Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play explained

Drama Desk Award
for Outstanding Music
Awarded For:Outstanding Music in a Play
Presenter:Drama Desk
Location:New York City
Country:United States
Year:1980
Holder:Will Butler for Stereophonic (2024)

The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in the theatre across collective Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway plays (distinct from full musicals) produced in New York City. This category was introduced at the 1980 ceremony, presented sporadically (seven times) through 2008, and has been regularly awarded since 2009.

Winners and nominees

1980s

YearComposerProduction
1980
Norman L. BermanStrider
Richard PeasleeTeibele and Her Demon
Stanley SilvermanBent
1981–89

1990s

YearComposerProduction
1990–91colspan="2"
1992
Jan A.P. Kaczmarek'Tis Pity She's a Whore
Richard PeasleeAkin
1993
Ladysmith Black MambazoThe Song of Jacob Zulu
1994
Stephen WarbeckAn Inspector Calls
Jonathan DoveMedea
Duke Ellington & Stanley SilvermanTimon of Athens
1995–98colspan="2"
1999
Jeanine TesoriTwelfth Night
Steven EdisNot About Nightingales
Drew McVetyCorpus Christi
David Van TieghemThe Turn of the Screw
Richard WoodburyDeath of a Salesman

2000s

YearComposerProduction
2000–01colspan="2"
2002
Willy SchwarzMetamorphoses
Crispin CioeTrue Love
Nona HendryxBlue
Peter John StillCymbeline
2003–06colspan="2"
2007
Mark BennettThe Coast of Utopia
Adam CorkFrost/Nixon
Gerard McBurneyOliver Twist
The Propeller CompanyThe Taming of the Shrew
Ray Rizzo, Adam Rapp & Lucas PapaeliasEssential Self-Defense
David Van TieghemInherit the Wind
2008colspan="2"
2009
Dominic KanzaRuined
Mark BennettThe Cherry Orchard
The Winter's Tale
DJ RekhaRafta, Rafta...
Richard WoodburyDesire Under the Elms
Gary YershonThe Norman Conquests

2010s

YearComposerProduction
2010
Branford MarsalisFences
Adam CochranA Play on War
Adam CorkRed
Shelby Gaines & Latham GainesA Lie of the Mind
Philip GlassThe Bacchae
HemTwelfth Night
2011
Wayne BarkerPeter and the Starcatcher
Kathryn BosticBengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Lars Petter HagenBaby Universe
Alan JohnThe Diary of a Madman
Tom KittThe Winter's Tale
Dan Moses SchreierThe Merchant of Venice
2012
Grant OldingOne Man, Two Guvnors
Mark BennettAn Iliad
Richard III
Tom KittAll's Well That Ends Well
Gina LeishmanSeptimus and Clarissa
Duncan Sheik & Suzanne VegaCarson McCullers Talks About Love
2013
Glen KellyThe Nance
César Alvarez with The LispsThe Good Person of Szechwan
Jiří Kadeřábek, Mahir Cetiz & Ana MilosavljevicAct Before You Speak: The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Eugene MaThe Man Who Laughs
Steve MartinAs You Like It
Jane WangStrange Tales of Liaozhai
2014
Nico MuhlyThe Glass Menagerie
Lewis FlinnThe Tribute Artist
Elliot GoldenthalA Midsummer Night's Dream
Rob KearnsThe Life and Sort of Death of Eric Argyle
Tom KochanAlmost, Maine
Duncan SheikA Man's a Man
2015
Arthur Solari & Jane ShawTamburlaine the Great
Cesar AlvarezAn Octoroon
Danny Blackburn and Bryce HodgsonDeliverance
Sean CroninKill Me Like You Mean It
Bongi DumaGenerations
Freddi PriceThe Pigeoning
2016
Philip GlassThe Crucible
Billie Joe ArmstrongThese Paper Bullets!
Estelle BajouPlease Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally
Shaun DaveyPericles
Tom KittCymbeline
2017
Bill Sims Jr.Jitney
Daniel Ocanto, Graham Ulicny, & Sean SmithAlligator
Marcus ShelbyNotes from the Field
2018
Imogen HeapHarry Potter and the Cursed Child
Justin HicksMlima's Tale
Amatus Karim-AliThe Homecoming Queen
Justin LevineA Midsummer Night's Dream
Adrian SuttonAngels in America
2019
Jason Michael Webb and Fitz PattonChoir Boy
Paul Castles and Jongbin JungWild Goose Dreams
Justin EllingtonMrs. Murray's Menagerie
The House That Will Not Stand
Nick PowellThe Lehman Trilogy

2020s

YearComposerProduction
2020
Martha Redbonefor colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Steve EarleCoal Country
Frightened RabbitSquare Go
Jim HarbourneFeral
Adam Seidel, Jane Bruce, and Daniel OcantoOriginal Sound
2021colspan="2"
2022
Bill Sims Jr.Lackawanna Blues
Te'La and KamauuThoughts of a Colored Man
Michael Thurber and Farai Malianga (drum compositions)Merry Wives
2023Suzan-Lori ParksPlays for the Plague Year
Ben Edelman, Zane Pais, & Sinan Rafik ZafarLetters from Max, a ritual
Mauricio Escamillathe bandaged place
Ian RossWuthering Heights
Daniel SchlosbergMontag
2024[1] Will ButlerStereophonic
Michael "Mikey J" AsanteThe Effect
S T A R R Busby and JJJJJerome Ellis(pray)
Dionne McClain-FreeneyThe Harriet Holland Social Club Presents The 84th Annual Star-Burst Cotillion in the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel
Ben SteinfeldPericles

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2024-06-10 . Stereophonic Leads 2024 Drama Desk Awards with 7 Wins Including Outstanding Play - Playbill.com . 2024-06-13 . en-US.