Contact; Copenhagen; The Real Thing; Kiss Me, Kate Win Top Drama Desk Awards
Brian Stokes Mitchell with Heather Headly at the Drama Desks
NEW YORK – Kiss Me, Kate was just too darn hot
during the 45th annual Drama Desk Awards which were given
out Sunday, May 14.
The Broadway revival bagged a total of six Drama Desk
Awards, including Outstanding Revival of a Musical,
Outstanding Actor in a Musical for Brian Stokes Mitchell, and
Outstanding Direction of a Musical for Michael Blakemore.
Kiss Me, Kate’s showing was seconded only by the dance
musical Contact, which took home four Drama Desk Awards,
including Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Featured Actress
in a Musical for Karen Ziemba, and Outstanding
Choreography for Susan Stroman.
Copenhagen, Michael Frayn’s epistemological drama about
physicists responsible for the making of the atom bomb,
nabbed two Drama Desk Awards, one for Outstanding Play
and another for Outstanding Direction of a Play for Michael
Blakemore.
The Donmar Warehouse’s revival of Tom Stoppard’s
The Real Thing won two Drama Desk Awards. It was
named Outstanding Revival of a Play and lead actor
Stephen Dillane was named Outstanding Actor in a
Play.
HOW DOES THIS AFFECT ME? The strong showing
of Kiss Me Kate, Contact, Copenhagen and The
Real Thing bodes well for these Broadway
shows, which are expected to be top
contenders for the 2000 Tony Awards June 4.
The Drama Desk, an organization representing theatre
journalists in New York, honored the best of Broadway
and Off-Broadway in its annual awards ceremony.
According to the Drama Desk's own statement, "The
Drama Desk Awards are to the Tony Awards what the
Golden Globes are to the Oscars."
Kiss Me Kate has already racked up a number of
critical accolades, particularly from the Drama League
Awards and the Outer Critics Circle. Similarly, both
Copenhagen and Contact have taken top honors from
the Drama League Awards, The Outer Critics Circle
and the Drama Critics Circle, with the latter naming
the Michael Frayn drama as Best Foreign Play.
Susan Stroman, who has been seeing double with
nominations for both The Music Man and Contact, now
has a strong competition in the directing category,
since Blakemore won the two top directing awards at
the Drama Desk Awards for his directions of
Copenhagen and Kiss Me, Kate.
Arguably the most controversial winner of the evening
was the Drama Desk Awards given to Stephen
Sondheim for Outstanding Lyrics award for the words
he wrote 46 years ago to Saturday Night, which got its
long-delayed Off-Broadway debut this year at Second
Stage. Several members of the Drama Desk
organization openly wondered how Sondheim could
have won in this category, considering that not many
Drama Desk members had actually gone to see the
Off-Broadway show.
After the ceremonies, many Drama Desk members
admitted that, except for the group’s nominating
committee which was responsible for putting
Sondheim on the short list, they were generally turned
away or refused tickets by the show’s publicity
department.
Even more curiously, the Drama Desk Award for
Outstanding Music went the Andrew Lippa for his
Manhattan Theatre Club production of The Wild Party,
one of two musicals of the same title with the same
source material to open in New York this season.
Lippa also received a Drama Desk nomination for
Outstanding Lyrics for The Wild Party.
The evening’s surprise hit was Off-Off-Broadway’s
Charlie Victor Romeo, a highly acclaimed theatrical
documentary where the audience becomes observers
to the tension-filled cockpit of real in-flight
emergencies. The show won two Drama Desk Awards
for Outstanding Sound Design and Unique Theatrical
Experience. The script for this live techno-thriller is
derived entirely from black box transcripts of six major
real-life airline emergencies. What makes it such a
dark horse during this year is that Off-Off-Broadway
shows rarely make such a strong showing at the
Drama Desk Awards. Subtitled “Cockpit Voice
Recorder,” Charlie Victor Romeo performs way
off-off-Broadway at the Collective Unconscious in the
Lower East Side, where its originally slated closing
date of Saturday, May 27 might be extended after its
strong showing at the Drama Desk Awards.
Also, audience favorite Dame Edna: The Royal Tour
was recognized for Outstanding Solo Performance.
Eileen Heckart of The Waverly Gallery was named
Outstanding Actress in a Play. Roy Dotrice was named
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for A Moon for
the Misbegotten. Stephen Spinella was named
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for James
Joyce’s The Dead.
Here is a complete list of the nominees and winners,
with the winners listed in bold with an asterisk (*).
PLAY
Contact with the Enemy, by Frank Gilroy
* Copenhagen, by Michael Frayn
Dinner with Friends, by Donald Margulies
Dirty Blonde, by Claudia Shear
Jitney, by August Wilson
The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, by Charles Busch
MUSICAL
* Contact
James Joyce’s The Dead
Saturday Night
Swing!
The Wild Party -- Manhattan Theatre Club
REVIVAL (PLAY)
A Moon for the Misbegotten, by Eugene O’Neill
The Price, by Arthur Miller
* The Real Thing, by Tom Stoppard
True West, by Sam Shephard
Uncle Vanya, by Anton Chekhov
Waste, by Harley Granville Barker
REVIVAL (MUSICAL)
* Kiss Me, Kate
The Music Man
ACTOR (PLAY)
Gabriel Byrne (A Moon for the Misbegotten)
Kevin Chamberlin (Dirty Blonde)
* Stephen Dillane (The Real Thing)
Derek Jacobi (Uncle Vanya)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (True West)
Paul Sparks (Coyote on a Fence)
ACTRESS (PLAY)
Sinead Cusack (Our Lady of Sligo)
* Eileen Heckart (The Waverly Gallery)
Linda Lavin (The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife)
Claudia Shear (Dirty Blonde)
Lynn Thigpen (Jar the Floor)
Charlyne Woodard (In the Blood)
ACTOR (MUSICAL)
Craig Bierko (The Music Man)
Brian D’Arcy James (The Wild Party -- MTC)
Boyd Gaines (Contact)
* Brian Stokes Mitchell (Kiss Me, Kate)
Mandy Patinkin (The Wild Party -- Broadway)
ACTRESS (MUSICAL)
Toni Collette (The Wild Party -- Broadway)
* Heather Headley (Aida)
Rebecca Luker (The Music Man)
Audra McDonald (Marie Christine)
Marin Mazzie (Kiss Me, Kate)
Julia Murney (The Wild Party -- MTC)
FEATURED ACTOR (PLAY)
Matthew Arkin (Dinner with Friends)
* Roy Dotrice (A Moon for the Misbegotten)
Joel Grey (Give Me Your Answer, Do!)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Author’s Voice)
Brian Murray (Uncle Vanya)
Harris Yulin (The Price)
FEATURED ACTRESS (PLAY)
Jillian Armenante (The Cider House Rules, Part One:
Here in St. Cloud)
* Marylouise Burke (Fuddy Meers)
Seana Kofoed (An Experiment with an Air Pump)
Cigdem Onat (The Time of the Cuckoo)
Phyllis Newman (The Moment When)
Amy Sedaris (The Country Club)
FEATURED ACTOR (MUSICAL)
Jason Antoon (Contact)
Christopher Fitzgerald (Saturday Night)
Alistair Izobell (Kat and the Kings)
Michael Mulheren (Kiss Me, Kate)
* Stephen Spinella (James Joyce's The Dead)
Lee Wilkof (Kiss Me, Kate)
FEATURED ACTRESS (MUSICAL)
Nancy Anderson (Jolson and Co.)
Sally Ann Howes (James Joyce's The Dead)
Eartha Kitt (The Wild Party -- Broadway)
Alix Korey (The Wild Party -- MTC)
Idina Menzel (The Wild Party -- MTC)
* Karen Ziemba (Contact)
DIRECTOR (PLAY)
* Michael Blakemore (Copenhagen)
Thomas Hulce and Jane Jones (The Cider House
Rules: Part One, Here in St. Cloud)
James Lapine (Dirty Blonde)
Marion McClinton (Jitney)
Michael Mayer (Uncle Vanya)
Daniel Sullivan (Dinner with Friends)
DIRECTOR (MUSICAL)
Gabriel Barre (The Wild Party -- MTC)
* Michael Blakemore (Kiss Me, Kate)
Susan Stroman (Contact)
Susan Stroman (The Music Man)
CHOREOGRAPHY
Jody J. Abrahams, Loukman Adams (Kat and the
Kings)
Mark Dendy (The Wild Party -- MTC)
Kathleen Marshall (Kiss Me, Kate)
* Susan Stroman (Contact)
Susan Stroman (The Music Man)
Lynne Taylor-Corbett (Swing!)
MUSIC
Shaun Davey (The Dead)
* Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party -- MTC)
Stephen Sondheim (Saturday Night)
LYRICS
Jordan Allen-Dutton, Jason Catalano, GQ, Erik Weiner
(The Bomb-itty of Errors)
Boyd Graham (The Big Bang)
)
Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party -- MTC)
* Stephen Sondheim (Saturday Night)
ORCHESTRATIONS
Doug Besterman (The Music Man)
Michael Gibson (The Wild Party -- MTC)
Taliep Peterson (Kat and the Kings)
* Don Sebesky (Kiss Me, Kate)
Jonathan Tunick (Saturday Night)
Harold Wheeler (Swing!)
SET DESIGN (PLAY)
* David Gallo (Jitney)
Derek McLane (East Is East)
Rob Odorisio (An Empty Plate at the Cafe du Grand
Boeuf)
Neil Patel (Dinner with Friends)
Tony Walton (Uncle Vanya)
James Noone (The Time of the Cuckoo)
SET DESIGN (MUSICAL)
Julian Crouch, Graeme Gilmour (Shockheaded Peter)
David Gallo (The Wild Party -- MTC)
Thomas Lynch (Contact)
Thomas Lynch (The Music Man)
* Robin Wagner (Kiss Me, Kate)
COSTUME DESIGN
Jonathan Bixby, Gregory A. Gale (The Country Club)
Basil De Maurier (aka Boyd Graham)(The Big Bang)
* Martin Pakledinaz (Kiss Me, Kate)
Martin Pakledinaz (The Wild Party -- MTC)
Kevin Pollard (Shockheaded Peter)
William Ivey Long (The Music Man)
LIGHTING DESIGN
* Peter Kaczorowski (Contact)
David Lander (Dirty Blonde)
Brian MacDevitt (An Experiment with an Air Pump)
Robert Perry (The Water Engine)
Kenneth Posner (The Wild Party — MTC)
Scott Zielinski (Space)
SOUND DESIGN
Marc Gwinn (Coyote on a Fence)
* Jamie Mereness (Charlie Victor Romeo)
Rob Milburn, Michael Bodeen (Space)
Darron L. West (Chesapeake)
Darron L. West (Y2K)
SOLO PERFORMANCE
Olympia Dukakis (Rose)
Spalding Gray (Morning, Noon and Night)
* Barry Humphries (Dame Edna: The Royal Tour)
Mark Linn-Baker (Chesapeake)
Mark Setlock (Fully Committed)
Marc Wolf (Another American: Asking and Telling)
UNIQUE THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE
* Charlie Victor Romeo
Do You Come Here Often?
Shockheaded Peter
SPECIAL AWARDS
Producer Alexander Cohen for Lifetime Achievement
(posthumously)
Barnard Hughes and Helen Stenborg for Shared
Lifetime Achievement
The ensemble of Jitney
Among celebrity presenters: Craig Bierko (Music Man),
Eric Bogosian (Wake Up and Smell the Coffee!, Betty
Buckley (Cats), Olympia Dukakis (Rose), Marvin
Hamlisch, Linda Lavin (Tale of the Allerghist's Wife),
Michael Phelan, Camryn Manheim ("The Practice"),
Bernadette Peters (Annie Get Your Gun), Patrick
Stewart (Ride Down Mt. Morgan), Roger Rees (Uncle
Vanya), Tom Wopat (Annie Get Your Gun).
A LOOK AT THIS YEAR'S DRAMA DESK NOMINEES:
Andrew Lippa's Off-Broadway musical adaptation
of The Wild Party was way out in front of the field
with 13 nominations, including Best Musical, Best
Director (Gabriel Barre), Best Featured Actress
(Alix Korey and Idina Menzel), Best Actress in a
Musical (Julia Murney), Best Choreography (Mark
Dendy) and Best Lyrics and Music (Lippa).
Michael John LaChiusa's Broadway musical with
the same title and source material trailed with only
three nominations, all of which for performances:
Best Actress (Toni Collete), Best Actor (Mandy
Patinkin) and Best Featured Actress in a Musical
(Eartha Kitt). It was snubbed for Best Musical.
LaChiusa composed the music and lyrics for both
Marie Christine and The Wild Party, but was
passed over for both projects.
Other nominees also saw double. Susan Stroman
was nominated twice for Best Direction and twice
for Best Choreography for her work on Contact
and The Music Man. Philip Seymour Hoffman was
nominated for Best Actor for True West and Best
Featured Actor in The Actor’s Voice by Richard
Greenberg.
However, Hoffman’s True West costar got no
Drama Desk nomination.
The Broadway revival of Kiss Me, Kate got 10
nominations, and Contact, which transferred from
Off-Broadway to Broadway, followed with 8. The
Broadway revival of The Music Man also got 8.
Claudia Shear's portrait of Mae West led the field
among non-musicals, with 5 nominations.
The Drama Desk Awards will be given May 14 in a
ceremony hosted by Bebe Neuwirth. The awards
are unusual in that Broadway and Off-Broadway
shows compete in the same categories.
Currently-running productions The Green Bird, The
Ride Down Mt. Morgan and The Vagina
Monologues were first produced in previous
seasons and earned Drama Desk nominations, and
thus were ineligible this season.
The nominations in 25 categories were announced
at a Jan. 25 news conference hosted by Susan
Lucci and Tom Wopat at The New York Friars
Club.
The following shows received three or more
nominations:
The Wild Party -- MTC: 13
Kiss Me, Kate: 10
Contact: 8
The Music Man: 8
Dirty Blonde: 5
Uncle Vanya: 5
Saturday Night: 5
Dinner with Friends: 4
The Dead: 4
Jitney: 3
Swing!: 3
The Wild Party -- Broadway: 3
A Moon for the Misbegotten: 3
Kat and the Kings: 3
{:-)-:}
Back to Articles and Reviews
