season’s strongest new Off-Broadway musicals.
Additional Special Awards – Pregones/PRTT, the 2014 merging of Pregones (founded in 1979) and the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater (founded in 1967) to become a powerhouse producer of Latinx shows on two NYC stages; lighting designer Stacey Derosier for her work across this season’s Off-Broadway stages; and the team behind Danger and Opportunity (playwright Ken Urban, director Jack Serio, and ensemble Juan Castano, Julia Chan, and Ryan Spahn) for their consideration of the messy implications of a three-way relationship.
Congratulations to all the winners!
The Drama Desk Awards were presented on Sunday, June 1, 2025, at NYU Skirball, 566 LaGuardia Place, NYC.