Drama Desk Special Award

Award for American Theater works

This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: missing 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 in their entirety, missing details for 2016, 2017. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (November 2023)

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Drama Desk
Special Award

Awarded for| Special Award
Location| New York City
Country| United States
Presented by| Drama Desk
First award| 1976
Website| dramadesk.org (defunct)

The Drama Desk Special Award is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements by an individual or an organization that has made a significant contribution to the theatre across collective Broadway, off-Broadway or off-off-Broadway productions in New York City.

The award was first presented in 1976; in 2012, the Drama Desk Award Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award was added as a component of the Special Award, and those award winners are included in this article.

## Winners and nominees

[edit]

### 1970s

[edit]

Year  | Recipient and Contribution

|

1976
Hartman Theatre Company
Outstanding Contribution by a New Theatre Company
Queens Theatre in the Park
Outstanding Contribution by a New Theatre Company
1977  | —
1978
Off-Off Broadway Theatre Movement
Outstanding Contribution to Theatre

### 1980s

[edit]

Year  | Recipient and Contribution

|

1980
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
Performances by International Companies
1981  | —
1982
Jonathan Tunick

Ridiculous Theatrical Company

The Royal Shakespeare Company
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
1983
WPA Theatre

Douglas Watt
Distinguished Achievement
Richard Wilbur
His English Translation of The Misanthrope
1984
Alan Schneider
Serving a Wide Range of Playwrights
Michael Bennett, Joseph Papp and the Shubert Organization
The 3,389th Performance of A Chorus Line
B. H. Barry
Consistent Excellence in Fight Staging
Equity Library Theatre
Showcasing Theater Professionals
InterArt Theater
Nurturing Female Theater Artists
1985
Gerard Alessandrini
Forbidden Broadway
Ridiculous Theatrical Company
Quick Change Wizardry in The Mystery of Irma Vep
Claudette Colbert and Rex Harrison
The Continuing Pleasure of Their Company
Veterans Ensemble Theater Company
Giving Voice to Trauma of Vietnam
1986
Thomas Z. Shepard
Preserving Musical Theatre Heritage on Record
Agnes de Mille
Her Enduring Legacy of Cherished Choreography
Joyce Theater
The American Theater Exchange Program
The New Amsterdam Theater Company
Distinguished Concert Productions
Donald Pippin
Musical Direction and Commitment to Theater
Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn
Their Continuing Theatrical Partnership
1987
Stanley Lebowsky
Musical Direction and Commitment to Theater
Paul Davis and Frank Verlizzo
Inspired Art Work for Theatrical Productions
Henry Cohen, Donald Rose and Robert Kimball
Rescuing Classic Broadway Scores
1988
Actors' Equity
75 years of Championing the Professional Actor
Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT)
The Preservation of Our Theatrical Heritage
Yale Repertory Theatre
Nurturing Plays of Significance
Michael Feinstein
Celebrating American Musical Theater Songs
1989
Paul Gemignani

Bernard Gersten

Manhattan Theatre Club

John A. McGlinn

Gregory Mosher

Jerome Robbins

### 1990s

[edit]

Year  | Recipient and Contribution

|

1990
The Fund for New American Plays
Support of American Playwrights and Theaters
Jule Styne
A Lifetime of Glorious Theater Music
Kevin Haney
His Makeup for Tru and Other Shows
1991
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Bringing International Productions to New York
James McMullan
Consistently Inspired Art Work for Theater
New Dramatists
Decades of Nurturing American Playwrights
Harold Rome
His Distinctive Contribution to Musical Theatre
1992  | —
1993
Early Stages

The Public Theater / New York Shakespeare Festival
Puppetry at the Public Theater
RCA Victor Records

1994
John A. Willis
Fifty Years of Devotion to Theater and its Artists
Janet Hayes Walker
Twenty-Five Years at the York Theatre Company
1995
Eileen Atkins

Otis Guernsey Jr.

The Non-Traditional Casting Project

Barrow Group
Off-Off Broadway Excellence
1996
George C. Scott
Lifetime Devotion to Theatre
Repertorio Español
Providing Spanish-Language Entertainment
Signature Theatre Company
The Concept of Annually Serving One Playwright
Theatreworks USA
Thirty-Five Years of Entertaining Children and Parents
1997
The Moscow Sovremennik Theatre Company
Into the Whirlwind and Three Sisters
1998
Vineyard Theatre
Quality Work and the New S.P.A.C.E. Program
Arthur Miller
Lifetime Achievement in the Theater
1999
Al Hirschfeld
Lifetime Achievement
Sony Classical
Its Columbia Broadway Masterworks Series
The Actors' Fund of America

### 2000s

[edit]

Year  | Recipient and Contribution

|

2000
Alexander H. Cohen (posthumously), Barnard Hughes and Helen Stenborg
Lifetime Achievement
2001
Reba McEntire
Her Performance in Annie Get Your Gun
Seán Campion and Conleth Hill
Their Performances in Stones in His Pockets
2002
Paul Huntley
Lifetime Achievement
Billy Rosenfield
Preserving Musical Theatre Recordings
Mint Theater Company
Presenting and Preserving Little Known Classics
Worth Street Theater Company
Its Stage Door Canteen Shows at Ground Zero
2003
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Bringing International Works to New York
2004
The Flea Theater

Classical Theatre of Harlem

Dakin Matthews
Henry IV
2005
Keen Company
Plays That Build Upon Our Theatrical Heritage
The Public Theater / New York Shakespeare Festival
Fifty Years of Exceptional Theater Contributions
2006
BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop
Nurturing, Developing and Promoting New Talent for the Musical Theater
York Theatre Company
Its Vital Contributions to Theater by Developing and Presenting New Musicals
Sh-K-Boom Records / Ghostlight Records
Dedication to the Preservation of Musical Theater Through Cast Recordings
2007
John Kander and Fred Ebb
Forty-Two Years of Excellence in Advancing the Art of the Musical Theatre
Austin Pendleton
A Renaissance Man of the American Theatre
Transport Group
Its Breadth of Vision and its Presentation of Challenging Productions
Folksbiene (National Yiddish Theatre)
Preserving for Ninety-Two Consecutive Seasons the Cultural Legacy of Yiddish theatre in America
2008
Edward Albee
His Provocative Plays, Including This Season's Peter and Jerry, Which Enrich the American Theater
James Earl Jones
A Commanding Force on the Stage for Nearly Half a Century
Playwrights Horizons
Ongoing Support to Generations of Theater Artists and Undiminished Commitment to Producing New Work
59E59 Theaters
Whose Imaginative Curatorial Vision Has Created a Stimulating Environment to Nurture a Diverse Range of Artists
2009
Liza Minnelli
Her Enduring Career of Sustained Excellence, and Her Performance in Liza's at The Palace...!
Atlantic Theater Company and artistic director Neil Pepe
Exceptional Craftsmanship, Dedication to Excellence and Productions That Engage, Inspire and Enlighten
TADA! Youth Theater
Providing an Invaluable Contribution to the Future of the Theater.
Forbidden Broadway
Its Satire and Celebration of Broadway

### 2010s

[edit]

Year  | Recipient and Contribution

|

2010
The Cast, Creative Team and Producers of Horton Foote's The Orphans' Home Cycle
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
Jerry Herman
Enchanting and Dazzling Audiences with His Exuberant Music and Heartfelt Lyrics for More Than Half a Century
Godlight Theatre Company
Consistent Originality and Excellence in Dramatizing Modern Literature, and Especially for the Vibrant Theatricality of its Innovative Productions
Ma-Yi Theater Company
More Than Two Decades of Excellence and for Nurturing Asian-American Voices in Stylistically Varied and Engaging Theater
2011
A. R. Gurney
His Enduring, Keenly Observed Portraits of American Life Over a Prolific Four-Decade-Long Career
Reed Birney
Versatile and Finely Nuanced Performances Over the Past 35 Years, and for His Exceptional Work This Season in Tigers Be Still, A Small Fire and The Dream of the Burning Boy
The New Group and Artistic Director Scott Elliott
Presenting Contemporary New Voices and for Uncompromisingly Raw and Powerful Productions
The Pearl Theatre Company
Notable Productions of Classic Plays and Nurturing a Stalwart Resident Company of Actors
Creative Team of War Horse
Thrilling Stagecraft
2012
Mary Testa
Over Three Decades of Consistently Outstanding Work, Including Her Tour-de-Force Performance in This Season's Queen of the Mist
Nick Westrate
His Versatility in Unnatural Acts, Love's Labor's Lost, and Galileo was a Highlight of the Season
New Victory Theater
Providing Enchanting, Sophisticated Children's Theater That Appeals to the Child in All of Us, and for Nurturing a Love of Theater in Young People
Stephen Karam (Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award)
The Profoundly Moving Sons of the Prophet Confirmed His Status as One of the Most Promising Playwrights of His Generation
2013
The New York Musical Theatre Festival and Isaac Robert Hurwitz
A Decade of Creating and Nurturing New Musical Theater, Ensuring the Future of This Essential Art Form
Wakka Wakka Productions
Sophisticated Puppet Theater, as Represented by This Season's SAGA, That Explores with Wit, Imagination, and Insight Serious Issues of Our Times
Jayne Houdyshell
Her Artistry as an Exceptionally Versatile and Distinctive Broadway and Off-Broadway Performer
Samuel D. Hunter
His Emphatic and Indelible The Whale Affirms His Arrival as a Distinguished Dramatist Who Depicts the Human Condition
Maruti Evans (Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award)
His Ingenious Lighting Designs, Reflecting an Exquisite and Bold Theatrical Aesthetic. This Season's The Pilo Family Circus and Tiny Dynamite Confirm His Incandescent Creativity
2014
Soho Rep
Nearly Four Decades of Artistic Distinction, Innovative Production and Provocative Play Selection
Veanne Cox
Her Ability to Express the Eccentricities, Strengths and Vulnerabilities of a Range of Characters, and Notably for her Comedic Flair as Evidenced in This Season's The Old Friends and The Most Deserving
Ed Sylvanus Iskandar (Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award)
His Visionary Directorial Excellence. This Season's The Golden Dragon and The Mysteries Exemplify His Bold and Strikingly Original Imagination
2015
Bess Wohl (Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award)
Her writing expresses sensitivity, compassion, and humor with a sure hand.
John Douglas Thompson
His exceptional versatility in Tamburlaine the Great and The Iceman Cometh
Ensemble Studio Theatre
Unwavering commitment to producing new works by American playwrights since 1968, and enriching this season with productions of When January Feels Like Summer, Winners, and Five Times in One Night. Its Youngblood program fostered and nurtured Hand to God, setting Tyrone off on his devilish path to Broadway
Andy Blankenbuehler
His inspired and heart-stopping choreography in Hamilton
2016
Sheldon Harnick
Camp Broadway
Danai Gurira (Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award)
2017
Phil LaDuca
Lila Neugebauer (Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award)
2018  |
2019  |

### 2020s

[edit]

Year  | Recipient and Contribution

|

2020
Mary Bacon (Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award)
Continued her versatile career of compassionate, searing work with numerous companies, with two of Off-Broadway's most humane performances this season in Coal Country and Nothing Gold Can Stay
The Actors Fund, Seth Rudetsky, and James Wesley
Connecting members of the theater community and lifting spirits during the coronavirus crisis.
The Public Theater's Mobile Unit
The current Mobile Unit tours free Shakespeare throughout the five boroughs, including prisons, homeless shelters, and community centers, reminding audiences new and old that the play really is the thing.
WP Theater and Julia Miles
The largest, most enduring American company (and its founder) that nurtures and produces works by female-identified creators
Claire Warden
For her pioneering work as an intimacy choreographer on recent productions, and her leadership in the rapidly emerging movement of intimacy direction. Co-founder of Intimacy Directors International, contributing to theater experiences that are safer for performers and more authentic for contemporary audiences.
2021  | No awards: New York theatres shuttered, March 2020 to September 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City[1]
2022
Dede Ayite
Dede Ayite seems to have costumed half the actors of this theater season with her designs for Merry Wives, Seven Deadly Sins, The Last of the Love Letters, Chicken and Biscuits, Slave Play, Nollywood Dreams, American Buffalo, and How I learned to Drive. Whether dressing working-class Marylanders of the 1960s, amateur criminals of the 1970s, or West African immigrants in today’s Harlem, Ayite has a knack for conveying characters’ means, values, and aspirations before the actors utter a word.
Heather Christian
With the category-defying Oratorio for Living Things, Heather Christian aims to encompass all human existence in a single inventive and startlingly beautiful work. In times of pandemic, war, and social upheaval, Christian’s work (directed by Lee Sunday Evans and brought to life by a superb cast and creative team) is an awe-inspiring reminder that, even in the darkest times, there will always be artistic peaks to scale.  |
2023  | No award presented.
2024
How to Dance in Ohio's Authentic Autism Access Team
Sammi Cannold, Nicole D'Angelo, Becky Leifman, Ava Xiao-Lin Rigelhaupt, Liz Weber, and Jeremy Wein – for their steadfast support of autistic theatermakers, and their strides toward true accessibility for neurodiverse individuals both on and offstage.
Isabella Byrd
During this season, Byrd illuminated two Broadway shows done in the round, An Enemy of the People and Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club. Off Broadway, her spotlight on quiet, small-scale stories both enchanted us in Primary Trust and mesmerized us in Infinite Life, with a parking-lot sky that marked the passage of time.  |
2025
Ensemble of Liberation
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.  |
Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater |
Pregones (founded in 1979) and the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater (founded in 1967) merged in 2014 to become a powerhouse producer of Latinx shows on two NYC stages: one in Manhattan's Theater District, the other in the South Bronx, both evoking an atmosphere of warmth and inclusivity. This season brought the blazing world premiere of Matthew Barbot’s the beautiful land i seek (la linda tierra que busco yo), a history-inspired fantasia about two Puerto Rican freedom fighters that deftly explores colonialism while riffing on Waiting for Godot, plus dozens of one-offs showcasing Latinx artists and culture.  |
Stacey Derosier |
For her deeply intimate and consistently gorgeous work across this season’s Off-Broadway stages. Whether lighting the minimalist theatricality of The Welkin and Grangeville, or the rich naturalism of The Counter and Danger and Opportunity, Derosier shows us not only that less is often so much more, but also that just a single light can have such a profound impact in the darkness.  |
Danger and Opportunity |
The team behind Danger and Opportunity – playwright Ken Urban, director Jack Serio, and ensemble Juan Castano, Julia Chan, and Ryan Spahn – for their genuinely serious, deeply moving consideration of the messy implications of a three-way relationship, done in an imaginatively immersive way that made such a small-scale story feel like a meaningful event.

## See also

[edit]

* Society of London Theatre Special Award
* Special Tony Award

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Evans, Greg (2021-05-05). "Broadway To Reopen Sept. 14, Says Gov. Andrew Cuomo; Broadway League "Cautiously Optimistic"". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 2023-06-02. Retrieved 2023-12-03.

## External links

[edit]

* v
* t
* e

Drama Desk Special Award

1970s|

* Hartman Theatre Company / Queens Theatre in the Park (1976)
* Off-Off Broadway Theatre Movement (1978)

1980s|

* La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (1980)
* Jonathan Tunick / Ridiculous Theatrical Company / The Royal Shakespeare Company (1982)
* WPA Theatre / Douglas Watt / Richard Wilbur (1983)
* Alan Schneider / Michael Bennett, Joseph Papp, and The Shubert Organization / B. H. Barry / Equity Library Theatre / InterArt Theater (1984)
* Gerard Alessandrini / Ridiculous Theatrical Company / Claudette Colbert and Rex Harrison / Veterans Ensemble Theater Company (1985)
* Thomas Z. Shepard / Agnes de Mille / Joyce Theater / The New Amsterdam Theater Company, Donald Pippin / Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn (1986)
* Stanley Lebowsky / Paul Davis and Frank Verlizzo / Henry Cohen, Donald Rose, and Robert Kimball (1987)
* Actors' Equity / Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT) / Yale Repertory Theatre / Michael Feinstein (1988)
* Paul Gemignani / Bernard Gersten / Manhattan Theatre Club / John A. McGlinn / Gregory Mosher / Jerome Robbins (1989)

1990s|

* The Fund for New American Plays / Jule Styne / Kevin Haney (1990)
* Brooklyn Academy of Music / James McMullan / New Dramatists / Harold Rome (1991)
* Early Stages / The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival / RCA Victor Records (1993)
* John A. Willis / Janet Hayes Walker (1994)
* Eileen Atkins / Otis Guernsey Jr. / The Non-Traditional Casting Project / Barrow Group (1995)
* George C. Scott / Repertorio Español / Signature Theatre Company / Theatreworks USA (1996)
* The Moscow Sovremennik Theatre Company (1997)
* Vineyard Theatre / Arthur Miller (1998)
* Al Hirschfeld / Sony Classical / The Actors' Fund of America (1999)

2000s|

* Alexander H. Cohen, Barnard Hughes, and Helen Stenborg (2000)
* Reba McEntire / Seán Campion and Conleth Hill (2001)
* Paul Huntley / Billy Rosenfield / Mint Theater Company / Worth Street Theater Company (2002)
* Brooklyn Academy of Music (2003)
* The Flea Theater / Classical Theatre of Harlem / Dakin Matthews (2004)
* Keen Company / The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival (2005)
* BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop / York Theatre Company / [Sh-K-Boom Records

2010s|

* Cast, Creative Team and Producers of The Orphans' Home Cycle / Jerry Herman / Godlight Theatre Company / Ma-Yi Theater Company (2010)
* Ensembles of In Transit and The Normal Heart / A. R. Gurney / Reed Birney / The New Group and Scott Elliott / The Pearl Theatre Company / Creative Team of War Horse (2011)
* Mary Testa / Nick Westrate / New Victory Theater / Stephen Karam and the Cast of Sweet and Sad (2012)
* The New York Musical Theatre Festival and Isaac Robert Hurwitz / Wakka Wakka Productions / Jayne Houdyshell / Samuel D. Hunter / Maruti Evans (2013)
* Soho Rep / Veanne Cox / Ed Sylvanus Iskandar, the Ensembles of The Open House and The Realistic Joneses / Will Eno (2014)
* Andy Blankenbuehler / John Douglas Thompson / Bess Wohl / The Ensemble Studio Theatre / The cast of The Wayside Motor Inn (2015)
* Sheldon Harnick / Camp Broadway / Danai Gurira (2016)
* Phil LaDuca / Lila Neugebauer (2017)

2020s|

* Mary Bacon / The Actors Fund, Seth Rudetsky, and James Wesley / The Public Theater's Mobile Unit / WP Theater and Julia Miles / Claire Warden (2020)
* Dede Ayite / Heather Christian (2022)
* How to Dance in Ohio's Authentic Autism Access Team / Isabella Byrd (2024)
* Ensemble of Liberation / Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater / Stacey Derosier / Danger and Opportunity (2025)

* v
* t
* e

Drama Desk Awards

Play|

* Play
* Revival of a Play
* Lead Performance in a Play
* Featured Performance in a Play
* Director of a Play
* Music in a Play

Musical|

* Musical
* Revival of a Musical
* Lead Performance in a Musical
* Featured Performance in a Musical
* Director of a Musical
* Book
* Music
* Lyrics
* Orchestrations

Production|

* Choreography
* Costume Design of a Musical
* Costume Design of a Play
* Lighting Design for a Musical
* Lighting Design for a Play
* Scenic Design of a Musical
* Scenic Design of a Play
* Sound Design in a Musical
* Sound Design in a Play
* Wig and Hair Design
* Puppetry

Other (competitive)|

* Solo Performance
* Unique Theatrical Experience
* Revue
* Projection Design

Special (non-competitive)|

* Special Award
* Ensemble

Retired|

* Actor in a Play
* Actress in a Play
* Featured Actor in a Play
* Featured Actress in a Play
* Actor in a Musical
* Actress in a Musical
* Featured Actor in a Musical
* Featured Actress in a Musical
* Director
* Revival
* Costume Design
* Lighting Design
* Set Design
* Sound Design

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