The Drama Desk Awards, one of the New York theatre scene's annual honors, is partnering with Scene Partners to expand as it looks ahead to its 70th anniversary. The honors have announced that the 70th Annual Drama Desk Awards will be held May 17, 2026. But more importantly, the 71st Annual Drama Desk Awards, set for May 23, 2027, will expand to honor theatre across the country along with Broadway and Off-Broadway.
Scene Partners, led by founder Matt Britten, will form Drama Desk Awards Productions to produce the annual ceremony, and to develop new opportunities for the awards system throughout the year and across the country. Scene Partners will be joined by The Season, led by producer-marketers Mike Karns and Steven Tartick. Theatrical and live event producer Victoria Weinberg will lead Drama Desk Awards Productions.
鈥淭heatre is a vital art form鈥攐ne that deserves to be recognized with a ceremony as extraordinary as the work it honors,鈥� says Britten in a statement. 鈥淲e thank the Drama Desk organization for their continued dedication to theatre and for their partnership. With deep respect for the legacy of the Desks, we鈥檙e honored to carry the baton forward鈥攅xpanding the event鈥檚 reach, growing its impact, and ensuring the Drama Desk Awards continue to shine as a powerful celebration of outstanding theatre.鈥�
鈥淭he Drama Desk board is pleased to announce this plan to solidify the future of the annual presentation of the Drama Desk Awards and expansion of the awards franchise,鈥� adds Drama Desk Co-Presidents Charles Wright and David Barbour. 鈥淲e're grateful to Matt and his partners for their vision and their respect for the Drama Desk Awards.鈥�
Winners of this year's Drama Desk Awards were revealed June 1 at a ceremony at NYU Skirball, hosted by Debra Messing and Tituss Burgess. Broadway's Maybe Happy Ending ended the evening as the most-awarded production of the night, taking six categories including Outstanding Musical.
The Drama Desk Awards feature gender-neutral performance categories, each naming two separate winners. With a particularly stacked list of leading ladies on the boards this year, that led to a double female win in the Leading Performance in a Musical Category, going to both Audra McDonald for Gypsy and Jasmine Amy Rogers for BOOP! Featured Performance in a Musical went so far as to have three winners thanks to a three-way tie splitting the vote, with Brooks Ashmanskas (from SMASH), Jak Malone (from Operation Mincemeat), and Michael Urie (from Once Upon a Mattress) all winning in the category.
With three wins each, Broadway's Stranger Things: The First Shadow and The Picture of Dorian Gray emerged as the most Drama Desk-winning plays of the season. Dorian Gray won for Sarah Snook's Leading performance (Laura Donnelly also won in this category for The Hills of California), David Bergman's projection and video design, and Unique Theatrical Experience. Stranger Things was recognized for Miriam Buether, Jamie Harrison, and Chris Fisher's scenic designs and illusions; Paul Arditti's sound design; and Jon Clark's lighting design.
Outstanding Play went to Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Purpose, and Outstanding Revival of a Play went to Eureka Day at Manhattan Theatre Club. Outstanding Revival of a Musical went to Gypsy.
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