Nominations for the 66th Annual Drama Desk Awards were announced late on Monday, May 16, 2022. The Drama Desk has a unique mission as it is the only critics’ organization to honor achievement in the theater with competition among Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions all in the same categories. (In determining eligibility of the Broadway productions of A Strange Loop, For Colored Girls, Hangmen, Is This a Room, Skeleton Crew, and The Lehman Trilogy which had recent Off-Broadway runs in previous seasons, the nominating committee considered only those elements that constituted new work.) This year, due to the realities of Covid, the 2022 Drama Desk Awards ceremony will be different. Winners will be announced the week of June 6th and the awards themselves will be presented during an abbreviated ceremony at NYC’s iconic Sardi’s on the afternoon of June 14, 2022.
In addition to all the worthy design nominations, there were two additional special awards recognizing the work of Costume Designer, Dede Ayite and of Scenic Designer Adam Rigg.
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.
Adam Rigg enhanced storytelling through wildly varying scenic designs this season including: a house in wood, shadow, and reflective glass that draws the audience into the Flint, Michigan water crisis in Cullud Wattah; a community cul-de-sac where trauma and history are celebrated in On Sugarland; and the falling walls, flower-covered hillsides, and functional seaside fun ride of The Skin of Our Teeth.
2022 Drama Desk Design Nominees are:
Outstanding Scenic Design for a Play
Beowulf Boritt, Merry Wives, The Public Theater (Shakespeare in the Park)
Wilson Chin, Pass Over, Broadway
Marsha Ginsberg, English, Atlantic Theater Company
Takeshi Kata, Clyde’s, Second Stage Theater
Junghyun Georgia Lee, Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord, New York Theatre Workshop
Outstanding Scenic Design for a Musical
Emma Bailey, Six, Broadway
Beowulf Boritt, Flying Over Sunset, Lincoln Center Theater
Bunny Christie, Company, Broadway
David Zinn, Kimberly Akimbo, Atlantic Theater Company
Outstanding Costume Design for a Play
Linda Cho, The Chinese Lady, The Public Theater
Gregory Gale, Fairycakes, Greenwich House Theater
Tilly Grimes, The Alchemist, Red Bull Theater
Qween Jean, On Sugarland, New York Theatre Workshop
Jennifer Moeller, Clyde’s, Second Stage Theater
Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical
Machine Dazzle, The Hang, HERE Arts Center
Susan Hilferty, Funny Girl, Broadway
Santo Loquasto, The Music Man, Broadway
Gabriella Slade, Six, Broadway
Catherine Zuber, Intimate Apparel, Lincoln Center Theater
Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play
Christopher Akerlind, Clyde’s, Second Stage Theater
Reza Behjat, English, Atlantic Theater Company
Isabella Byrd, Sanctuary City, New York Theatre Workshop
Amith Chandrashaker, Prayer for the French Republic, Manhattan Theatre Club
Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, Cullud Wattah, The Public Theater
Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical
Natasha Katz, Diana, Broadway
Natasha Katz, MJ, Broadway
Bradley King, Flying Over Sunset, Lincoln Center Theater
Jennifer Tipton, Intimate Apparel, Lincoln Center Theater
Outstanding Projection Design
59 Productions, Flying Over Sunset, Lincoln Center Theater
David Bengali, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, Signature Theatre
Stephania Bulbarella and Alex Basco Koch, Space Dogs, MCC Theater
Shawn Duan, The Chinese Lady, The Public Theater
Sven Ortel, Thoughts of a Colored Man
