Update on June 4:

The 2017 Drama Desk Awards, hosted by Drama Desk winner Michael Urie (Buyer & Cellar, The Government Inspector), took place last night at New York’s Town Hall.

Not surprisingly, Oslo and Come From Away were named the Outstanding Play and Musical of the New York theater season. Oslo might also bring home the Tony next week, although Come From Away will be in competition for the Tony with Dear Evan Hansen, which is likely going to be the winner. A number of awards also went to Broadway’s Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, The Little Foxes, Hello, Dolly!, Jitney, and off-Broadway’s The Band’s Visit, which happily, will open on Broadway this fall.

The Drama Desk Awards, which are presented annually, honor outstanding achievement by professional theater artists on Broadway, off-Broadway, and off-off-Broadway. The awards are voted on by theater critics, journalists, editors, and publishers covering theater.

Posted April 30: Last Thursday morning I found my way over to Feinstein/54 Below to hear Tony winner Laura Benanti (She Loves Me) and Hamilton star Javier Muñoz read out the nominations for the 2017 Drama Desk Awards. The Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly! led the pack with ten nominations (including nods for Outstanding Revival of a Musical and for its luminous star, Bette Midler), while the new musicals Come From Away and Anastasia trailed closely behind with nine nominations each. Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Barrow Street Theatre, also was nominated in seven categories.

Notable excepts were Dear Evan Hansen, which was not in the running because of it being included in last years race.  The Drama Desk nominating committee also did not consider Significant Other (0) because of it’s off-Broadway run in the 2015 – 2016 season. Indecent (2), Sweat (2), and Oslo (2) were considered for their Off Broadway runs, even though they subsequently transferred to Broadway this season. The committee determined that the book and score of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 were not sufficiently different from earlier, already eligible productions to be considered this season. However, the design, staging, and new members of the company were considered this year. The committee determined that all aspects of In Transit had been significantly reworked since its Off Broadway engagement in 2010 and thus deemed it eligible for consideration this season, although it did not score a nod in the end.

No Six Degrees of Separation love for the revival, although I wasn’t surprised to see no Best Musical nod for, Amelie (0), Charlie (1) or Groundhog Day (1). But I was surprised by The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical (3) inclusion in that and numerous other categories.

Thrilled for numerous favorites of mine, including Come From Away (9), Sweeney Todd (7), A Band’s Visit (7), and Indecent (2) – although surprised by the exclusion of director Rebecca Taichman, Indecent, And very happy for the ladies of The Little Foxes (7).

Happy for all the women actors nominated. They all are pretty much the ones who I think will get Tony nominations. And glad for the ladies of A Doll’s House, Part 2 (2), but surprised the play wast nominated. And once again, what happened to Ride the Cyclone (0), one of my all time favorites of the season?

This year’s list included notable Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway productions, with Park Avenue Armory’s The Hairy Ape (8), Atlantic Theater Company’s The Band’s Visit (7), and A Life (5), at Playwrights Horizons. Additionally, The Playwrights Realm’s The Wolves earned recognition for Outstanding Ensemble, while its director Lila Neugebauer is set to receive this year’s Sam Norkin Award.

Outstanding Musical

Outstanding Revival of a Musical