Matthew López Wins Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical for “Some Like it Hot”

Matthew López is on a hot streak…

The 67th Annual Drama Desk Awards have been announced, with the 46-year-old Puerto Rican playwright and screenwriter taking home an award.

Matthew LopezLopez and Amber Ruffin took home the award for Outstanding Book of a Musical for Some Like it Hot, a musical based on the classic 1959 Billy Wilder film Some Like It Hot.

The show — for which Mariah Carey is one of the producers — won eight awards, including outstanding musical and outstanding lyrics for Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman.

Meanwhile, Kevin Del Aguila took home one of the two awards for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical for Some Like it Hot.

The 2023 Drama Desk Awards will take place at Sardi’s Restaurant in New York on Tuesday, June 6, from 3 to 6 p.m. ET.

The Drama Desk Awards will be presented five days before the Tony Awards are broadcast on CBS. The Drama Desk Awards differ from the Tonys in several respects.

All four performance categories are “gender-free” – their term for “gender-neutral.” Each of these categories had twice as many nominees as the former gendered categories; each have two winners.

The Drama Desk Awards are the only major New York City theater awards for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off Broadway compete against each other in the same categories.

The Drama Desk Awards are bestowed by critics, journalists, editors and publishers covering theater.

Shows with 21 or more unique live performances were eligible.

The Drama Desk was founded in 1949 to bring together critics and writers in an organization to support the ongoing development of theater in New York. The organization began presenting awards in 1955.

Here are all the winners:

Outstanding musical: Some Like it Hot
Outstanding revival of a musical: Parade
Outstanding lead performance in a musical: Annaleigh Ashford, Sweeney Todd & J. Harrison Ghee, Some Like it Hot
Outstanding featured performance in a musical: Kevin Del Aguila, Some Like it Hot & Alex Newell, Shucked
Outstanding direction of a musical: Thomas Kail, Sweeney Todd
Outstanding choreography: Casey Nicholaw, Some Like it Hot
Outstanding music: Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, Shucked
Outstanding lyrics: Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, Some Like it Hot
Outstanding book of a musical: Matthew López and Amber Ruffin, Some Like it Hot
Outstanding orchestrations: Charlie Rosen and Bryan Carter, Some Like it Hot
Outstanding scenic design of a musical: Beowulf Boritt, New York, New York
Outstanding costume design of a musical: Gregg Barnes, Some Like it Hot
Outstanding lighting design of a musical: Natasha Katz, Sweeney Todd
Outstanding sound design of a musical: Scott Lehrer and Alex Neumann, Into the Woods
Outstanding music in a play: Suzan-Lori Parks, Plays for the Plague Year, The Public

Liza Colón-Zayas Wins Drama Desk Award for “Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven” Performance

It’s aheavenly weekend for Liza Colón-Zayas

The 65th Annual Drama Desk Awards honoring the best in New York theater were announced Saturday, with the 48-year-old Puerto Rican actress winning the Outstanding Actress in a Play prize.

Liza Colón-Zayas

Colón-Zayas won the Drama Desk award, the first of her career, for her acclaimed performance in Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven.  The play centers onthe harrowing, humorous, and heartbreaking inner workings of a women’s halfway house in New York City. It’s helmed by John OrtizLAByrinth Theater Company‘s artistic director, in his Off-Broadway directing debut.

Matthew Lopez is another first-time Drama Desk winner…

The 43-year-old Puerto Rican playwright and screenwriter.picked up the Drama Desk award for Outstanding Play for his hghly regarded work The Inheritance.

Inspired by the novel Howards End by E. M. Forster, the play premiered in London at the Young Vic in March 2018, before transferring to Broadway in November 2019.

Normally, the awards are announced at a gathering of theater artists and critics in New York City. But this year, the gathering was replaced by a pre-recorded ceremony because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The awards show had initially been scheduled to air May 31, but was postponed due to the Black Lives Matter protests in New York City.

The ceremony aired on NY1 and streamed on NY1.com and DramaDeskAwards.com. The Drama Desk Awards recipients were decided by theater critics, journalists, editors and publishers covering theater. 

Here’s the complete list of winners:

65th ANNUAL DRAMA DESK AWARD WINNERS:

Outstanding Play
The Inheritance, by Matthew Lopez 

Outstanding Musical
A Strange Loop, Playwrights Horizons/Page 73 Productions

Outstanding Revival of a Play
A Soldier’s Play, Roundabout Theatre Company 

Outstanding Revival of a Musical
Little Shop of Horrors 

Outstanding Actor in a Play
Edmund Donovan, Greater Clements

Outstanding Actress in a Play
Liza Colón-Zayas, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven 

Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Larry Owens, A Strange Loop

Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Adrienne Warren, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical 

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Paul Hilton, The Inheritance 

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Lois Smith, The Inheritance

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Christian Borle, Little Shop of Horrors

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Lauren Patten, Jagged Little Pill 

Outstanding Director of a Play
Stephen Daldry, The Inheritance

Outstanding Director of a Musical
Stephen Brackett, A Strange Loop

Outstanding Choreography
Sonya Tayeh, Moulin Rouge!

Outstanding Music
Dave Malloy, Octet

Outstanding Lyrics
Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop

Outstanding Book of a Musical
Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop 

Outstanding Orchestrations
Tom Kitt, Jagged Little Pill 

Outstanding Music in a Play
Martha Redbone, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf 

Outstanding Scenic Design for a Play
Clint Ramos, Grand Horizons 

Outstanding Scenic Design for a Musical
Derek McLane, Moulin Rouge!

Outstanding Costume Design for a Play
Rachel Townsend and Jessica Jahn, The Confession of Lily Dare

Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical
Catherine Zuber, Moulin Rouge!

Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play
Heather Gilbert, The Sound Inside

Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical
Justin Townsend, Moulin Rouge!

Outstanding Projection Design
Luke Halls, West Side Story

Outstanding Sound Design for a Play
Paul Arditti and Christopher Reid, The Inheritance 

Outstanding Sound Design for a Musical
Peter Hylenski, Moulin Rouge!

Outstanding Wig and Hair Design
Campbell Young Associates, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

Outstanding Solo Performance
Laura Linney, My Name is Lucy Barton

Unique Theatrical Experience
Is This A Room, Vineyard Theatre

Outstanding Fight Choreography
Thomas Schall, A Soldier’s Play

Outstanding Adaptation
A Christmas Carol, by Jack Thorne

Raul Esparza Earns Drama Desk Awards Nomination for “The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui”

Raul Esparza’s theater cred is on the Rise… 

The New York Drama Desk Awards nominations have been revealed, with the 48-year-old Cuban American stage and television actor and voice artist earning recognition.

Raul Esparza

Esparza, who has previously won the Drama Desk Award for his roles in Company on Broadway (2007) and Taboo (2004), is nominated in the Outstanding Actor in a Play category for his role in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui.

Santino Fontanahas earned a nod for his gender-bending role…

The 37-year-old part-Spanish American actor/singer is nominated in the Outstanding Actor in a Musical category for his starring role as Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels in Tootsie, which is based on the 1982 comedy film of the same name.

Fontana previously won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Playfor his work in Brighton Beach Memoirs.

George Salazarhas also earned a Drama Desk nod.

The 33-year-old half-Ecuadorian American actor, singer and musician is up for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for his role in Be More Chill.

He was previously nominated in the same category in 2017 for his role in The Lightning Thief.

Unlike the Tony Awards, the Drama Desk Awards cover both Broadway and Off Broadway, significantly lessening the nominations’ prediction factor. 

The winners of the 64th annual Drama Desk Awards will be announced Sunday, June 2, during a ceremony hosted by Michael Urieat the Town Hallin Manhattan. The awards are voted on by theater critics, journalists, editors, publishers and broadcasters.

Here ‘s the complete list of Drama Desk Awards nominations (Off Broadway productions are indicated by theater company):

Outstanding Play
“Fairview,” by Jackie Sibblies Drury, Soho Rep
“The Ferryman,” by Jez Butterworth
“Lewiston/Clarkston,” by Samuel D. Hunter, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
“Usual Girls,” by Ming Peiffer, Roundabout Theatre Company
“What the Constitution Means to Me,” by Heidi Schreck, New York Theatre Workshop and Broadway

Outstanding Musical
“Be More Chill”
“The Hello Girls,” Prospect Theater Company
“The Prom”
“Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future,” Ars Nova
“Tootsie”

Outstanding Revival of a Play
“Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine,” Signature Theatre
“Henry VI: Shakespeare’s Trilogy in Two Parts,” National Asian American Theatre Company
“Our Lady of 121st Street,” Signature Theatre
“Summer and Smoke,” Classic Stage Company/Transport Group
“The Waverly Gallery”
“Uncle Vanya,” Hunter Theater Project

Outstanding Revival of a Musical
“Carmen Jones,” Classic Stage Company
“Fiddler on the Roof,” National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene and Off-Broadway
“Kiss Me, Kate, Roundabout Theatre Company
“Merrily We Roll Along,” Fiasco Theater/Roundabout Theatre Company
“Oklahoma!,” Bard Summerscape/St. Ann’s Warehouse and Broadway

Outstanding Actor in a Play
Jeff Biehl, “Life Sucks”
Edmund Donovan, “Lewiston/Clarkston”
Raúl Esparza, “The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui”
Russell Harvard, “I Was Most Alive With You”
Jay O. Sanders, “Uncle Vanya”

Outstanding Actress in a Play
Midori Francis, “Usual Girls”
Zainab Jah, “Boesman and Lena”
Elaine May, “The Waverly Gallery”
Laurie Metcalf, “Hillary and Clinton
Heidi Schreck, “What the Constitution Means to Me”

Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Brooks Ashmanskas, “The Prom”
Andrew R. Butler, “Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future
Damon Daunno, “Oklahoma!”
Santino Fontana, “Tootsie”
Steven Skybell, “Fiddler on the Roof”

Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Stephanie J. Block, “The Cher Show”
Beth Leavel, “The Prom”
Rebecca Naomi Jones, “Oklahoma!”
Anika Noni Rose, “Carmen Jones”
Stacey Sargeant, “Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future”

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Charles Browning, “Fairview”
Arnie Burton, “Lewiston/Clarkston”
Hampton Fluker, “All My Sons”
Tom Glynn-Carney, “The Ferryman”
Brandon Uranowitz, “Burn This”

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Harriett D. Foy, “The House That Will Not Stand”
Megan Hill, “Eddie and Dave”
Celia Keenan-Bolger, “To Kill A Mockingbird”
Ruth Wilson, “King Lear”
Alison Wright, “Othello”

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Corbin Bleu, “Kiss Me, Kate”
André De Shields, “Hadestown”
Sydney James Harcourt, “Girl from the North Country”
George Salazar, “Be More Chill”
Patrick Vaill, “Oklahoma!”

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Stephanie Hsu, “Be More Chill”
Leslie Kritzer, “Beetlejuice”
Soara-Joye Ross, “Carmen Jones”
Sarah Stiles, “Tootsie”
Ali Stroker, “Oklahoma!”
Mary Testa, “Oklahoma!”

Outstanding Director of a Play
Sarah Benson, “Fairview”
Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, “The Jungle”
Sam Mendes, “The Ferryman”
Tyne Rafaeli, “Usual Girls”
Taylor Reynolds, “Plano”
Jeff Wise, “Life Sucks”

Outstanding Director of a Musical
Noah Brody, “Merrily We Roll Along”
Rachel Chavkin, “Hadestown”
Scott Ellis, “Tootsie”
Daniel Fish, “Oklahoma!”
Joel Grey, “Fiddler on the Roof”

Outstanding Choreography
Camille A. Brown, “Choir Boy”
Warren Carlyle, “Kiss Me, Kate”
Denis Jones, “Tootsie”
Lorin Latarro, “Twelfth Night”
Rick and Jeff Kuperman, “Alice by Heart”
David Neumann, “Hadestown”

Outstanding Music
Andrew R. Butler, “Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future”
Joe Iconis, “Be More Chill”
Peter Mills, “The Hello Girls”
Mark Sonnenblick, “Midnight at the Never Get”
Shaina Taub, “Twelfth Night”
David Yazbek, “Tootsie”

Outstanding Lyrics
Chad Beguelin, “The Prom”
Andrew R. Butler, “Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future”
Joe Iconis, “Be More Chill”
Peter Mills, “The Hello Girls”
David Yazbek, “Tootsie”

Outstanding Book of a Musical
Scott Brown and Anthony King, “Beetlejuice”
Andrew R. Butler, “Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future”
Robert Horn, “Tootsie”
Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin, “The Prom”
Dominique Morisseau, “Ain’t Too Proud”

Outstanding Orchestrations
Larry Blank, “Fiddler on the Roof”
Simon Hale, “Girl from the North Country”
Daniel Kluger, “Oklahoma!”
Charlie Rosen, “Be More Chill”
Daryl Waters, “The Cher Show”

Outstanding Music in a Play
Paul Castles and Jongbin Jung, “Wild Goose Dreams”
Justin Ellington, “Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie”
Justin Ellington, “The House That Will Not Stand”
Nick Powell, “The Lehman Trilogy”
Jason Michael Webb and Fitz Patton, “Choir Boy”

Outstanding Set Design of a Play
Miriam Buether, “The Jungle”
Es Devlin, “Girls & Boys”
Maruti Evans, “The Peculiar Patriot”
Mimi Lien, “Fairview”
Matt Saunders, “Daddy”

Outstanding Set Design for a Musical
Rachel Hauck, “Hadestown”
Laura Jellinek, “Oklahoma!”
Laura Jellinek, “Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future”
David Korins, “Beetlejuice”
Rae Smith, “Girl from the North Country”

Outstanding Costume Design for a Play
Dede M. Ayite, “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark”
Dede M. Ayite, “If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka”
Ásta Bennie Hostetter, “Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie”
Toni-Leslie James, “Bernhardt/Hamlet”
Nicole Slaven, “Henry VI: Shakespeare’s Trilogy in Two Parts”

Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical
William Ivey Long, “Beetlejuice”
William Ivey Long, “Tootsie”
Bobby Frederick Tilly II, “Be More Chill”
Michael Krass, “Hadestown”
Bob Mackie, “The Cher Show”
Paloma Young, “Alice by Heart”

Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play
Amith Chandrashaker, “Boesman and Lena”
Amith Chandrashaker, “Fairview”
Jiyoun Chang, “Slave Play”
Jon Clark, “The Jungle”
Simon Cleveland, “Spaceman”
Yi Zhao, “The House That Will Not Stand”

Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical
Adam Honoré, “Carmen Jones”
Bradley King, “Hadestown”
Jamie Roderick, “Midnight at the Never Get”
Barbara Samuels, “Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future”
Scott Zielinski, “Oklahoma!”

Outstanding Projection Design
Peter England, “King Kong”
Katherine Freer, “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark”
Luke Halls, “The Lehman Trilogy”
Alex Basco Koch, “Be More Chill”
Peter Nigrini, “Beetlejuice”
Joshua Thorson, “Oklahoma!”

Outstanding Sound Design in a Play
Tyler Kieffer, “Plano”
Fitz Patton, “Choir Boy”
Nick Powell, “The Ferryman”
Jane Shaw, “I Was Most Alive With You”
Mikaal Sulaiman, “Fairview”

Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical
Simon Baker, “Girl from the North Country”
Drew Levy, “Oklahoma!”
Brian Ronan, “Tootsie”
Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz, “Hadestown”
Mikaal Sulaiman, “Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future”

Outstanding Wig and Hair Design
Campbell Young Associates, “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus”
Cookie Jordan, “Eddie and Dave”
Paul Huntley, “Tootsie”
Charles G. LaPointe, “Beetlejuice”
Charles G. LaPointe, “The Cher Show”

Outstanding Solo Performance
Mike Birbiglia, “The New One”
Carey Mulligan, “Girls & Boys”
Liza Jessie Peterson, “The Peculiar Patriot,” National Black Theatre/Hi-Arts
Erin Treadway, “Spaceman,” Loading Dock Theatre
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, “Fleabag”

Unique Theatrical Experience
“All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914,” Theater Latté Da/Laura Little Theatrical Productions / Sheen Center
“Love’s Labor’s Lost,” Shake & Bake
The B-Side: “Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons,” The Wooster Group
“What to Send Up When it Goes Down,” The Movement Theatre Company

Outstanding Fight Choreography
U. Jonathan Toppo, “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”
Claire Warden, “Daddy”
Claire Warden, “Slave Play”

Outstanding Puppet Design
Michael Curry, “Beetlejuice”
Sonny Tilders, “King Kong”
Tschabalala Self, “Daddy”

Ensemble Award: “To the uncanny ensemble of Dance Nationfor their pointed portrait of a dance troupe riven by competition but fused by the experiences of youth: Purva Bedi, Eboni Booth, Camila Canó-Flaviá, Dina Shihabi, Ellen Maddow, Christina Rouner, Thomas Jay Ryan, Lucy Taylor, and Ikechukwu Ufomadu.”

Sam Norkin Award: “To Montana Levi Blanco, who enriched this season with his vibrant and detailed costumes for Fairview, The House That Will Not Stand, Fabulation, Or the Re-Education of Undine, Eddie and Dave, “Daddy,” and Ain’t No Mo’. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a Blanco costume is worth considerably more, telling us a complete story about its wearer while giving us something fabulous to look at.”

To Mia Katigbak, “the backbone of the off-Broadway scene, we acclaim her for her performances this season in Henry VI: Shakespeare’s Trilogy in Two Parts, The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, Peace for Mary Francis and Recent Alien Abductions. This award also recognizes her vital presence as the artistic director of NAATCO and her sustained excellence as a performer and mentor.”

To Repertorio Español“for presenting a year-round rotating repertory of new and classic Spanish-language plays in its intimate Gramercy venue. For the past 51 years, Repertorio has been an indispensable theater for Spanish-speaking audiences, while inviting non-Spanish-speaking theatergoers to discover the delights of the Spanish-language canon and introducing New York audiences to the work of actors like Zulema Claresand Germán Jaramillo.”

Leguizamo to Star in the One-Man Show “Latin History for Dummies”

John Leguizamo is ready to play teacher…

The 51-year-old Colombian actor plans to give audiences a special educational lesson with his latest one-man show Latin History for Dummies.

John Leguizamo

The Public Theater – an off-Broadway production company in New York City known for hits like Hamilton, Fun Home and Eclipsed – will showcase Leguizamo’s latest comedic creation during its spring 2017 season.

Leguizamo, a Golden Globe, Drama Desk and Emmy nominee, had a string of New York City stage hits in the 1990s with Mambo Mouth, Spic-o-Rama and Freak, and he has been inspired to create and star in his the next show after noticing a lack of representation for Latinos in the American historical narrative.

“Just imagine you’re a white kid, and all of a sudden everybody’s Latin, and everything they’re teaching you is Latin, and you don’t hear anything about yourself or about your contributions,” Leguizamo said in a statement. “And it’s really weird and unfair because we had huge contributions.”

The show takes place under the guise of a satirical history lesson aimed at Leguizamo’s son and will explore Latin historical themes dating back thousands of years, as well how Spanish-speaking immigrants helped to shape the most powerful nation in the world.

The project will be co-produced by Berkeley Repertory Theatre and directed by Berkeley Rep’s Tony Taccone.

No official date has been set for the show’s premiere.