Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning actors Brian Stokes Mitchell (Ragtime, Man of La Mancha) and Cady Huffman (The Producers, Will Rogers Follies) announced the nominations for the 55th annual Drama Desk Awards May 3 at 9:30 AM at the New York Friars Club.

The short-lived Broadway revival of Ragtime and the recent Off-Broadway musical The Scottsboro Boys each received nine nominations apiece, the most of any productions of the season.

Tony winner Patti LuPone will host the May 23 awards ceremony at the LaGuardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center. (The nominees will receive their Nomination Certificates at a cocktail reception May 6 in Manhattan.)

The Drama Desk is an organization of theatre critics, writers and editors that honors excellence in all areas of New York theatre: Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway and not-for-profit.

The following awards were voted by the nominating committee and will be presented by the Drama Desk at its awards ceremony:

Outstanding Ensemble Performances
This year the nominators chose to bestow special ensemble awards for acting to the casts of two shows. (Therefore, individual cast members for these shows were not eligible for acting awards in the competitive categories.)

  • Circle Mirror Transformation
  • The Temperamentals

Special Awards:

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

  • To the cast, creative team and producers of Horton Foote’s epic The Orphans’ Home Cycle:
    “We salute the breadth of vision, which inspired the exceptional direction, performances, sets, lighting, costumes, music and sound that made it the theatrical event of this season.”
  • To Jerry Herman “for enchanting and dazzling audiences with his exuberant music and heartfelt lyrics for more than half a century.”
  • To Godlight Theatre Company for “consistent originality and excellence in dramatizing modern literature, and especially for the vibrant theatricality of its innovative productions.”
  • To Ma-Yi Theater Company for “more than two decades of excellence and for nurturing Asian-American voices in stylistically varied and engaging theater.”

Nominations for the competitive categories follow:

Outstanding Play:
Alan Ayckbourn, My Wonderful Day
Annie Baker, Circle Mirror Transformation
Lucinda Coxon, Happy Now?
John Logan, Red
Geoffrey Nauffts, Next Fall
Bruce Norris, Clybourne Park

Outstanding Musical:
American Idiot
Everyday Rapture
Memphis
The Addams Family
The Scottsboro Boys
Yank!

Outstanding Revival of a Play:
A View from the Bridge
Brighton Beach Memoirs
Fences
Hamlet
So Help Me God!
The Boys in the Band

Outstanding Revival of a Musical:
A Little Night Music
Finian’s Rainbow
La Cage Aux Folles
Promises, Promises
Ragtime

Outstanding Actor in a Play:
Bill Heck, The Orphans’ Home Cycle
Jude Law, Hamlet
Alfred Molina, Red
Eddie Redmayne, Red
Liev Schreiber, A View from the Bridge
John Douglas Thompson, The Emperor Jones
Christopher Walken, A Behanding in Spokane

Outstanding Actress in a Play:
Ayesha Antoine, My Wonderful Day
Melissa Errico, Candida
Anne Hathaway, Twelfth Night
Kristen Johnston, So Help Me God!
Laura Linney, Time Stands Still
Jan Maxwell, The Royal Family

Outstanding Actor in a Musical:
Brandon Victor Dixon, The Scottsboro Boys
Douglas Hodge, La Cage Aux Folles
Cheyenne Jackson, Finian’s Rainbow
Chad Kimball, Memphis
Nathan Lane, The Addams Family
Bobby Steggert, Yank!

Outstanding Actress in a Musical:
Kate Baldwin, Finian’s Rainbow
Montego Glover, Memphis
Jayne Houdyshell, Coraline
Christiane Noll, Ragtime
Sherie Rene Scott, Everyday Rapture
Catherine Zeta-Jones, A Little Night Music

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play:
Chris Chalk, Fences
Sean Dugan, Next Fall
Santino Fontana, Brighton Beach Memoirs
Adam James, The Pride
Hamish Linklater, Twelfth Night
Nick Westrate, The Boys in the Band

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play:
Victoria Clark, When the Rain Stops Falling
Viola Davis, Fences
Xanthe Elbrick, Candida
Mary Beth Hurt, When the Rain Stops Falling
Scarlett Johansson, A View from the Bridge
Andrea Riseborough, The Pride

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical:
Kevin Chamberlin, The Addams Family
Robin De Jesus, La Cage Aux Folles
Jeffry Denman, Yank!
Christopher Fitzgerald, Finian’s Rainbow
Jeremy Morse, Bloodsong of Love
Bobby Steggert, Ragtime

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical:
Carolee Carmello, The Addams Family
Carrie Cimma, Lizzie Borden
Katie Finneran, Promises, Promises
Angela Lansbury, A Little Night Music
Kenita Miller, Langston in Harlem
Terri White, Finian’s Rainbow

Outstanding Director of a Play:
Jonathan Bank, So Help Me God!
Jack Cummings III, The Boys in the Band
Sam Gold, Circle Mirror Transformation
Michael Grandage, Hamlet
Michael Grandage, Red
Ethan Hawke, A Lie of the Mind

Outstanding Director of a Musical:
Warren Carlyle, Finian’s Rainbow
Marcia Milgrom Dodge, Ragtime
Igor Goldin, Yank!
Terry Johnson, La Cage Aux Folles
Michael Mayer, American Idiot
Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys

Outstanding Choreography:
Warren Carlyle, Finian’s Rainbow
Marcia Milgrom Dodge, Ragtime
Lynne Page, La Cage Aux Folles
Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys
Twyla Tharp, Come Fly Away
Sergio Trujillo, Memphis

Outstanding Music:
David Bryan, Memphis
Michael Friedman, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
Joe Iconis, Bloodsong of Love
John Kander & Fred Ebb, The Scottsboro Boys
Andrew Lippa, The Addams Family
Joseph Zellnik, Yank!

Outstanding Lyrics:
Rick Crom, Newsical The Musical
Kevin Del Aguila, Click, Clack, Moo
John Kander & Fred Ebb, The Scottsboro Boys
Dillie Keane and Adèle Anderson, Fascinating Aïda Absolutely Miraculous!
Andrew Lippa, The Addams Family
David Zellnik, Yank!

Outstanding Book of a Musical:
Joe DiPietro, Memphis
Joe Iconis, Bloodsong of Love
Dick Scanlan & Sherie Rene Scott, Everyday Rapture
David Thompson, The Scottsboro Boys
Alex Timbers, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
David Zellnik, Yank!

Outstanding Orchestrations:
William David Brohn, Ragtime
Larry Hochman, The Scottsboro Boys
Tom Kitt, American Idiot
Tom Kitt, Everyday Rapture
John Oddo, All About Me
Daryl Waters & David Bryan, Memphis

Outstanding Musical Revue:
Fascinating Aïda Absolutely Miraculous!
Million Dollar Quartet
Newsical The Musical
Simon Green: Traveling Light
Sondheim on Sondheim

Outstanding Music in a Play:
Adam Cochran, A Play on War
Adam Cork, Red
Gaines, A Lie of the Mind
Philip Glass, The Bacchae
Hem, Twelfth Night
Branford Marsalis, Fences

Outstanding Set Design:
Sandra Goldmark, The Boys in the Band
Phelim McDermott, Julian Crouch & Basil Twist, The Addams Family
Derek McLane, Ragtime
Christopher Oram, Red
Jay Rohloff, Underground
Karen Tennent, Hansel and Gretel

Outstanding Costume Design:
Antonia Ford-Roberts & Bob Flanagan, The Emperor Jones
Santo Loquasto, Ragtime
Clint Ramos, So Help Me God!
Bobby Frederick Tilley II, Lizzie Borden
Matthew Wright, La Cage Aux Folles
David Zinn, In the Next Room or the vibrator play

Outstanding Lighting Design:
Neil Austin, Hamlet
Neil Austin, Red
Christian M. DeAngelis, Lizzie Borden
Maruti Evans, John Ball’s In the Heat of the Night
Natasha Katz, The Addams Family
Dane Laffrey, The Boys in the Band

Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical:
Acme Sound Partners, Ragtime
Jonathan Deans, La Cage Aux Folles
Ashley Hanson, Kurt Eric Fischer & Brian Ronan, Everyday Rapture
Peter Hylenski, The Scottsboro Boys
Scott Lehrer, Finian’s Rainbow
Brian Ronan, Promises, Promises

Outstanding Sound Design in a Play:
Dan Bianchi & Wes Shippee, Frankenstein
Dale Bigall, Underground
Adam Cork, Enron
Lindsay Jones and Jamie McElhinney, Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers
Fitz Patton, When the Rain Stops Falling
Elizabeth Rhodes, John Ball’s In the Heat of the Night

Outstanding Solo Performance:
Theodore Bikel, Sholom Aleichem: Laughter Through Tears
Jim Brochu, Zero Hour
Colman Domingo, A Boy and his Soul
Carrie Fisher, Wishful Drinking
Judith Ivey, The Lady With All the Answers
Anna Deavere Smith, Let Me Down Easy

Unique Theatrical Experience:
Charles L. Mee’s Fêtes de la Nuit
Hansel and Gretel
John Tartaglia’s Imaginocean
Love, Loss, and What I Wore
Stuffed and Unstrung
The Provenance of Beauty

Notes: The nominating committee made the following decisions related to the scope of technical award nominations:
Basil Twist’s puppetry was included in the nomination forOutstanding Set Design for The Addams Family. Bob Flanagan’s puppet and mask design were included in the Outstanding Costume Design nomination for The Emperor Jones. Fela! was considered last season in its Off-Broadway premiere and received four nominations— Outstanding Musical; Sahr Ngaujah as Outstanding Actor in a Musical; Bill T. Jones for Outstanding Choreography and Aaron Johnson and Antibalas were nominated for Outstanding Orchestrations. Under Drama Desk rules, only new elements in a transfer can be considered.

PRODUCTIONS WITH MULTIPLE NOMINATIONS
Ragtime 9
The Scottsboro Boys 9
Finians’ Rainbow 8
The Addams Family 8
La Cage Aux Folles 7
Memphis 7
Red 7
Yank! 7
Everyday Rapture 5
The Boys in the Band 5
Fences 4
Hamlet 4
So Help Me God! 4
A Little Night Music 3
A View from the Bridge 3
American Idiot 3
Bloodsong of Love 3
Lizzie Borden 3
Promises, Promises 3
Twelfth Night 3
When the Rain Stops Falling 3
A Lie of the Mind 2
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson 2
Brighton Beach Memoirs 2
Candida 2
Circle Mirror Transformation 2
Fascinating Aïda Absolutely Miraculous! 2
Hansel and Gretel 2
John Ball’s In the Heat of the Night 2
My Wonderful Day 2
Newsical The Musical 2
Next Fall 2
The Emperor Jones 2
The Pride 2
Underground 2

The 2009-10 Nominating Committee includes chairperson Barbara Siegel, TalkinBroadway.com, Theatermania.com; Christopher Byrne, Gay City News; Patrick Christiano, Dan’s Papers, Theaterlife.com; David Kaufman, freelance author; Gerard Raymond, Backstage, The Advocate; Richard Ridge, Broadway Beat TV; and Paulanne Simmons, CurtainUp.com and NYTheatre-wire.com.

The Drama Desk, organized in 1949, presented its first awards in 1955. William Wolf is president of the Drama Desk; Leslie (Hoban) Blake is vice president.

To view the award, click here

For more information visit DramaDesk.