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Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Direction of a Musical
Broadway Theatre Award
Broadway Theatre Award
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Drama Desk Award |
| for Outstanding Direction of a Musical | |
| awarded_for | Outstanding Direction of a Musical |
| image_upright | 0.55 |
| image | MichaelArden-byPhilipRomano2.jpg |
| caption | Michael Arden, 2025 winner |
| presenter | Drama Desk |
| location | New York City |
| country | United States |
| year | 1975 |
| holder | Michael Arden for Maybe Happy Ending (2025) |
| website |
for Outstanding Direction of a Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Direction of a Musical is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in theatre across collective Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. The awards were established in 1955, with the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director being presented each year to a director from any play or musical production. Starting in 1975, the singular director's award was replaced by separate play and musical categories.
Harold Prince holds the record for most wins in the category, with four, followed closely by Tommy Tune and Michael Mayer with three wins each. Prince is also tied with John Doyle for the most nominations in the category, both with eight.
Winners and nominees
;Key
1970s
| Year | Director | Production | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arthur Laurents | Gypsy | ||||||
| Geoffrey Holder | The Wiz | ||||||
| Sue Lawless | In Gay Company | ||||||
| William Martin | The Lieutenant | ||||||
| Joel Zwick | Dance with Me | ||||||
| Michael Bennett | A Chorus Line | ||||||
| Jerry Adler | My Fair Lady | ||||||
| Richard Foreman | The Threepenny Opera | ||||||
| Gerald Freedman | The Robber Bridegroom | ||||||
| Harold Prince | Pacific Overtures | ||||||
| Martin Charnin | Annie | ||||||
| Gerald Freedman | The Robber Bridegroom | ||||||
| Jack O'Brien | Porgy and Bess | ||||||
| Gene Saks | I Love My Wife | ||||||
| Tommy Tune | The Club | ||||||
| Peter Masterson and Tommy Tune | *The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas* | ||||||
| Stephen Schwartz | Working | ||||||
| Elizabeth Swados | Runaways | ||||||
| Harold Prince | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | ||||||
| Michael Bennett | Ballroom |
1980s
| Year | Director | Production | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harold Prince | Evita | |||||||||||
| Walton Jones | 1940's Radio Hour | |||||||||||
| Joe Layton | Barnum | |||||||||||
| Gary Pearle | Tintypes | |||||||||||
| Wilford Leach | The Pirates of Penzance | |||||||||||
| Arthur Faria | Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music | |||||||||||
| Tommy Tune | Nine | |||||||||||
| Michael Bennett | Dreamgirls | |||||||||||
| Tony Tanner | Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat | |||||||||||
| George Abbott | *On Your Toes* | |||||||||||
| Howard Ashman | Little Shop of Horrors | |||||||||||
| James Lapine | Sunday in the Park with George | |||||||||||
| A.J. Antoon | The Rink | |||||||||||
| Jacques Levy | Doonesbury | |||||||||||
| colspan="2" | ||||||||||||
| Wilford Leach | The Mystery of Edwin Drood | |||||||||||
| Andre Ernotte | Goblin Market | |||||||||||
| Bob Fosse | Big Deal | |||||||||||
| Sweet Charity | ||||||||||||
| Paul Lazarus | Personals | |||||||||||
| Mike Ockrent | Me and My Girl | |||||||||||
| Barry Harman | Olympus on My Mind | |||||||||||
| Harold Prince | The Phantom of the Opera | |||||||||||
| James Lapine | Into the Woods | |||||||||||
| Harold Prince | Cabaret | |||||||||||
| Jerry Zaks | Anything Goes | |||||||||||
| colspan="2" |
1990s
| Year | Director | Production | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tommy Tune | Grand Hotel | |||||||||||
| Michael Blakemore | City of Angels | |||||||||||
| James Hammerstein | The Sound of Music | |||||||||||
| Scott Ellis | *And the World Goes 'Round* | |||||||||||
| *A Little Night Music* | ||||||||||||
| Lisa Peterson | The Waves | |||||||||||
| Susan H. Schulman | The Secret Garden | |||||||||||
| Jerry Zaks | Assassins | |||||||||||
| Jerry Zaks | Guys and Dolls | |||||||||||
| Gerald Gutierrez | The Most Happy Fella | |||||||||||
| Mike Ockrent | Crazy for You | |||||||||||
| George C. Wolfe | Jelly's Last Jam | |||||||||||
| Des McAnuff | The Who's Tommy | |||||||||||
| Michael Leeds | Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh | |||||||||||
| Michael Maggio | Wings | |||||||||||
| Joel Paley | Ruthless! | |||||||||||
| Nicholas Hytner | Carousel | |||||||||||
| Graciela Daniele | Hello Again | |||||||||||
| Scott Ellis | She Loves Me | |||||||||||
| Andre Gilbert Ernotte | Christina Alberta's Father | |||||||||||
| James Lapine | Passion | |||||||||||
| Harold Prince | Show Boat | |||||||||||
| Christopher Ashley | Das Barbecü | |||||||||||
| Michael Mayer | America Dreaming | |||||||||||
| Trevor Nunn | Sunset Boulevard | |||||||||||
| Christopher Renshaw | The King and I | |||||||||||
| Graciela Daniele | Chronicle of a Death Foretold | |||||||||||
| Andre Gilbert Ernotte | Bed and Sofa | |||||||||||
| Michael Greif | Rent | |||||||||||
| Tina Landau | Floyd Collins | |||||||||||
| George C. Wolfe | Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk | |||||||||||
| Walter Bobbie | Chicago | |||||||||||
| Michael Blakemore | The Life | |||||||||||
| Scott Ellis | Steel Pier | |||||||||||
| Susan H. Schulman | Violet | |||||||||||
| Mark Waldrop | Howard Crabtree's When Pigs Fly | |||||||||||
| Julie Taymor | The Lion King | |||||||||||
| Scott Ellis | 1776 | |||||||||||
| Frank Galati | Ragtime | |||||||||||
| Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall | Cabaret | |||||||||||
| Matthew Bourne | Swan Lake | |||||||||||
| Graciela Daniele | A New Brain | |||||||||||
| Richard Maltby, Jr. and Ann Reinking | Fosse | |||||||||||
| Michael Mayer | You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown | |||||||||||
| Harold Prince | Parade |
2000s
| Year | Director | Production | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Blakemore | Kiss Me, Kate | |||||||||||
| Gabriel Barre | The Wild Party | |||||||||||
| Susan Stroman | Contact | |||||||||||
| The Music Man | ||||||||||||
| Susan Stroman | The Producers | |||||||||||
| Christopher Ashley | The Rocky Horror Show | |||||||||||
| Wilfredo Medina | The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin | |||||||||||
| Jack O'Brien | The Full Monty | |||||||||||
| John Rando | Urinetown | |||||||||||
| Scott Schwartz | Bat Boy: The Musical | |||||||||||
| Michael Mayer | Thoroughly Modern Millie | |||||||||||
| Nicholas Hytner | Sweet Smell of Success | |||||||||||
| James Lapine | Into the Woods | |||||||||||
| Trevor Nunn | Oklahoma! | |||||||||||
| Scott Schwartz | Tick, Tick... Boom! | |||||||||||
| George C. Wolfe | Elaine Stritch: At Liberty | |||||||||||
| Jack O'Brien | Hairspray | |||||||||||
| James Lapine | Amour | |||||||||||
| David Leveaux | Nine | |||||||||||
| Baz Luhrmann | La bohème | |||||||||||
| Joe Mantello | A Man of No Importance | |||||||||||
| Twyla Tharp | Movin' Out | |||||||||||
| Joe Mantello | *Wicked* | |||||||||||
| Jeff Calhoun | Big River | |||||||||||
| Pamela Hunt | The Musical of Musicals: The Musical | |||||||||||
| Joe Mantello | Assassins | |||||||||||
| Kathleen Marshall | Wonderful Town | |||||||||||
| George C. Wolfe | Caroline, or Change | |||||||||||
| James Lapine | The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee | |||||||||||
| Matthew Bourne | Play Without Words | |||||||||||
| Jack Cummings III | The Audience | |||||||||||
| Mark Dornford-May | The Mysteries | |||||||||||
| Mike Nichols | Spamalot | |||||||||||
| Bartlett Sher | The Light in the Piazza | |||||||||||
| John Doyle | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | |||||||||||
| Michael Greif | Grey Gardens | |||||||||||
| Daniel Finzi Pasca | Rain | |||||||||||
| Des McAnuff | Jersey Boys | |||||||||||
| Casey Nicholaw | The Drowsy Chaperone | |||||||||||
| Kathleen Marshall | The Pajama Game | |||||||||||
| Michael Mayer | Spring Awakening | |||||||||||
| John Doyle | Company | |||||||||||
| Thomas Kail | In the Heights | |||||||||||
| Jerry Mitchell | Legally Blonde | |||||||||||
| Harold Prince | LoveMusik | |||||||||||
| Alex Timbers | Gutenberg! The Musical! | |||||||||||
| Bartlett Sher | South Pacific | |||||||||||
| Christopher Ashley | Xanadu | |||||||||||
| Sam Buntrock | Sunday in the Park with George | |||||||||||
| David Cromer | Adding Machine | |||||||||||
| John Doyle | A Catered Affair | |||||||||||
| Bob McGrath | The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island | |||||||||||
| Stephen Daldry | Billy Elliot the Musical | |||||||||||
| Walter Bobbie | Irving Berlin's White Christmas | |||||||||||
| Joe Mantello | 9 to 5 | |||||||||||
| Jason Moore | Shrek the Musical | |||||||||||
| Diane Paulus | Hair | |||||||||||
| Stuart Ross | Enter Laughing the Musical |
2010s
| Year | Director | Production | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Mayer | *American Idiot* | |||||||||||
| Warren Carlyle | Finian's Rainbow | |||||||||||
| Marcia Milgrom Dodge | Ragtime | |||||||||||
| Igor Goldin | Yank! | |||||||||||
| Terry Johnson | La Cage aux Folles | |||||||||||
| Susan Stroman | The Scottsboro Boys | |||||||||||
| Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker | The Book of Mormon | |||||||||||
| Rob Ashford | How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying | |||||||||||
| Joe Calarco | In Transit | |||||||||||
| Jack Cummings III | Hello Again | |||||||||||
| See Rock City & Other Destinations | ||||||||||||
| Kathleen Marshall | Anything Goes | |||||||||||
| John Tiffany | Once | |||||||||||
| Christopher Ashley | Leap of Faith | |||||||||||
| Jack Cummings III | Queen of the Mist | |||||||||||
| Doug Hughes | Death Takes a Holiday | |||||||||||
| Kathleen Marshall | Nice Work If You Can Get It | |||||||||||
| Eric Schaeffer | Follies | |||||||||||
| Diane Paulus | Pippin | |||||||||||
| Andy Blankenbuehler | Bring It On: The Musical | |||||||||||
| Rachel Chavkin | Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 | |||||||||||
| John Doyle | Passion | |||||||||||
| Emma Rice | The Wild Bride | |||||||||||
| Alex Timbers | Here Lies Love | |||||||||||
| Matthew Warchus | Matilda the Musical | |||||||||||
| Darko Tresnjak | A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder | |||||||||||
| Sam Gold | Fun Home | |||||||||||
| Michael Mayer | Hedwig and the Angry Inch | |||||||||||
| Bartlett Sher | The Bridges of Madison County | |||||||||||
| Susan Stroman | Bullets Over Broadway The Musical | |||||||||||
| Alex Timbers | Rocky the Musical | |||||||||||
| Thomas Kail | Hamilton | |||||||||||
| Carolyn Cantor | Fly By Night | |||||||||||
| Bill Condon | Side Show | |||||||||||
| John Doyle | The Visit | |||||||||||
| Casey Nicholaw | Something Rotten! | |||||||||||
| Christopher Wheeldon | An American in Paris | |||||||||||
| John Doyle | The Color Purple | |||||||||||
| Bartlett Sher | *Fiddler on the Roof* | |||||||||||
| Michael Arden | Spring Awakening | |||||||||||
| Rupert Goold | American Psycho | |||||||||||
| Bryna Wasserman and Motl Didner | The Golden Bride | |||||||||||
| Rachel Chavkin | Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 | |||||||||||
| David Cromer | The Band's Visit | |||||||||||
| Christopher Ashley | Come from Away | |||||||||||
| Bill Buckhurst | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | |||||||||||
| Jerry Zaks | Hello, Dolly! | |||||||||||
| Tina Landau | SpongeBob SquarePants | |||||||||||
| Christian Barry | Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story | |||||||||||
| Teddy Bergman | KPOP | |||||||||||
| Jack O'Brien | Carousel | |||||||||||
| Bartlett Sher | My Fair Lady | |||||||||||
| Rachel Chavkin | Hadestown | |||||||||||
| Noah Brody | Merrily We Roll Along | |||||||||||
| Scott Ellis | Tootsie | |||||||||||
| Daniel Fish | Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! | |||||||||||
| Joel Grey | Fiddler on the Roof |
2020s
| Year | Director | Production | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Brackett | *A Strange Loop* | |||||||
| Thomas Kail | The Wrong Man | |||||||
| Kathleen Marshall | The Unsinkable Molly Brown | |||||||
| Leigh Silverman | Soft Power | |||||||
| Annie Tippe | Octet | |||||||
| No awards: New York theatres shuttered, March 2020 to September 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City}} | ||||||||
| Marianne Elliott | *Company* | |||||||
| John Doyle | Assassins | |||||||
| Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage | Six | |||||||
| Bartlett Sher | Intimate Apparel | |||||||
| Jessica Stone | Kimberly Akimbo | |||||||
| Thomas Kail | *Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street* | |||||||
| Jeff Calhoun | Between the Lines | |||||||
| John Doyle | A Man of No Importance | |||||||
| Maria Friedman | Merrily We Roll Along | |||||||
| Jack O'Brien | Shucked | |||||||
| Jessica Stone | *Water for Elephants* | |||||||
| David Cromer | Dead Outlaw | |||||||
| Rebecca Frecknall | Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club | |||||||
| Daisy Prince | The Connector | |||||||
| Danya Taymor | The Outsiders | |||||||
| 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 |
Multiple wins
; 4 wins
- Harold Prince
; 3 wins
- Tommy Tune
- Michael Mayer ; 2 wins
- Rachel Chavkin
- John Doyle
- Thomas Kail
- James Lapine
- Wilford Leach
- Bartlett Sher
Multiple nominations
;8 nominations
- Harold Prince
- John Doyle
;6 nominations
- Michael Mayer
- James Lapine
- Scott Ellis
- Bartlett Sher
;5 nominations
- Jack O'Brien
- George C. Wolfe
- Kathleen Marshall
- Christopher Ashley
- Susan Stroman
;4 nominations
- Tommy Tune
- Jerry Zaks
- Joe Mantello
- Jack Cummings III
- Thomas Kail
- Alex Timbers ;3 nominations
- Michael Bennett
- Andre Ernotte
- Graciela Daniele
- Michael Blakemore
- Casey Nicholaw
- David Cromer
- Rachel Chavkin
;2 nominations
- Gerald Freedman
- Scott Schwartz
- Walter Bobbie
- Trevor Nunn
- Wilford Leach
- Bob Fosse
- Mike Ockrent
- Des McAnuff
- Nicholas Hytner
- Susan H. Schulman
- Tina Landau
- Michael Greif
- Matthew Bourne
- Jeff Calhoun
- Jerry Mitchell
- Diane Paulus
- Michael Arden
- Jessica Stone
References
References
- Evans, Greg. (2021-05-05). "Broadway To Reopen Sept. 14, Says Gov. Andrew Cuomo; Broadway League "Cautiously Optimistic"". [[Deadline Hollywood]].
- (2024-06-10). "Stereophonic Leads 2024 Drama Desk Awards with 7 Wins Including Outstanding Play - Playbill.com".
- Culwell-Block, Logan. (April 30, 2025). "Boop! Leads 2025 Drama Desk Award Nominations With 11 Nods Including Outstanding Musical; Read the Full List Here".
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