Musicals dominated the Drama Desk nominations honoring the 1999-2000 season, with Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party, seen at Off-Broadway's Manhattan Theatre Club, leading the pack with 13 nominations, Kiss Me, Kate close behind with 10, and Susan Stroman's Contact and The Music Man each netting eight nods a piece. Stroman alone garnered four of those nominations.
The news was announced by Susan Lucci and Tom Wopat at the Friar's Club, April 25 at 10 AM.
The dominance of MTC's The Wild Party -- one of two musicals this season based on the same Jazz Age poem about a flapper named Queenie and Burrs, her brutal lover -- came as something of a surprise, given that the show opened to mixed reviews and failed to transfer to Broadway as planned. The show was nominated for best musical, direction of a musical, music and lyrics. It also collected acting nominations for Brian D'Arcy James, Julia Murney, Idina Menzel and Alix Korey.
As for the other Wild Party, by Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe and currently playing on Broadway, all three stars -- Mandy Patinkin, Toni Collette and Eartha Kitt -- won nominations. The Drama Desk's selections mean that both actresses who played Queenie (Collette, Murney) and both actors who play Burrs (James, Patinkin) will compete for an award.
The other shows nominated for best musical were James Joyce's The Dead, Contact, Swing! and Saturday Night. Best musical revival candidates numbered only two: Kiss Me, Kate and The Music Man. Kate also collected nods for director Michael Blakemore (also remembered for his work on Copenhagen), choreographer Kathleen Marshall, and stars Marin Mazzie, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Lee Wilkof and Michael Mulheren.
Stroman's primary competition looks to be herself. She was cited for her direction and choreography of both Contact and The Music Man -- a total of four nominations in two categories. Contact was also nominated for best musical. Stars Boyd Gaines, Karen Ziemba and Jason Antoon won nods as well.
Leading the field in new plays was Claudia Shear's Dirty Blonde, with five nominations. Dinner with Friends by Donald Margulies received four. The other nominees for best new play were Contact with the Enemy, by Frank Gilroy; Copenhagen, by Michael Frayn; Jitney, by August Wilson; and The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, by Charles Busch.
Best play revival nominees were A Moon for the Misbegotten; The Price; The Real Thing; True West; Uncle Vanya; and Waste.
Receiving special Drama Desk Awards this year are the acting ensemble of Jitney; Barnard Hughes and Helen Stenborg for Shared Lifetime Achievement; and Producer Alexander Cohen for Lifetime Achievement. Cohen, the producer of 101 Broadway plays, died on April 22.
Bebe Neuwirth will play hostess at the 2000 Drama Desk Award, at the F.H. LaGuardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center on May 14. The awards will be televised live on New York 1 News.
A complete list of nominees follows:
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 (The Dead)
Lee Wilkof (Kiss Me, Kate)
FEATURED ACTRESS (MUSICAL):
Nancy Anderson (Jolson and Co.)
Sally Ann Howes (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 Odorosio (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 (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
The following show 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:
This year's nominating committee includes Jonathan Kalb of the New York Press, David Kaufman of the Daily News, Francine Russo of The Village Voice, Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter, David Sheward of Back Stage, Barbara Siegel of Show Business and Robert Simonson of Playbill On-Line. Sheward is also the Drama Desk president.
