Broadway musical “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” got in one last awards-season kill before the Tonys, slaying its competitors at the 2014 Drama Desk Awards and emerging with seven trophies including the top award for musical.
Robert Shenkkan’s “All the Way” scored the laurel for play, with the topliner of that show, Bryan Cranston, snagging the lead actor award. “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” nabbed the crown for musical revival, while that show’s star, Neil Patrick Harris, shared the garland for lead actor in a musical with “Gentleman’s Guide” star Jefferson Mays.
That was one of two tied awards for “Gentleman’s Guide” alongside the featured actress statue for Lauren Worsham, sharing the kudo with fellow winner Anika Larsen of “Beautiful.”
Jessie Mueller, who plays Carole King in “Beautiful,” scored the lead actress in a musical award, beating out most of the actresses with whom she will compete in the same tight category come Tony night.
Many of the Drama Desk winners are also in the running for Tonys, and these latest wins add further awards-season momentum to each of the trophy recipients. Still, such kudos, voted on by different segments of the industry than the Tonys, can prove unreliable bellwethers for the legit industry’s biggest kudofest, set to take place this year at Radio City Music Hall on June 8.
The Drama Desks were held June 1 at midtown Gotham venue Town Hall.
The winners of the 2014 Drama Desk Awards are:
Play
“All the Way”
Musical
“A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder”
Revival of a Play
“Twelfth Night”
Revival of a Musical
“Hedwig and the Angry Inch”
Actor in a Play
Bryan Cranston, “All the Way”
Actress in a Play
Audra McDonald, “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill”
Actor in a Musical (TIE)
Neil Patrick Harris, “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”
Jefferson Mays, “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder”
Actress in a Musical
Jessie Mueller, “Beautiful”
Featured Actor in a Play
Reed Birney, “Casa Valentina”
Featured Actress in a Play
Celia Keenan-Bolger, “The Glass Menagerie”
Featured Actor in a Musical
James Monroe Iglehart, “Aladdin”
Featured Actress in a Musical (TIE)
Anika Larsen, “Beautiful”
Lauren Worsham, “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder”
Director of a Play
“Twelfth Night,” Tim Carroll
Director of a Musical
Darko Tresnjak, “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder”
Choreography
Warren Carlyle, “After Midnight”
Music
Jason Robert Brown, “The Bridges of Madison County”
Lyrics
Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak, “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder”
Book of a Muiscal
Robert L. Freedman, “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder”
Orchestrations
Jason Robert Brown, “The Bridges of Madison County”
Music in a Play
Nico Muhly, “The Glass Menagerie”
Revue
“After Midnight”
Set Design
Christopher Barreca, “Rocky”
Costume Design
William Ivey Love, “Bullets Over Broadway”
Lighting Design
Christopher Akerlind, “Rocky”
Projection Design
Aaron Rhyne, “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder”
Sound Design in a Musical
Brian Ronan, “Beautiful”
Sound Design in a Play
Matt Tierney, “Machinal”
Solo Performance
John Douglas Thompson, “Satchmo at the Waldorf”
Unique Theatrical Experience
“Cirkopolis”
Special Awards
Soho Rep
Veanne Cox
Ed Sylvanus Iskandar
The ensembles of Off Broadway’s “The Open House” and Broadway’s “The Realistic Joneses” and to the creator of both plays, Will Eno
