Drama Desk Nominations for the 2012 - 2013 Season Announced

The Drama Desk nominees have been announced for the season, and the leading nominees are Giant and Hands on a Hardbody, with nine nominations while Matilda, Passion, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood each received seven nominations.

In a nod to the evolving technical side of theatre, the Drama Desk announced a new award for this season: Outstanding Projection Design. Nominations went to Jon Driscoll, Chaplin: The Musical; Wendall K. Harrington, Old Hats; Peter Nigrini, Here Lies Love; Darrel Maloney, Checkers; Pedro Pires, Cirque du Soleil: Totem; and Aaron Rhyne, Wild With Happy.

The nominations for Outstanding Set Design are Rob Howell, Matilda; Mimi Lien, The Whale; Santo Loquasto, The Assembled Parties; Anna Louizos, The Mystery of Edwin Drood; Michael Yeargan, Golden Boy; and David Zinn, The Flick.

The Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical nominees are Steve Canyon Kennedy, Hands on a Hardbody; Scott Lehrer and Drew Levy, Chaplin: The Musical; Tony Meola, The Mystery of Edwin Drood; Brian Ronan, Bring It On: The Musical; Brian Ronan, Giant; and Dan Moses Schreier, Passion.

The nominees for Outstanding Sound Design in a Play are Ien DeNio, The Pilo Family Circus; Steve Fontaine, Last Man Club; Christian Frederickson, Through the Yellow Hour; Lindsay Jones, Wild With Happy; Mel Mercier, The Testament of Mary; and Fergus O'Hare, Macbeth.

The nominees for Outstanding Lighting Design are Ken Billington, Chaplin: The Musical; Jane Cox, Passion; Kenneth Posner, Pippin; Justin Townsend, Here Lies Love; Daniel Winters, The Man Who Laughs; and Scott Zielinski, A Civil War Christmas.

Each year, the Drama Desk votes special awards to recognize excellence and significant contributions to the theater. One such award this year will go to Maruti Evans for the Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award. Evans is being recognized for his ingenious lighting designs, reflecting an exquisite and bold theatrical aesthetic. This season's The Pilo Family Circus and Tiny Dynamite confirm his incandescent creativity.

This year the nominators chose to bestow a special ensemble award to the cast of Working: A Musical. Marie-France Arcilla, Joe Cassidy, Donna Lynne Champlin, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Nehal Joshi, and Kenita R. Miller created a memorable ensemble of marvelously gifted singer-actors working together in pure artistic harmony, the Drama Desk committee says. Individual cast members receiving this award are ineligible for acting awards in the competitive categories. For a full list of nominations, visit the URL below.