2020 Drama Desk Nominations: Soft Power, The Wrong Man Lead the Pack in Condensed Season

The 65th annual ceremony—now taking place virtually—will go on as scheduled in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Nominations for the 2020 Drama Desk Awards were revealed April 21 on the afternoon edition of Stars in the House, the daily live stream benefit for The Actors Fund hosted by Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley. The series itself was named an honorary recipient during the announcement.

As previously reported, the 65th annual ceremony will take place as scheduled May 31, albeit digitally instead of at Town Hall due to continued restrictions on mass gatherings in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the March shutdown of New York productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and beyond, the eligibility window for the season was revised to end March 11.

READ: How Theatre Award Ceremonies Are Handling the Coronavirus Shutdown

Soft Power, the collaboration between playwright David Henry Hwang and composer Jeanine Tesori, topped the list with 11 nominations for its New York premiere at the Public Theater last year. In addition to Outstanding Musical, the show's nominations included nods to both Hwang and Tesori, director Leigh Silverman, and stars Francis Jue (also nominated for Cambodian Rock Band), Conrad Ricamora, and Alyse Alan Louis.

Additional front-runners include two other new musicals that played Off-Broadway: The Wrong Man (receiving nine nominations) and Octet (receiving eight). With plays, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven led the pack, also earning eight nods.

As the Drama Desk Awards recognize Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway works each year, two productions—the Broadway transfers of Slave Play and Girl From the North Country—were only deemed eligible for elements considered "new work" to the show. Similarly, the new engagements of Sea Wall/A Life, Derren Brown: Secret, Slava’s Snowshow, and Pip’s Island were not considered as they had been deemed eligible in previous seasons.

The 2 PM Stars in the House stream also featured a reunion with cast members from the Broadway run of Urinetown, including Hunter Foster, Spencer Kayden, Jeff McCarthy, Nancy Opel, and Jennifer Laura Thompson. As with previous episodes of the series, viewers are encouraged to donate to The Actors Fund. Click here to watch previous Stars in the House videos.

See the full list of nominations below.

Outstanding Play

Cambodian Rock Band

Greater Clements

Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven

Heroes of the Fourth Turning

The Inheritance

Outstanding Musical

Octet

The Secret Life of Bees

Soft Power

A Strange Loop

The Wrong Man

Outstanding Revival of a Play

Fefu and Her Friends

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf

Mac Beth

Much Ado About Nothing

A Soldier's Play

Outstanding Revival of a Musical

Little Shop of Horrors

The Unsinkable Molly Brown

West Side Story

Outstanding Actor in a Play

Charles Busch, The Confession of Lily Dare

Edmund Donovan, Greater Clements

Raúl Esparza, Seared

Francis Jue, Cambodian Rock Band

Triney Sandoval, 72 Miles to Go…

Kyle Soller, The Inheritance

Outstanding Actress in a Play

Rose Byrne, Medea

Liza Colón-Zayas, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven

Emily Davis, Is This a Room

April Mathis, Toni Stone

Ruth Negga, Hamlet

Outstanding Actor in a Musical

David Aron Damane, The Unsinkable Molly Brown

Chris Dwan, Enter Laughing

Joshua Henry, The Wrong Man

Francis Jue, Soft Power

Larry Owens, A Strange Loop

Outstanding Actress in a Musical

Tammy Blanchard, Little Shop of Horrors

Beth Malone, The Unsinkable Molly Brown

Saycon Sengbloh, The Secret Life of Bees

Elizabeth Stanley, Jagged Little Pill

Adrienne Warren, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play

Victor Almanzar, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven

Esteban Andres Cruz, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven

David Alan Grier, A Soldier's Play

Paul Hilton, The Inheritance

Chris Perfetti, Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play

Patrice Johnson, Runboyrun and In Old Age

Kristina Poe, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven

Belange Rodríguez, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Elizabeth Rodriguez, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven

Lois Smith, The Inheritance

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical

George Abud, Emojiland

Christian Borle, Little Shop of Horrors

Jay Armstrong Johnson, Scotland, PA

Conrad Ricamora, Soft Power

Ryan Vasquez, The Wrong Man

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical

Yesenia Ayala, West Side Story

Paula Leggett Chase, The Unsinkable Molly Brown

LaChanze, The Secret Life of Bees

Alyse Alan Louis, Soft Power

Lauren Patten, Jagged Little Pill

Outstanding Director of a Play

Jessica Blank, Coal Country

Stephen Daldry, The Inheritance

John Ortiz, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven

Tina Satter, Is This A Room

Erica Schmidt, Mac Beth

Outstanding Director of a Musical

Stephen Brackett, A Strange Loop

Thomas Kail, The Wrong Man

Kathleen Marshall, The Unsinkable Molly Brown

Leigh Silverman, Soft Power

Annie Tippe, Octet

Outstanding Choreography

Camille A. Brown, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, West Side Story

Keone Madrid and Mari Madrid, Beyond Babel

Kathleen Marshall, The Unsinkable Molly Brown

Sonya Tayeh, Moulin Rouge!

Travis Wall, The Wrong Man

Outstanding Music

Ross Golan, The Wrong Man

Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop

Dave Malloy, Octet

Joshua Rosenblum, Einstein’s Dreams

Duncan Sheik, The Secret Life of Bees

Jeanine Tesori, Soft Power

Outstanding Lyrics

Susan Birkenhead, The Secret Life of Bees

Adam Gwon, Scotland, PA

Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop

Joanne Sydney Lessner and Joshua Rosenblum, Einstein’s Dreams

Dave Malloy, Octe

Mark Saltzman, Romeo & Bernadette

Outstanding Book of a Musical

David Henry Hwang, Soft Power

Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop

Dave Malloy, Octet

Lynn Nottage, The Secret Life of Bees

Mark Saltzman, Romeo & Bernadette

Dick Scanlan, The Unsinkable Molly Brown

Outstanding Orchestrations

Tom Kitt, Jagged Little Pill

Alex Lacamoire, The Wrong Man

Or Matias and Dave Malloy, Octet

Danny Troob, John Clancy, and Larry Hochman, Soft Power

Jonathan Tunick, West Side Story

Outstanding Music in a Play

Steve Earle, Coal Country

Frightened Rabbit, Square Go

Jim Harbourne, Feral

Martha Redbone, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf

Adam Seidel, Jane Bruce, and Daniel Ocanto, Original Sound

Outstanding Scenic Design for a Play

Catherine Cornell, Mac Beth

Clint Ramos, Grand Horizons

Adam Rigg, Fefu and Her Friends

Paul Steinberg, Judgment Day

B.T. Whitehill, The Confession of Lily Dare

Outstanding Scenic Design for a Musical

Julian Crouch, Little Shop of Horrors

Anna Louizos, Scotland, PA

Derek McLane, Moulin Rouge!

Clint Ramos, Soft Power

Amy Rubin and Brittany Vasta, Octet

Outstanding Costume Design for a Play

Asa Benally, Blues for an Alabama Sky

Montana Levi Blanco, Fefu and Her Friends

Toni-Leslie James, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf

Antony McDonald, Judgment Day

Rachel Townsend and Jessica Jahn, The Confession of Lily Dare

Kaye Voyce, Coriolanus

Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical

Vanessa Leuck, Emojiland

Jeff Mahshie, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice

Mark Thompson, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

Anita Yavich, Soft Power

Catherine Zuber, Moulin Rouge!

Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play

Isabella Byrd, Heroes of the Fourth Turning

Oona Curley, Dr. Ride’s American Beach House

Heather Gilbert, The Sound Inside

Mimi Jordan Sherin, Judgment Day

Yi Zhao, Greater Clements

Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical

Betsy Adams, The Wrong Man

Jane Cox, The Secret Life of Bees

Herrick Goldman, Einstein’s Dreams

Bruno Poet, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

Justin Townsend, Moulin Rouge!

Outstanding Projection Design

David Bengali, Einstein’s Dreams

Julia Frey, Medea

Luke Halls, West Side Story

Lisa Renkel and POSSIBLE, Emojiland

Hannah Wasileski, Fires in the Mirror

Outstanding Sound Design for a Play

Paul Arditti and Christopher Reid, The Inheritance

Justin Ellington, Heroes of the Fourth Turning

Mikhail Fiksel, Dana H.

Palmer Hefferan, Fefu and Her Friends

Lee Kinney and Sanae Yamada, Is This A Room

Outstanding Sound Design for a Musical

Tom Gibbons, West Side Story

Kai Harada, Soft Power

Peter Hylenski, Moulin Rouge!

Hidenori Nakajo, Octet

Nevin Steinberg, The Wrong Man

Outstanding Wig and Hair Design

Campbell Young Associates, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

Cookie Jordan, Fefu and Her Friends

Nikiya Mathis, STEW

Tom Watson, The Great Society

Bobbie Zlotnik, Emojiland

Outstanding Solo Performance

David Cale, We’re Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time

Kate del Castillo, the way she spoke

Laura Linney, My Name is Lucy Barton

Jacqueline Novak, Get on Your Knees

Deirdre O’Connell, Dana H.

Unique Theatrical Experience

Beyond Babel, Hideaway Circus

Feral, Tortoise in a Nutshell/Cumbernauld Theatre/59E59

Is This A Room, Vineyard Theatre

Midsummer: A Banquet, Food of Love Productions/Third Rail Projects

Outstanding Fight Choreography

Vicki Manderson, Square Go

Thomas Schall, A Soldier’s Play

UnkleDave’s Fight House, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven

Outstanding Adaptation

A Christmas Carol, by Jack Thorne

Judgment Day, by Christopher Shinn

Mojada, by Luis Alfaro

Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow, by Halley Feiffer

Outstanding Puppet Design

Raphael Mishler, Tumacho

Rockefeller Productions, Paddington Gets in a Jam

Amanda Villalobos, Is This A Room

Ensemble Award

The eight performers in Dave Malloy’s a cappella musical Octet: Adam Bashian, Kim Blanck, Starr Busby, Alex Gibson, Justin Gregory Lopez, J.D. Mollison, Margo Seibert, and Kuhoo Verma

Sam Norkin Award:

To performer Mary Bacon, recognized for her work this season in Off-Broadway's Coal Country at the Public Theater and Nothing Gold Can Stay from Partial Comfort Productions

Additional Special Awards:

The Actors Fund, Seth Rudetsky, and James Wesley, for connecting the theatre community and lifting spirits during the coronavirus crisis through the ongoing Stars in the House series

The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit, offering free Shakespeare throughout the five boroughs, including prisons, homeless shelters, and community centers

WP Theater and Julia Miles, the company’s founder who died this spring.

Claire Warden, whose work as an intimacy choreographer was featured in such recent projects as Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune and Linda Vista