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Home Featured Story

‘BOOP! The Musical’ Leads Drama Desk Nominations with 11

'Maybe Happy Ending' and 'Just In Time' Score 9 nominations each.

Joey Moser by Joey Moser
April 30, 2025
in Featured Story, Theater
1
‘BOOP! The Musical’ Leads Drama Desk Nominations with 11
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(Wednesday April 30, 2025) – Nominations for the 69th Annual Drama Desk Awards were announced today on Spectrum News NY1 by stage and screen star Norm Lewis, Spectrum News NY1 “On Stage” host Frank DiLella, and anchor Rocco Vertuccio. The full list of nominees is available below.

In keeping with the Drama Desk’s mission, the nominators considered shows that opened on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off Broadway during the 2024-2025 New York theater season, that the Drama Desk determined ended as of April 27, 2025. Productions must run for 21 or more live performances to be considered eligible.

In determining the eligibility of plays or performances from prior seasons, the nominating committee considered only those elements that constituted new work. These productions included Buena Vista Social Club, Hold On to Me Darling, Job, Odd Man Out, Our Class, Still, Teeth, The Christine Jorgensen Show, and Yellow Face. While some members of the Floyd Collins creative team also worked on the original 1996 Playwrights Horizons production, the nominating committee determined their contributions to this revival were eligible as new work.

Productions deemed not eligible either because they were considered in their entirety in prior seasons or because they did not invite awards consideration included A Child’s Christmas in Wales, All In: Comedy About Love, Bringer of Doom, Dead Outlaw, English, Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, Invasive Species, Oh, Mary!, On Beckett, and The Dead, 1904. Due to rescheduling factors, Grief Camp and Rheology will be considered in the 2025-2026 season.

This year’s awards, hosted by Debra Messing and Tituss Burgess, will be held on Sunday, June 1 at 6:15pm at NYU Skirball (556 LaGuardia Place). Staci Levine and Jessica R. Jenen return as Executive Producers of the Awards.

Tickets are now on sale. 100% of net proceeds from the Drama Desk Awards benefits the Entertainment Community Fund. To purchase tickets, click HERE. For more information on purchasing tickets contact: bo**********@********************ls.com.

David Barbour and Charles Wright are The Drama Desk co-presidents.

As was the case last year, all performance categories are gender-free. The updated gender-free categories are: Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play, Outstanding Lead 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. If there is a tie, there may be more than two winners in a category.

What sets the Drama Desk Awards apart is that they are voted on and bestowed by theater critics, journalists, editors, and publishers covering theater. The Drama Desk Awards honor all aspects of New York’s professional theater.

The 2025 Drama Desk Awards welcomes the support of the Mayor’s office. “As a Mayoral agency with the mission to uplift NYC’s creative sectors and make them accessible to all, we are so pleased once again to support the Drama Desk Awards this year,” said Commissioner of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment Pat Swinney Kaufman. “Congratulations to all the 2025 nominees and the creative and production teams behind this iconic NYC institution, which celebrates the talent across our entire theatre industry.”

The 2024-25 Drama Desk Nominating Committee is comprised of: Martha Wade Steketee (Chair; freelance: UrbanExcavations.com), Linda Armstrong (New York Amsterdam News), Dan Dinero (Theatre is Easy), Peter Filichia (Broadway Radio), Kenji Fujishima (freelance: Theatermania), Raven Snook (TDF Stages, freelance: Time Out New York), and Charles Wright, ex-officio.

The Drama Desk Awards will honor all of our Nominees and Special Award Recipients with the Drama Desk Awards Tribute Journal, which will be available online via a QR code provided at the event, as well as on multiple screens displayed in the lobby, on the full stage projection screen prior to the start of the event, on the large screen during the winners reception, on our website and on social media as well.

Below is a full list of nominees

Outstanding Play

Blood of the Lamb, by Arlene Hutton

Deep Blue Sound, by Abe Koogler

Grangeville, by Samuel D. Hunter

John Proctor is the Villain, by Kimberly Belflower

Liberation, by Bess Wohl

Purpose, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

 

Outstanding Musical

BOOP! The Musical

Death Becomes Her

Just in Time

Maybe Happy Ending

Music City

Outstanding Revival of a Play

Eureka Day

Garside’s Career

Home

Wine in the Wilderness

Yellow Face

 

Outstanding Revival of a Musical

Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

Floyd Collins

Gypsy

Once Upon a Mattress

See What I Wanna See

Sunset Blvd.

 

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play

Betsy Aidem, The Ask

Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California

Patsy Ferran, A Streetcar Named Desire

Danny J. Gomez, All of Me

Doug Harris, Redeemed

Patrick Keleher, Fatherland

Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Lily Rabe, Ghosts

Jay O. Sanders, Henry IV (Theatre for a New Audience)

Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Paul Sparks, Grangeville

Olivia Washington, Wine in the Wilderness

 

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical

Tatianna Córdoba, Real Women Have Curves

Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending

Sutton Foster, Once Upon a Mattress

Tom Francis, Sunset Blvd.

Jonathan Groff, Just in Time

Grey Henson, Elf

Jeremy Jordan, Floyd Collins

Audra McDonald, Gypsy

Jasmine Amy Rogers, BOOP! The Musical

Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Blvd.

Helen J. Shen, Maybe Happy Ending

Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her

 

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play

Greg Keller, Pre-Existing Condition

Julia Lester, All Nighter

Adrienne C. Moore, The Blood Quilt

Deirdre O’Connell, Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.

Maria-Christina Oliveras, Cymbeline

Maryann Plunkett, Deep Blue Sound

Michael Rishawn, Table 17

Jude Tibeau, Bad Kreyòl

Anjana Vasan, A Streetcar Named Desire

Frank Wood, Hold On to Me Darling

Amalia Yoo, John Proctor is the Villain

Kara Young, Purpose

 

Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical

Brooks Ashmanskas, Smash

Nicholas Barasch, Pirates! The Penzance Musical

André De Shields, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

John El-Jor, We Live in Cairo

Jason Gotay, Floyd Collins

Gracie Lawrence, Just in Time

Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat

Lesli Margherita, Gypsy

Zachary Noah Piser, See What I Wanna See

Jenny Lee Stern, Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song

Michael Urie, Once Upon a Mattress

Natalie Walker, The Big Gay Jamboree

 

Outstanding Solo Performance

David Greenspan, I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan

Ryan J. Haddad, Hold Me in the Water

Sam Kissajukian, 300 Paintings

Mark Povinelli, The Return of Benjamin Lay

Andrew Scott, Vanya

 

Outstanding Direction of a Play

David Cromer and Caitlin Sullivan, The Antiquities

Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Tyne Rafaeli, Becoming Eve

Jack Serio, Grangeville

Danya Taymor, John Proctor is the Villain

Whitney White, Liberation

Kip Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray

 

Outstanding Direction of a Musical

Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending

Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

Jamie Lloyd, Sunset Blvd.

Jerry Mitchell, BOOP! The Musical

Alex Timbers, Just in Time

George C. Wolfe, Gypsy

 

Outstanding Choreography

Camille A. Brown, Gypsy

Warren Carlyle, Pirates! The Penzance Musical

Jakob Karr, Ain’t Done Bad

Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

Jerry Mitchell, BOOP! The Musical

Sergio Trujillo, Real Women Have Curves

 

Outstanding Music

Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending

David Foster, BOOP! The Musical

Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez, Real Women Have Curves

Zoe Sarnak, The Lonely Few

The Lazours, We Live in Cairo

 

Outstanding Lyrics

Gerard Alessandrini, Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song

Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending

David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts, Operation Mincemeat

Adam Gwon, All the World’s a Stage

Marla Mindelle and Philip Drennen, The Big Gay Jamboree

Luis Quintero, Medea: Re-Versed

 

Outstanding Book of a Musical

Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending

David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts, Operation Mincemeat

Warren Leight and Isaac Oliver, Just in Time

Bob Martin, BOOP! The Musical

Marla Mindelle and Jonathan Parks-Ramage, The Big Gay Jamboree

Marco Pennette, Death Becomes Her

 

Outstanding Orchestrations

Will Aronson, Maybe Happy Ending

Doug Besterman, BOOP! The Musical

Joseph Joubert and Daryl Waters, Pirates! The Penzance Musical

Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber, Just in Time

Michael Starobin, All the World’s a Stage

 

Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play

Miriam Buether, Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.

Miriam Buether, and Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher (illusions and visual effects), Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Rob Howell, The Hills of California

Johan Kølkjær, Dark Noon

Grace Laubacher, Life and Trust

Matt Saunders, Walden

 

Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical

Clifton Chadick, Music City

Rachel Hauck, Swept Away

Dane Laffrey and George Reeve, Maybe Happy Ending (includes video design)

Derek McLane, Just in Time

David Rockwell and Finn Ross (projections), BOOP! The Musical

 

Outstanding Costume Design of a Play

Brenda Abbandandolo, The Antiquities

Dede Ayite, Our Town

Christopher Ford, The Beastiary

Camilla Lind, Dark Noon

Karl Ruckdeschel, Twelfth Night

 

Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical

Gregg Barnes, BOOP! The Musical

Sarah Cubbage, The Big Gay Jamboree

Toni-Leslie James, Gypsy

Qween Jean, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

Paul Tazewell, Death Becomes Her

Catherine Zuber, Just in Time

 

Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play

Isabella Byrd, Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.

Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Natasha Katz, John Proctor is the Villain

Tyler Micoleau, The Antiquities

Paul Whitaker, SUMO

 

Outstanding Lighting Design of a Musical

Kevin Adams, Swept Away

Adam Honoré, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

Jack Knowles, Sunset Blvd.

Philip S. Rosenberg, BOOP! The Musical

Scott Zielinski and Ruey Horng Sun (projections), Floyd Collins

 

Outstanding Sound Design of a Play

Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Johnny Gasper, Two Sisters Find a Box of Lesbian Erotica in the Woods

Matt Otto, All of Me

Bray Poor, Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp.

Clemence Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Fan Zhang, Good Bones

Outstanding Sound Design of a Musical

Adam Fisher, Sunset Blvd.

Peter Hylenski, Just in Time

Scott Lehrer, Gypsy

Mick Potter, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends

Dan Moses Schreier, Floyd Collins

 

Outstanding Projection and Video Design

Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom, Sunset Blvd.

Jake Barton, McNeal

David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Jesse Garrison, The 7th Voyage of Egon Tichy [redux]

Hana S. Kim, Redwood

 

Outstanding Wig and Hair

Alberto “Albee” Alvarado, SUMO

Charles G. LaPointe, Death Becomes Her

Sabana Majeed, BOOP! The Musical

Nikiya Mathis, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

Nikiya Mathis, Liberation

 

Outstanding Puppetry

Dorothy James, Bill’s 44th

Tom Lee, See What I Wanna See

Simple Mischief Studio, Small Acts of Daring Invention

Amanda Villalobos, Becoming Eve

Kirjan Waage, Dead as a Dodo

 

Outstanding Fight Choreography

Drew Leary, Romeo + Juliet

Chelsea Pace and James Yaegashi, SUMO

Rick Sordelet and Christian Kelly-Sordelet, Pirates! The Penzance Musical

Bret Yount, King Lear

 

Outstanding Adaptation

Becoming Eve, by Emil Weinstein

Cymbeline, by Andrea Thome

Medea: Re-Versed, by Luis Quintero

Pirates! The Penzance Musical, by Rupert Holmes

The Devil’s Disciple, by David Staller

 

Outstanding Revue

Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song

Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now!

The Jonathan Larson Project

The World According to Micki Grant

 

Unique Theatrical Experience

Odd Man Out

The 7th Voyage of Egon Tichy [redux]

The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Voices in Your Head

The Wind and the Rain: A story about Sunny’s Bar

 

Special Awards

 Ensemble Award

The ensemble of Roundabout Theatre Company’s Liberation (Betsy Aidem, Audrey Corsa, Kayla Davion, Susannah Flood, Kristolyn Lloyd, Irene Sofia Lucio, Charlie Thurston, and Adina Verson) for bringing to vibrant life the specific and universal stories of women staring across the social battle lines of the 1970s from their perch “somewhere in Ohio” in Bess Wohl’s beautiful new play.

Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award

The incredibly versatile Stephen Michael Spencer for his electric and empathetic performances in two of this season’s strongest new Off-Broadway musicals. In Medea: Re-Versed, Spencer’s funny yet revelatory take on a character we all thought we knew allowed us the rare opportunity to actually understand Jason’s motivations. And then in Music City, Spencer was almost unrecognizable as TJ, a charismatic singer-songwriter who we couldn’t help but root for.

 

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Tags: Drama Desk NominationsTheater
Joey Moser

Joey Moser

Joey is a co-founder of The Contending currently living in Columbus, OH. He is a proud member of GALECA and Critics Choice. Since he is short himself, Joey has a natural draw towards short film filmmaking. He is a Rotten Tomatoes approved critic, and he has also appeared in Xtra Magazine. If you would like to talk to Joey about cheese, corgis, or Julianne Moore, follow him on Twitter or Instagram.

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  1. FJA says:
    3 weeks ago

    BOOP!

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