Traveling Papers

     I traveled extensively last week, and I didn’t have to pack a bag, juggle reservations or wait at customs.  I journeyed with my imagination, which was fueled by the enthusiasm and talent of the seven cast members of Traveling Papers, a charming evening of storytelling that recently ended a run at the Lion Theatre.

     Like most people, I have enjoyed being told stories since I was a child, which is why it was so delightful to sit in the theatre and listen as the cast, under the direction of Barbara Bosch, presented writings that have explored our connections to travel through selections from novels, poetry, short stories, personal letters and other literary works by Mark Twain, Edith Wharton, Anthony Bourdain, W. Somerset Maugham, Michael Clinton, Paul Theroux, Edna Ferber, Robert Frost, Rosemary Mahoney, Walt Whitman, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Alice Steinbach and Peter Mayle, among many others.  

     Using little more in the way of props than an occasional exaggerated mustache to transform women into men, Gwen Arment, John Camera, Kyle Doherty, Gwen Eyster, Peter Husovsky (in photo), Macy Idzakovich (in photo) and Jillian Stevens are the audience’s passport to the joys and frustrations of traveling. 

    “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”  This thought from St. Augustine was one of the many short quotes woven throughout the longer, acted out passages.  Others quoted in this way are as diverse as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Yogi Berra. 

     The longest selection was Somerset Maugham’s Winter Cruise, in which a spinster tea shop owner (Arment) drives her fellow passengers and crew crazy with her boring, endless talking until they fix upon the notion that what she needs is a lover, and they set about to get her one.  This is presented in three segments interspersed throughout the show, a nice way to build the suspense. 

     In another offering, Arment’s presentation of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s A Letter from Venice is atmospheric and descriptive, as is the whole company’s recitation of Walt Whitman’s Song of the Open Road.  

     Traveling Papers was conceived and adapted by Bosch and Martin Tackel, with lighting by Edward R.F. Matthews, sound by Brian Hurley, costumes by Lui Konno and graphic design by Maria T. Card. 

     The show’s 90 minutes with no intermission are just right for transporting an audience of 21st century New Yorkers to worlds far away in time and distance.  As another of the show’s authors, Lao Tzu, said: “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.”  Traveling Papers is just such a journey, and perfect for an early summer evening. 

The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek

     Playwright Athol Fugard has once again brought the pain and beauty of South Africa to life with his latest play, The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek, which is having its world premiere under his direction at the Signature Theatre through June 14.

     As in his 1985 play The Road to Mecca, Fugard celebrates the healing power of artistic expression, a subject dear to him as a white South African writing about the injustices of apartheid in his country. When he spoke at Baltimore’s CenterStage many years ago, he said laws can change governments but only the arts can change hearts.

     The hearts that are changed in Painted Rocks belong to Nukain (Leon Addison Brown, in photo), an elderly farmworker, and Bokkie (Caleb McLaughlin), the 11-year-old boy who looks to him for love and guidance. Nukain’s creative outlet has been painting colorful designs, which he calls his “flowers,” on the rocks on the estate of his employer, but now he is weary.  The first act is set in 1981 at Revolver Creek, Mpumalanga Province, where Nukain and Bokkie are the visible examples of apartheid’s evils — poor, black, uneducated and treated practically as slaves.

     One big unpainted rock, larger than Nukain, sits at the center of the stage, surrounded by smaller ones he has decorated over the years, amounting to more than 100, although this multitude is not seen. He tells Bokkie he is afraid of that one, that it has no eyes and is like the white rulers of the country.  

     “They got eyes but do not see us,” he says.

     But something in him clicks and he decides to give that rock eyes, instructing Bokkie to hand him his paintbrush with first white, then black and finally yellow paints. In creating the eyes, his passion grows and soon he is telling his life story to Bokkie in words while portraying it in symbols on the rock.  

     When he is finished, he stands back and proudly assesses what he has done.  He has expressed his manhood.  He feels heard.

     But his triumph is short-lived when the Mrs. arrives, his employer’s wife, Elmarie (Bianca Amato).  She looks at the rock with disgust at first but then horror after Bokkie tells her it is Nukain’s life story.  She instructs Nukain to return the following Sunday and paint over it.  

     With that, Nukain’s shoulders slump and, with bowed head, he assures her he will. Bokkie objects strongly until she silences him with her scolding, ending Act One.

     Act Two is set in 2003.  Bokkie has returned with paint to restore the rock and thus Nukain’s story as well. He is Jonathan now and a teacher; Bokkie is an Afrikaans term of endearment meaning little buck. He is met by a terrified Elmarie who points a pistol at him, not recognizing her former worker.  In this post-apartheid world she is now the one who is afraid.  A neighbor has been murdered by having a pitchfork driven into his throat and his wife was badly beaten and is on the verge of death. Elmarie’s land is now surrounded by a fence, but Jonathan had gotten in through a hole.

     Jonathan (Kevin Mambo) assures her he means no harm, that he is only there to repaint the rock.  At first she objects, but as they talk her fear gives way to weary resignation, the kind that had marked Nukain’s life.

     In a program note, Fugard said the play was suggested by the life of outsider artist Nukain Mabusa but that it is a work of fiction.

     All of the cast members are excellent and transported me  into that world.  Mambo deserves a special shoutout because he had to step in at the last minute for Sahr Ngaujah who was injured in a car accident and is unable to return. He was on-book but was totally in character anyway, especially in the highly emotional moments.  And McLaughlin is one talented young man, capturing Bokkie’s exuberance and what to me sounded like a spot-on South African idiom. 

   Christopher H. Barreca’s set portrays a sandy, hilly countryside, with that big rock dominating. Stephen Strawbridge’s lighting bakes it in African sunlight. Susan Hilferty’s costumes portray the poverty and ruggedness of the land and its time. 

     It was interesting for me to see this play, which has been extended twice,  in the same week I saw the Jacob Lawrence exhibit at MoMA. In 60 paintings, Lawrence portrays the northern migration of southern blacks in the early part of the 20th century, and the reason for it.  Like Nukain, Lawrence used art to tell a story.  I would go back to either of these shows in a heartbeat. 

Cagney

     Billed as “a new musical about Hollywood’s tough guy in tap shoes,” Cagney, which opened last night at the York Theatre Company, is another refreshing show from a company that specializes in producing uplifting new musicals.

     Broadway veteran Robert Creighton is the powerhouse of talent behind the show, making its New York premiere through June 21. A triple threat — actor, singer and dancer — he also wrote the music and lyrics for several of the songs.  Christopher McGovern wrote the rest. 

     Short and stocky, Creighton would not normally be thought of as a leading man, unless that leading man happens to be the similarly built James Cagney, in which case Creighton seemed almost destine for the role.

     “When I was a student at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, an acting teacher, Jack Melanos, told me I reminded him of Jimmy Cagney.  Thank you, Jack,” he writes in a program message. “At the time, my only knowledge of Cagney’s film work was having seen ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’ as a kid. I went and rented several Cagney films and thus began the obsession.”

     Unlike Creighton, I have never seen any of his films and knew nothing about his life.  Thanks to this musical, with its book by playwright Peter Colley and direction by Bill Castellino, I now know a good deal about Cagney’s biography, although his character is portrayed too one-sidedly sweet and wholesome to be the entire story.

   After an opening number about the ups and downs of Hollywood, “Black and White,” the story is framed by Cagney’s appearance in 1978 at the Screen Actors Guild awards to receive one for Lifetime Achievement. He’s talking with Jack Warner (Bruce Sabath), the head of Warner Brothers Studios who gave Cagney his first movie role and wants to take credit for finding “a tough guy to give the Depression-era public what it wanted.”

   But Cagney, who had broken with and rejoined the studio several times, has an answer for his former boss.  “You didn’t create that.  The streets of New York did.”

    In between that frame we see Cagney, born of Irish ancestry on the Lower East Side, stumble into show business in 1922 after losing his job as a laborer. Checking out the Help Wanteds with his brother, Bill (Josh Walden), he finds one for a dancer at Keith’s Musical Theatre and goes to check it out. Proving to be surprisingly light on his feet, he dances his way into the chorus, where he is dressed as a woman, and also performs standup comedy, thus beginning his life in vaudeville.

     In a nutshell, the stage and Hollywood follow, along with a happy marriage to Willie (Ellen Zolezzi), his first dancing partner at Keith’s.   He is called before a House of Representatives committee to answer charges that he is a Communist sympathizer because he contributes to labor organizations and sent money for the Scottsboro Boys defense.  This contributes to one of his splits from Warner Brothers, but also after portraying “dumb women-slapping Micks” in 28 movies, he wants to play different roles, so he forms his own production company. 

     “I long to bring some light, to make art that feeds the soul,” he says. “I want to make movies that inspire people.” He expresses this longing in “How Will I Be Remembered?”    

     “How will I be remembered when they roll my final reel — a gangster, a villain a bum?”

     Unfortunately Cagney Productions is a failure, but the actor does achieve success apart from the bad guy roles, namely for his Oscar-winning portrayal of George M. Cohan in the musical “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” In addition to Creighton’s and McGovern’s original songs, Cagney also includes three Cohan songs, “Grand Old Flag,” "Over There" and “Yankee Doodle Dandy”, sung rousingly by the company, which also includes Jeremy Benton as Bob Hope (and others) and Danette Holden as Ma Cagney (and others). 

     Mark Pirolo’s projections enhance James Morgan’s minimalist sets.  Amy Clark creates nice period costumes and Brian Nason provides the lighting. All of this is understated, which is just fine because the show needs little more than a stage and its talented cast.

     All of the actors are good tappers, but Benton really shines in his solo to “Harrigan,” played by the onstage band, and he and Creighton bring down the house together dancing to “Crazy ‘Bout You.”  Joshua Bergasse does a great job choreographing on that tiny stage. (He is currently represented on Broadway as choreographer for On the Town, for which he received a Tony nomination).

     All sing well, too, especially Zolezzi.   And the acting is good, even if the characters are a bit one-dimensional.  The scenes with Cagney are the best.  The two-hours, 15-minutes running time could be trimmed by cutting some of the others, which slow the story.   Not the tapping, though.  Leave in all of that.  It’s a joy!

     

(Photo by Carol Rosegg: Danette Holden, Jeremy Benton, Robert Creighton, Ellen Zolezzi and Josh Walden.)

'Divinely Inspired' Godspell

     Many people talk about theatre as a transformative experience, but few experience that transformation quite as drastically as Carol de Giere did when she discovered Godspell.

     Growing up in Madison, WI, she mostly saw movie musicals or what was being done at school.  Somehow one of the most widely produced musicals of all time never crossed her path until she was in her late 40s and living in Fairfield, Iowa, a town of about 10,000 residents.  Artistic offerings were limited in Fairfield, so when the local community theatre presented Godspell, de Giere was there.  And that was the beginning of the end of her days in Fairfield.

    “I felt myself being emotionally expanded,” said de Giere, 63, during a phone interview from her home in Bethel, CT.  “The score and the performances were so joyful.  It was just exhilarating to watch.  I felt like it had a spirt to it that was different from other musicals.  It lifted me out of the boundaries of the moment.”

     It also lifted her out to the midwest.  She quit her job as a librarian and with her husband, who had been laid off, moved to Connecticut to explore the musical theatre work of Godspell’s composer. 

     “I felt I needed to be near Broadway.  I wanted to be close to the creative pot to see what the chefs were brewing.”

     Her exploration led to her first book, Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell to Wicked. 

    “I like writing behind the scenes,” she said. “Rather than write about a musical, I like to recreate the experience of being present at the creation.”

     She found Schwartz and cast members willing to talk about their experiences with Godspell, a show that began as a master’s thesis for John-Michael Tebelak at Carnegie Mellon University, a thesis that was initially rejected by his advisor.  It then had a stint Off, Off-Broadway where its potential was spotted by producers who brought on Schwarz, giving him five weeks to compose new music.  Godspell as we know it now opened Off-Broadway on May 17, 1971, then moved to Broadway for a total New York run of six years.  It has been translated into more than a half dozen languages, made into a movie and is still produced a couple hundred times each year somewhere in the world. 

     It all started with Tebelak, whose affection for religious material dated back to his childhood. His sister told de Giere that John-Michael loved the religious pageantry he experienced at the Episcopal Cathedral in Cleveland and would “redo the church service” when he got home, creating an altar, burning candles and offering a communion, “all the dramatic parts.”

     Years later when searching for a thesis topic, Tebelak considered several miracle and passion plays, but determined they were too heavy.  He started reading the gospels and discovered their joy. 

     “Tebebak resolved to attend a church service, and it was there that a spiritual experience, or lack thereof, completed the inspiration for the new musical,” de Giere writes.  

     On a snowy Easter morning in 1970, Tebelak attended the Anglican Cathedral in Pittsburgh and later told Dramatics Magazine about his experience: “An old priest came out and mumbled into a microphone, and people mumbled things back, and then everyone got up and left.  Instead of ‘healing’ the burden, or resurrecting the Christ, it seems those people had pushed Him back into the tomb.  They had refused to let Him come out that day.”

     As he was leaving the service, a policeman tried to frisk him, suspecting him of carrying drugs because of his hippie appearance.  “At that moment — I think because of the absurd situation — it angered me so much that I went home and realized what I wanted to do with the gospels: I wanted to make it the simple, joyful message that I felt the first time I read them and re-create the sense of community, which I did not share when I went to that service.”

     And so the roots of Godspell were grounded in Tebelak’s positive and negative experiences in the Anglican tradition.  

     Considering how many lives the show has touched, de Giere felt called to do a second book just on Godspell while the original cast members were still available to share their stories. The Godspell Experience: Inside a Transformative Musical, for which de Giere conducted nearly 40 interviews, features engaging anecdotes, exhaustive research and an analysis of the show’s songs, several of which come from the Episcopal hymnal.

     “I thought, ‘I’m probably the only person who’s going to do this.’  This is a time when people will remember.  They’re all in their 60s or deceased.  I’m writing for future generations.”

     Cast members tell lively stories about the creative process with Tebelak, who was the original director as well as the creator of this show drawn from the gospels. What made the musical so different was that it didn’t start with a script.  Tebelak, who died in 1985, had the actors improvise Jesus’ parables. What worked became part of the show.  It was confusing for the actors at first, but Tebelak had tapped into what was to become big time entertainment — improvisation, which later would be wildly successful in shows like “Saturday Night Live.”

     When Godspell was headed for Off-Broadway, the producers hired Schwartz to set the Episcopal lyrics to livelier music.  He drew from the artists he was listening to — James Taylor, the Mamas and the Papas, The Supremes, Elton John — to create a pastiche of his favorite pop styles. When additional lyrics were required, he turned to Biblical passages.   

     “Stephen was one of the first people to integrate popular music into the style of musical theatre,” de Giere says.  “It was innovative and it spoke to people musically.”

     Schwartz had rich material to work with in the Episcopal hymns.  Most of the lyrics for “Day by Day,” which was a breakout hit, were penned by Richard of Chichester (1197-1253), a bishop of Chichester in the United Kingdom who was canonized by Pope Urban IV in 1262. He wrote it in Latin without the beginning and ending words “day by day,” and it became hymn 429 in the 1940 hymnal. Schwartz simplified Chichester’s lyrics slightly and added some repetition.    

     The beautiful “All Good Gifts” was a harvest song from the hymnal that Tebelak remembered from Thanksgiving services, hymn 138, “We Plow the Fields, and Scatter.”  

     “Turn Back, O Man,” was inspired by hymn writer Clifford Bax, who wrote the piece in response to World War I.  Bax’s hymn was published in 1919.

     When Schwartz was looking for an uptempo number, the song often referred to in musical theatre as the “Eleven O’clock” number, Tebelak suggested hymn 229, with lyrics attributed to Thomas Benson Pollock, a graduate of Trinity College in Dublin who was ordained in 1870. The following year Pollock wrote “Father Hear Thy Children’s Call,” which, with Schwartz’s adaptation, became the lively “We Beseech Thee.”  

     

     Godspell’s score is one of the reasons for the show’s enduring popularity, de Giere says. Another is the non-didactic way the parables are presented. In clowning around, the actors draw out the humor, but not in a satirical way. When done properly, the show leaves the audience with a strong appreciation for Jesus’ message of compassion and fellowship.  

   In her epilogue, de Giere offers a reflection from former cast member Don Scardino: “I got letters from people who had quit drugs (including heroin), or gone back to their Bible, or patched up relationships with their mother or father after seeing Godspell.  They would say it’s the power of the show and you playing Jesus, and I knew it had nothing to do with me.  I would always write back and say it is the show.  The show is divinely inspired.”

     

Renée Fleming makes her Broadway debut in Living on Love

     Opera superstar Renée Fleming looks as if she is having a ball with her Broadway debut in Living on Love, Joe DiPietro’s charming new comedy at the Longacre Theatre.  Actually the entire cast appears to be enjoying themselves, hamming it up in this show that seems modeled after a 1930s screwball comedy.

     Like those earlier shows, the outcome of this one, set in 1957 and based on the play Peccadillo by Garson Kanin, will never be in doubt.  It’s the getting to the end that is fun.  Director Kathleen Marshall keeps the action hopping for two hours.

     The plot centers around two fading luminaries of the music world, Fleming as Raquel De Angelis, an opera singer who has played the world’s great stages and now must settle for upstate New York and Fort Lauderdale — “Do they sing in Fort Lauderdale,” she asks — and her husband, Vito De Angelis (Douglas Sills), a once renowned conductor who spends his days mostly in bed or drinking wine.  

     Trying not to acknowledge their changing circumstances, they insist on being referred to as The Diva and The Maestro.  And don’t dare mention the name Maria Callas to her or Leonard Bernstein to him, not to these raging egos.  

     In keeping with this style of comedy, their rage is often directed at each other.  I thought of the 1937 Rodgers and Hart song “I Wish I Were in Love Again” with its line “the conversation with the flying plates,” only in their case it’s snow globes, given to each other from locations on their concert tours, that go flying. 

     Of course this mix is going to need a younger, on-their-way-up couple to balance The Diva and The Maestro and these parts are filled quite nicely by Robert Samson (Jerry O’Connell), a would-be novelist, and Iris Peabody (Anna Chlumsky), a publishing house assistant who dreams of being an editor.  

     Robert is the latest in a long line of ghostwriters — “spooky helper,” as the Italian-born Maestro says — hired by the publisher to help the great conductor write his memoir.  After Robert quits in frustration, Iris — “Irish” in The Maestro’s pronunciation — arrives to push for the manuscript’s completion or the return of the company’s $50,000 advance, which has already been spent, along with an additional $20,000.

     Realizing he has to finish the book, The Maestro asks “Irish” to help him. Seeing this as a way to fulfill her desire to be an editor, she readily agrees. When The Diva finds out, she wants a memoir of her own, to come out first, and brings Robert back to write it.

     So now two couples are rushing to finish competing books in the living room of the De Angelises’ lush penthouse (gorgeous set by Derek McLane, enhanced by Peter Kaczorowski’s lighting). And, you guessed it, not getting too far with that but young love is blooming. One of my favorite lines is when Iris says to the shy Robert, it’s so refreshing to meet a man lacking in self-confidence.  When I mentioned that comment to my friend Mary after the show she agreed it was great, adding, “isn’t it a shame you could never use it?”

     But that’s contemporary thinking, so let’s get back to our screwball world. We have two more stock characters and they are hilarious, the joined-at-the-hip butlers played by Blake Hammond and Scott Robertson, who also happen to sing opera and play the Steinway when their employers aren’t around.

     Everyone plays their parts to the hilt, just as they should with a show like this.  Fleming, wearing gorgeous dresses (costumes by Michael Krass), breaks into song from time to time, which is wonderful. She has seen enough divas in her day and she knows just how to satirize one, complete with her little dog, Puccini (Trixie) on her arm.  She has great comic timing and such an expressive face.  I hope she returns often to Broadway.

     Before opening here, Living on Love was seen in Williamstown, MA, but it fits nicely as well on Broadway, where it is scheduled to play until Aug. 2. More than 100 seats are set aside to be sold for $25 at every performance.

Kelli O'Hara is something wonderful in The King and I

     When our Drama Desk nominations were announced yesterday afternoon at 54 Below, I was surprised Kelli O’Hara wasn’t included in the Outstanding Actress in a Musical category for her performance in the revival of The King and I at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater. After seeing the show last night, I remain surprised. Her Anna is a strong, warm woman with a sense of humor and nothing stands between O’Hara and her character. She was wonderful and deserves to be nominated.

     The show, directed by Bartlett Sher, was nominated for Outstanding Revival of a Musical, but the only other nod it received was for Scott Lehrer’s sound design. This is partly because the contenders this awards season are strong so the show faced stiff competition, but also because the production, although lovely to look at and listen to, falls just short of the spark of life this great musical deserves. With the exception of O’Hara, the cast of more than 50 seem to be doing their parts rather than being the parts, at least in the first act. 

     I had heard much about Ken Watanabe as the King and none of it was good.  A theatre actor in his native Japan, he has appeared as Japanese characters in American films but is just now making his American stage debut, in a large-scale Broadway musical no less. A friend and fellow critic who knows the show well told me she couldn’t understand a word he said. I had heard from others that his accent was a problem, but I had no trouble following him. I think, though, that he is working so hard to master the dialogue, singing and dancing that he isn’t able to concentrate on giving the King much dimension.  Still, I liked him.

     The show is blessed with a strong supporting cast, especially Ruthie Ann Miles as Lady Thiang and Ashley Park as Tuptin.  

    And blessed with a wonderful 29-piece orchestra, under the direction of Ted Sperling. The musicians are on view during the overture, then Anna’s ship sails into harbor and the stage extends to cover them.  When I saw this large prop (sets by Michael Yeargan) veering toward us, I thought I was in for a Lloyd Webber evening of excess, but this was the only such example, and quite a nice one for a dramatic entrance.

   The ship, of course, brings Anna Leonowens, a Welsh widow, and her 9-year-old son, Louis (Jake Lucas), to 1860's Bangkok.  Anna has been hired by the King of Siam to teach his multitude of children by his multitude of wives about the western world.  Not only do cultures clash, but personalities as well. Anna is an independent-minded woman and the King is used to submissive wives and concubines. O’Hara always does a good job of bringing out the tension between these to conflicting characters and Wananabe does often enough to carry the story. 

   This theme of differing worlds learning to bend to one another is brought out in some of musical theatre’s most beloved songs, with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and they are all richly sung.  It’s a joy to hear O’Hara sing “Hello, Young Lovers,” “Getting to Know You” and “Shall We Dance?,” and fun to watch her infuse humor through movement and tone into “Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?”  And Miles’ “Something Wonderful” is just that.

     

     The creative teams is excellent as well. Christopher Gattelli’s choreography, based on that created by Jerome Robbins for the show’s original production in 1951, is mesmerizing, especially in the dramatic “The Small House of Uncle Thomas” ballet.  

     Catherine Zuber’s costumes are stunning and should have been nominated, but this season brought us a wealth of award-worthy costumes. Zuber was nominated in this category for Gigi.

     Donald Holder’s lighting also was worthy of a nomination.

     The show is three hours, brought down (thank God) from three and a half in early previews.  The first act dragged and I was wishing it wasn’t going to be such a long night, but the second act picked up and I left the theatre in good spirits.  It’s not a great revival, but it’s a quite good one, and that’s probably the next best thing to great.

Judith Light and Jessie Mueller announce 2015 Drama Desk Awards nominations

Nominations for the 2015 annual Drama Desk Awards were announced this afternoon at 54 Below by previous Drama Desk winners Judith Light (The Assembled Parties, Other Desert Cities) and Jessie Mueller (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical).

Both women were beautifully dressed, with hair and makeup just right, as opposed to some announcers in years past who have shown up looking as if they were taking time out from clearing out the garage. They also left their egos behind and were complete professionals, in contrast to others in the past who seemed to think the announcements were all about them.  Interestingly, both wore sapphire blue.  “I see you got the memo,” Light joked to Mueller.

The Drama Desk nominees will receive their official nomination certificates at the nominees' reception on May 6 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at New World Stages.

The 60^th Annual Drama Desk Awards, hosted by Laura Benanti, will take place on Sunday, May 31 at The Town Hall in Manhattan. 

In keeping with Drama Desk's mission, nominators considered shows that opened on Broadway, Off Broadway and Off Off Broadway during the 2014-2015 New York theater season.

About Drama Desk

Drama Desk was founded in 1949 to explore key issues in the theater and to bring together critics and writers in an organization to support the ongoing development of theater in New York. The organization began presenting its awards in 1955, and it is the only critics' organization to honor achievement in the theater with competition among Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions in the same categories. 

2014-2015 DRAMA DESK AWARD NOMINATIONS

Outstanding Play

Clare Barron, You Got Older

Lisa D'Amour, Airline Highway

Anthony Giardina, The City of Conversation 

Stephen Adly Guirgis, Between Riverside and Crazy

Elizabeth Irwin, My Manãna Comes

Simon Stephens, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Jack Thorne, Let the Right One In 

Outstanding Musical

An American in Paris

Hamilton

Fly By Night

Pretty Filthy 

Something Rotten

The Visit

Outstanding Revival of a Play

The Elephant Man

Fashions for Men

Ghosts

The Iceman Cometh

Tamburlaine the Great

The Wayside Motor Inn

Outstanding Revival of a Musical

Into the Woods

The King and I

On the Town

On the Twentieth Century

Pageant

Side Show

Outstanding Actor in a Play

Reed Birney, I'm Gonna Pray For You So Hard

Bradley Cooper, The Elephant Man
Stephen McKinley Henderson, Between Riverside and Crazy

Ben Miles, Wolf Hall, Parts 1 & 2

Bill Pullman, Sticks and Bones

Alexander Sharp, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Outstanding Actress in a Play

Brooke Bloom, You Got Older

Kathleen Chalfant, A Walk in the Woods

Kristin Griffith, The Fatal Weakness 

Jan Maxwell, The City of Conversation

Helen Mirren, The Audience

Carey Mulligan, Skylight

Tonya Pinkins, Rasheeda Speaking

Outstanding Actor in a Musical

Brian d'Arcy James, Something Rotten!

Robert Fairchild, An American in Paris

Jeremy Kushnier, Atomic

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton

Matthew Morrison, Finding Neverland

Ryan Silverman, Side Show 

Outstanding Actress in a Musical

Kate Baldwin, John & Jen
Kristin Chenoweth, On the Twentieth Century
Leanne Cope, An American in Paris

Erin Davie, Side Show

Lisa Howard, It Shoulda Been You

Chita Rivera, The Visit

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play

F. Murray Abraham, It's Only a Play
Reed Birney, You Got Older

K. Todd Freeman, Airline Highway

Jonathan Hadary, Rocket to the Moon

Jason Butler Harner, The Village Bike
Jonathan Hogan, Pocatello

José Joaquin Perez, My Mañana Comes

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play

Annaleigh Ashford, You Can't Take It with You

Beth Dixon, The City of Conversation

Julie Halston, You Can't Take It with You

Paola Lázaro-Muñoz, To the Bone

Lydia Leonard, Wolf Hall, Parts 1 & 2

Julie White, Airline Highway

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical

Christian Borle, Something Rotten!
Peter Friedman, Fly By Night

Josh Grisetti, It Shoulda Been You
Andy Karl, On the Twentieth Century
Leslie Odom Jr., Hamilton
Brad Oscar, Something Rotten!

Max von Essen, An American in Paris

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical

Carolee Carmello, Finding Neverland
Tyne Daly, It Shoulda Been You
Elizabeth A. Davis, Allegro

Renee Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton
Luba Mason, Pretty Filthy

Nancy Opel, Honeymoon in Vegas
Elizabeth Stanley, On the Town 

Outstanding Director of a Play

Marianne Elliott, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Jeremy Herrin, Wolf Hall, Parts 1 & 2

Anne Kauffman, You Got Older

Lila Neugebauer, The Wayside Motor Inn
Austin Pendleton, Between Riverside and Crazy

Joe Tantalo, Deliverance

John Tiffany, Let the Right One In

Outstanding Director of a Musical

Carolyn Cantor, Fly By Night
Bill Condon, Side Show

John Doyle, The Visit
Thomas Kail, Hamilton
Casey Nicholaw, Something Rotten!

Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris

Outstanding Choreography 

Joshua Bergasse, On the Town

Warren Carlyle, On the Twentieth Century

Steven Hoggett, The Last Ship
Austin McCormick, Rococo Rouge
Casey Nicholaw, Something Rotten
Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris 

Outstanding Music

Jason Robert Brown, Honeymoon in Vegas

Michael Friedman, The Fortress of Solitude

John Kander, The Visit

Dave Malloy, Ghost Quartet

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Sting, The Last Ship

Outstanding Lyrics

Jason Robert Brown, Honeymoon in Vegas

Fred Ebb, The Visit

Michael Friedman, The Fortress of Solitude

Karey Kirkpatrick & Wayne Kirkpatrick, Something Rotten!

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Benjamin Scheuer, The Lion 

Outstanding Book of a Musical

Hunter Bell & Lee Overtree, Found
Karey Kirkpatrick & John O'Farrell, Something Rotten!
Craig Lucas, An American in Paris

Terence McNally, The Visit

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Kim Rosenstock, Will Connolly, & Michael Mitnick, Fly By Night

Outstanding Orchestrations

Christopher Austin, An American in Paris
Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Allegro
Larry Hochman, Something Rotten!
Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton
Rob Mathes, The Last Ship
Don Sebesky, Larry Blank, Jason Robert Brown, & Charlie Rosen, Honeymoon in Vegas

Outstanding Music in a Play

Cesar Alvarez, An Octoroon
Danny Blackburn & Bryce Hodgson, Deliverance

Sean Cronin, Kill Me Like You Mean It

Bongi Duma, Generations

Freddi Price, The Pigeoning

Arthur Solari & Jane Shaw, Tamburlaine the Great

Outstanding Revue

Forbidden Broadway Comes Out Swinging! 

Just Jim Dale

Lennon: Through a Glass Onion

Lonesome Traveler

Outstanding Set Design

Bob Crowley, An American in Paris

Christine Jones, Let The Right One In

David Korins, Hamilton
Mimi Lien, An Octoroon

Scott Pask, The Visit
Daniel Zimmerman, Fashions for Men

Outstanding Costume Design
Bob Crowley, An American in Paris
Bob Crowley, The Audience

Christopher Oram, Wolf Hall, Parts 1 & 2

Paul Tazewell, Hamilton
Andrea Varga, The Fatal Weakness

Catherine Zuber, Gigi

Outstanding Lighting Design

Howell Binkley, Hamilton
Paule Constable, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Paule Constable & David Plater, Wolf Hall, Parts 1 & 2
Maruti Evans, Deliverance

Natasha Katz, The Iceman Cometh

Ben Stanton, Our Lady of Kibeho

Outstanding Projection Design 

59 Productions, An American in Paris

Roger Hanna & Price Johnston, Donogoo

Darrel Maloney, Found

Peter Nigrini, Our Lady of Kibeho

Finn Ross, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Austin Switser, Big Love

Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical

Peter Hylenski, Side Show

Scott Lehrer, The King and I

Scott Lehrer & Drew Levy, Honeymoon in Vegas

Brian Ronan, The Last Ship

Nevin Steinberg, Hamilton

Jon Weston, An American in Paris

Outstanding Sound Design in a Play

Nathan Davis, The Other Mozart

Ien Denio, Deliverance

Ian Dickinson (for Autograph), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Gareth Fry, Let the Right One In

John Gromada, Lives of the Saints

Matt Tierney, Our Lady of Kibeho

Outstanding Solo Performance

Christina Bianco, Application Pending

Jonny Donahoe, Every Brilliant Thing

Tom Dugan, Wiesenthal
Mona Golabek, The Pianist of Willesden Lane

Joely Richardson, The Belle of Amherst

Benjamin Scheuer, The Lion

Unique Theatrical Experience

Catch Me!

Everybody Gets Cake

The Human Symphony

Queen of the Night

A Rap Guide to Religion

Special Awards: Each year, the Drama Desk votes special awards to recognize excellence and significant contributions to the theatre.

For 2014-15, these awards are:

This year the nominators chose to bestow a special award for outstanding ensemble to the actors who so brilliantly shared a room in the world of A. R. Gurney's The Wayside Motor Inn: Kelly AuCoin, Jon DeVries, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Rebecca Henderson, Marc Kudisch, Jenn Lyon, Lizbeth Mackay, David McElwee, Ismenia Mendes, and Will Pullen. 

To Bess Wohl, the Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award: For establishing herself as an important voice in New York theater, and having a breakthrough year with the eclectic American Hero, Pretty Filthy, and Small Mouth Sounds. Her writing expresses sensitivity, compassion, and humor with a sure hand. 

To John Douglas Thompson: For invigorating theater in New York through his commanding presence, classical expertise, and vocal prowess.  This season he demonstrated exceptional versatility in Tamburlaine the Great, and The Iceman Cometh.

To Ensemble Studio Theatre: For its unwavering commitment to producing new works by American playwrights since 1968, and enriching this season with productions of When January Feels Like Summer, Winners, and Five Times in One Night. EST's Youngblood program fostered and nurtured Hand to God, setting Tyrone off on his devilish path to Broadway.           

To Andy Blankenbuehler: For his inspired and heart-stopping choreography in Hamilton, which is indispensible to the musical's storytelling. His body of work is versatile, yet a dynamic and fluid style is consistently evident. When it's time to "take his shot," Blankenbuehler hits the bull's-eye. 

Hand to God was considered in the 2011/2012 season in its first production at Ensemble Studio Theatre. New elements were considered in the MCC production in the 2013/2014 season. There were no new elements in the Broadway transfer.

Fun Home was considered in its run at the Public Theatre in the 2013/2014 season. It received nominations for Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, Outstanding Director of a Musical, Outstanding Music, Outstanding Lyrics and Outstanding Book of a Musical.

Disgraced was considered in its Off-Broadway premiere at Lincoln Center in the 2012/2013 season, and only new actors and technical staff were eligible in the Broadway transfer.

The 39 Steps was considered in its initial Broadway production in the 2007/2008 season and won for Unique Theatrical Experience.

Nominations by Numbers

13        Hamilton

12        An American in Paris 

9          Something Rotten!

7          The Visit         

6          The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

5          Honeymoon in Vegas

5          Side Show

5          Wolf Hall

4          Deliverance

4          Fly by Night

4          The Last Ship

4          Let the Right One In

4          On the 20^th Century

4          You Got Older

2          Airline Highway

3          Between Riverside/Crazy

3          The City of Conversation

3          It Shoulda Been You

3          On the Town

3          Our Lady of Kibeho

2          Allegro

2          The Audience

2          The Elephant Man

2          Fashions for Men

2          The Fatal Weakness

2          Finding Neverland

2          The Fortress of Solitude        

2          Found 

2          The Iceman Cometh

2          The King and I

2          The Lion

2          My Mañana Comes

2          Pretty Filthy

2          Tamburlaine the Great

2          The Wayside Motor Inn

2          You Can't Take It With You

1          Application Pending

1          Atomic

1          The Belle of Amherst

1          Big Love

1          Catch Me!

1          Donagoo

1          Everybody Gets Cake

1          Every Brilliant Thing

1          Forbidden Broadway Comes Out Swinging!

1          Generations

1          Ghost Quartet

1          Ghosts

1          Gigi

1          I'm Gonna Pray for You So Hard

1          The Human Symphony

1          Into the Woods           

1          It's Only a Play

1          John & Jen

1          Just Jim Dale

1          Lennon: Through a Glass Onion

1          Lonesome Traveler

1          Kill Me Like You Mean It          

1          Lives of the Saints

1          An Octoroon

1          The Other Mozart

1          Pageant

1          The Pianist of Willesden Lane

1          The Pigeoning

1          Pocatello

1          Queen of the Night

1          The Rap Guide to Religion

1          Rasheeda Speaking

1          Rocket to the Moon

1          Rococo Rouge

1          Skylight

1          Sticks and Bones

1          To the Bone

1          The Village Bike

1          A Walk in the Woods

1          Wiesenthal

Photo by David Gordon, Theatermania.com.  Jessie Mueller, left, and Judith Light.