There’s no greater accomplishment in theater than winning a Tony Award. Tony Awards carry more prestige than others and the ceremony is much more lavish and extravagant. However, they are far from the only accolades bestowed upon the best productions, actors, and behind-the-scenes theater professionals. Other notable theater award shows include the New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards, Obie Awards, and the Drama Desk Awards.
Established in 1949 and incorporated as a nonprofit in 1974, the Drama Desk is composed of theater critics, reporters, and publishers who not only work together to bring awareness to critical issues involving the theatrical industry but also vote on the best in theater during the past year. Notable award winners include plays like Steel Magnolias and Driving Miss Daisy, as well as famous actors, including Dustin Hoffman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Al Pacino.
Below are six things to know about the Drama Desk Awards.
Began as the Vernon Rice Awards
Although the Drama Desk organization launched in 1949, it didn’t begin presenting awards until 1955. The early years of the Drama Desk Awards were much different than the current iteration. To start, it was first known as the Vernon Rice Awards in honor of the New York Post critic who helped bring mainstream attention to off-Broadway. It became known as the Drama Desk Awards in 1963 and started considering Broadway productions for awards during the 1968-69 season.
Celebrating All Levels of Broadway
There are many different award ceremonies highlighting the best of Broadway, but the Drama Desk Awards are the only one to also consider off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions. Off-Broadway shows are those in venues with anywhere from 99 to 499 seats, whereas off-off-Broadway shows, which are typically more experimental and avant-garde, are typically in smaller venues with fewer than 100 seats.
The Nomination Process
The Drama Desk organization is composed of more than 100 media members, most of whom are involved in the nomination and voting process—there’s voting membership and participating membership. Members of the nominating committee usually meet twice per month to discuss eligible productions and individual award winners in all categories, which include outstanding play, musical, leading and supporting actors in a play and musical, directors, choreographers, and orchestrators.
Unique Theatrical Excellence Award Category
The Drama Desk Awards mostly have the same award categories as other major theater award ceremonies with one exception. In an effort to recognize experimental productions that don’t fall under the traditional definition of either a play or musical, the organization created the Unique Theatrical Experience award during the 1970s.
The Unique Theatrical Experience was first awarded to The Norman Conquests, a trilogy of plays (Table Manners, Living Together, and Round and Round the Garden) revolving around the same six characters during a single weekend. Subsequent winners include The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (1986), Cirque du Soleil: Nouvelle Expérience (1991), Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words (2009), and The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart (2017).
This Year’s Big Winners
The 2022 Drama Desk Awards were held on June 14 at Sardi’s Restaurant in New York City. Clyde’s, Company, and Six: The Musical were the big winners with four awards each. Clyde’s, which tells the story of formerly incarcerated individuals seeking to restore their lives working at a truck stop sandwich stop, won Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play, Outstanding Costume Design for a Play, and Outstanding Scenic Design for a Play. Ron Cephas Jones won Outstanding Featured Actor in the Play.
Company, meanwhile, won Outstanding Revival of a Musical as well as Outstanding Director of a Musical (Marianne Elliott), Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (Patti LuPone), and Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical (Matt Doyle). Six: The Musical won for Outstanding Music, Outstanding Lyrics, Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical, and the Ensemble Award, which was given out for the first time this year.
Prayer for the French Republic and Kimberly Akimbo won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play and Outstanding Musical, respectively. Prayer for the French Republic was one of five other shows to win multiple awards, along with MJ, Flying Over Sunset, Lackawanna Blues, and Paradise Square. Trouble in Mind playwright Alice Childress was posthumously honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Tony Award Predictor
The Drama Desk Awards has no affiliation with the Tony Awards, but those who nominate and vote on the awards generally fall in line with Tony Award voters. In fact, the Drama Desk Awards have been a relatively accurate predictor of the Tony Awards, which are usually held a few months later in September.
The Inheritance and Moulin Rouge! The Musical won Best Play and Best Musical, respectively, at the Drama Desk Awards and Tony Awards in 2020—there was no award ceremonies in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the start of the Drama Desk Awards, the show that wins Outstanding Play has gone on to win the Tony Award in the same category nearly 90 percent of the time. This figure is almost 80 percent for the Best Musical.