The Nominees for the 57th Drama Desk Awards

The nominations for the 57th Annual Drama Desk Awards, honoring both Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, were announced on April 27.

The following awards were voted by the nominating committee and will be presented by the Drama Desk at its awards ceremony:

Outstanding Ensemble Performance 
This year the nominators chose to bestow a special ensemble award for acting to the cast of Sweet and Sad. Jon DeVries, Shuler Hensley, Maryann Plunkett, Laila Robins, Jay O. Sanders, and J. Smith-Cameron are "among New York's best actors, who came together as one unforgettable stage family. Therefore, the individual cast members were not eligible for acting awards in the competitive categories."

Special Awards 
Each year, the Drama Desk votes special awards to recognize excellence and significant contributions to the theater. For 2011-12, these awards are:

• To Mary Testa: For over three decades, she has dazzled audiences with consistently outstanding work, including her tour-de-force performance in this season's Queen of the Mist. 
• To Nick Westrate: His versatility in Unnatural Acts, Love's Labor's Lost,and Galileo was a highlight of the season.
• To New Victory Theatre: For providing enchanting, sophisticated children's theater that appeals to the child in all of us, and for nurturing a love of theater in young people.
• To Stephen Karam, the newly created Sam Norkin Off Broadway Award: The profoundly moving Sons of the Prophet confirmed his status as one of the most promising playwrights of his generation.

The following are the nominations for the competitive categories. Winners will be selected by the voting membership of the Drama Desk:

Note: Because of the abundance of great work throughout the season, the board authorized the increase in the number of nominees allowed in select categories. The Drama Desk Board has decided that music and lyrics that come from another medium and are appearing for the first time on Broadway are eligible. Other Desert Cities and Peter and the Starcatcher were considered for their productions Off Broadway in the 2010-11 season; Venus in Fur and Clybourne Park were considered for the 2009-10 season. Under Drama Desk rules, only new elements in their transfers to Broadway were eligible this season.

Outstanding Play 

• David Henry Hwang, Chinglish
• Dan LeFranc, The Big Meal
• Members of the Plastic Theatre, Unnatural Acts
• Itamar Moses, Completeness
• Lynn Nottage, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
• Nina Raine, Tribes
• Nicky Silver, The Lyons

Outstanding Musical 

• Bonnie & Clyde
• Death Takes a Holiday
• Leap of Faith
• Newsies The Musical
• Nice Work If You Can Get It
• Once
• Queen of the Mist

Outstanding Revival of a Play 

• A Little Journey
• Death of a Salesman
• Edward Albee's The Lady from Dubuque
• Gore Vidal's The Best Man
• Lost in Yonkers
• Richard III

Outstanding Revival of a Musical

• Carrie
• Evita
• Follies
• Jesus Christ Superstar
• The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
• The Threepenny Opera

Outstanding Actor in a Play 

• James Corden, One Man, Two Guvnors
• Hugh Dancy, Venus in Fur
• Claybourne Elder, One Arm
• Santino Fontana, Sons of the Prophet
• Joseph Franchini, The Navigator
• Philip Seymour Hoffman, Death of a Salesman
• Kevin Spacey, Richard III

Outstanding Actress in a Play 

• Tracie Bennett, End of the Rainbow
• Sanaa Lathan, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
• Linda Lavin, The Lyons
• Jennifer Lim, Chinglish
• Kim Martin-Cotten, A Moon for the Misbegotten
• Carey Mulligan, Through a Glass Darkly
• Joely Richardson, Side Effects

Outstanding Actor in a Musical 

• Danny Burstein, Follies
• Kevin Earley, Death Takes a Holiday
• Raul Esparza, Leap of Faith
• Jeremy Jordan, Newsies The Musical
• Norm Lewis, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
• Ricky Martin, Evita

Outstanding Actress in a Musical 

• Miche Braden, The Devil's Music: The Life & Blues of Bessie Smith
• Jan Maxwell, Follies
• Audra McDonald, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
• Kelli O'Hara, Nice Work If You Can Get It
• Bernadette Peters, Follies
• Molly Ranson, Carrie

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play

• Bill Camp, Death of a Salesman
• Jim Dale, The Road to Mecca
• Tom Edden, One Man, Two Guvnors
• Bill Irwin, King Lear
• Jefferson Mays, Blood and Gifts
• Will Rogers, Unnatural Acts
• Morgan Spector, Russian Transport

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play 

• Stephanie J. Block, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
• Anna Camp, All New People
• Kimberly Hebert Gregory, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
• Lisa Joyce, The Ugly One
• Joaquina Kalukango, Hurt Village
• Angela Lansbury, Gore Vidal's The Best Man
• Judith Light, Other Desert Cities

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical 

• Phillip Boykin, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
• Matt Cavenaugh, Death Takes a Holiday
• Michael Cerveris, Evita
• Michael McGrath, Nice Work If You Can Get It
• Patrick Page, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
• Andrew Samonsky, Queen of the Mist

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical 

• Judy Kaye, Nice Work If You Can Get It
• Marin Mazzie, Carrie
• Jessie Mueller, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
• Elaine Paige, Follies
• Sarah Sokolovic, The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World
• Melissa van der Schyff, Bonnie & Clyde

Outstanding Director of a Play 

• Jo Bonney, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
• David Cromer, Tribes
• Ed Sylvanus Iskandar, These Seven Sicknesses
• Sam Mendes, Richard III
• Mike Nichols, Death of a Salesman
• Tony Speciale, Unnatural Acts

Outstanding Director of a Musical 

• Christopher Ashley, Leap of Faith
• Jack Cummings III, Queen of the Mist
• Doug Hughes, Death Takes a Holiday
• Kathleen Marshall, Nice Work If You Can Get It
• Eric Schaeffer, Follies
• John Tiffany, Once

Outstanding Choreography

• Rob Ashford, Evita
• Warren Carlyle, Follies
• Breandan de Gallal, Noctu
• Christopher Gattelli, Newsies The Musical
• Kathleen Marshall, Nice Work If You Can Get It
• Sergio Trujillo, Leap of Faith

Outstanding Music 

• Glen Hansard and Marketa lrglova, Once
• Michael John LaChiusa, Queen of the Mist
• Alan Menken, Leap of Faith
• Alan Menken, Newsies The Musical
• Frank Wildhorn, Bonnie & Clyde
• Maury Yeston, Death Takes a Holiday

Outstanding Lyrics 

• Don Black, Bonnie & Clyde
• Jack Feldman, Newsies The Musical
• Joy Gregory and Gunnar Madsen, The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World
• Glen Hansard and Marketa lrglova, Once
• Michael John LaChiusa, Queen of the Mist
• Maury Yeston, Death Takes a Holiday

Outstanding Book of a Musical 

• Douglas Carter Beane, Lysistrata Jones
• Janus Cercone and Warren Leight, Leap of Faith
• Joe DiPietro, Nice Work If You Can Get It
• Joy Gregory, The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World
• Michael John LaChiusa, Queen of the Mist
• Thomas Meehan and Peter Stone, Death Takes a Holiday

Outstanding Music in a Play 

• Mark Bennett, An Iliad
• Mark Bennett, Richard III
• Tom Kitt, All's Well That Ends Well
• Gina Leishman, Septimus and Clarissa
• Grant Olding, One Man, Two Guvnors
• Suzanne Vega and Duncan Sheik, Carson McCullers Talks About Love

Outstanding Revue 

• Newsical the Musical: End of the World Edition
• The Best Is Yet to Come: The Music of Cy Coleman

Outstanding Set Design 

• Jon Driscoll, Rob Howell and Paul Kieve, Ghost The Musical
• David Gallo, The Mountaintop
• Roger Hanna, A Little Journey
• David Korins, Assistance
• David Korins, Chinglish
• Derek McLane, Follies

Outstanding Costume Design 

• Gregg Barnes, Follies
• ESosa, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
• William Ivey Long, Lucky Guy
• Jessica Pabst, She Kills Monsters
• Martin Pakledinaz, Nice Work If You Can Get It
• Catherine Zuber, Death Takes a Holiday

Outstanding Lighting Design

• Kevin Adams, Carrie
• Neil Austin, Evita
• David Lander, One Arm
• Brian MacDevitt, Death of a Salesman
• Kenneth Posner, Death Takes a Holiday
• Paul Pyant, Richard III

Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical 

• Acme Sound Partners, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
• Jonathan Deans, Carrie
• Clive Goodwin, Once
• Kai Harada, Follies
• Steve Canyon Kennedy, Jesus Christ Superstar
• Jon Weston, Death Takes a Holiday

Outstanding Sound Design in a Play 

• Quentin Chiappetta/mediaNoise, The Navigator
• Gregory Clarke, Misterman
• Gareth Fry, Richard III
• John Gromada, Gore Vidal's The Best Man
• Stowe Nelson, Samuel and Alasdair: A Personal History of the Robot War
• Shane Rettig, She Kills Monsters

Outstanding Solo Performance 

• Baba Brinkman, The Rap Guide to Evolution
• Suli Holum, Chimera
• Jeff Key, The Eyes of Babylon
• Cillian Murphy, Misterman
• Denis O'Hare, An Iliad
• Stephen Spinella, An Iliad

Unique Theatrical Experience

• Give Me Your Hand
• Gob Squad's Kitchen (You've Never Had It So Good)
• Noctu
• The Complete & Condensed Stage Directions of Eugene O'Neill, Vol. 1: Early Plays/Lost Plays
• The Ryan Case 1873
• White