The 70th annual Drama Desk Awards will be held at The Town Hall in NYC this year, with the ceremony set for May 17 as previously announced. This year will mark the return of the awards ceremony to the historic venue, where the ceremony has not been held since prior to the 2020 theatre shutdown.

To be eligible for consideration for Drama Desk Awards this season, productions must open no later than April 26, with Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions considered. The nominations will be announced April 29.

As has been the case for the last three ceremonies, all performance categories will be gender-free, including Outstanding Leading Performance in a Play, Outstanding Leading Performance in a Musical, Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play, and Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical. Each of these categories has twice as many nominees as the former gendered categories, and voters will cast two votes for each category. These categories will also have two winners each; a tie may result in more than two winners in a category.

The 2025-26 Nominating Committee comprises Martha Wade Steketee, Linda Armstrong, Daniel Dinero, Peter Filichia, Kenji Fujishima, Margaret Hall, and Raven Snook.

Ticket information will be announced at a later date.