At this year’s 67th Annual Drama Desk Awards, which recognize excellence in Broadway and Off-Broadway Theatre, Black performers, producers, playwrights, and more took home numerous honors.
The top winner was the Broadway musical “Some Like It Hot,” which earned eight Drama Desk Awards, including outstanding musical, which anyone who has seen it knows it lives up to. J. Harrison Ghee won for outstanding lead performance in a musical and is stupendous in the role of Daphne. Outstanding book for a musical went to Matthew Lopez and Amber Ruffin. Bryan Carter and Charlie Rosen were recognized for outstanding orchestrations. The musical also won outstanding choreography, outstanding lyrics, outstanding costume design, and outstanding featured performance in a musical.
Outstanding revival of a play went to August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson.” In the category of outstanding lead performance, Alex Newell received the Drama Desk recognition for the role of Lulu in “Shucked.”
Suzan-Lori Parks’s “Plays for the Plague Year,” which was at the Public Theatre, received the Drama Desk Award for outstanding music in a play. This playwright writes music as well—something I had not realized.
“Ain’t No Mo’,” the short-lived Broadway play written by and starring Jordan E. Cooper, earned two Drama Desk Awards: outstanding costume design of a play for Emilio Sosa, and outstanding wig and hair for Mia M. Neal.
The Drama Desk Awards also gave a special Harold Prince Lifetime Achievement Award to the one and only Stephen McKinley Henderson, who was recently seen in “Between Riverside and Crazy” on Broadway in the role of Pops, which was created tailored for him. Henderson was honored for a career well done and still happening.
The Drama Desk awards are always about inclusion and fairness, rising to the occasion of welcoming everyone who is part of the industry to the table and saying, “We see you, appreciate you, and honor you.” This year, for the first time, the Drama Desk Awards dropped the categories of actor and actress, and just referred to people as performers. This was done for thespians who are part of the LGBTQIA community and are nonbinary, like two of this year’s winners: Ghee and Newell.
Please see whatever Broadway and off-Broadway shows you can, and support theater.