SIX, KIMBERLY AKIMBO Lead 2022 Drama Desk Award Nominations
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Nominees for the 2022 Drama Desk Awards have been revealed, with the musicals Six and Kimberly Akimbo leading the pack. Six scored 10 nods and will also receive the inaugural Ensemble Award for its sextet: Adrianna Hicks, Andrea Macasaet, Brittney Mack, Abby Mueller, Samantha Pauly, and Anna Uzele.
Competing with Six and the Broadway-bound Kimberly Akimbo for Outstanding Musical are Harmony at National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, Intimate Apparel at Lincoln Center Theater, and The Hang, HERE.
All of the nominees for Outstanding Play were produced Off-Broadway: Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s Cullud Wattah, Sanaz Toossi’s English, Joshua Harmon’s Prayer for the French Republic, Martyna Majok’s Sanctuary City, Sylvia Khoury’s Selling Kabul (a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama), and Lloyd Suh’s The Chinese Lady.
While a number of familiar names were called, including Tony nominees Patti LuPone, Matt Doyle, and Jennifer Simard for their featured performances in Company (three of its 8 nods), there were some surprises. For example, Diana star Jeanna De Waal will compete in Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical. Elsewhere, another 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama finalist Kristina Wong’s Overlord Sweatshop is nominated for Outstanding Solo Performance alongside Alex Edelman in Just for Us and Arturo Luís Soria in Ni Mi Madre.
The Harold S. Prince Lifetime Achievement Award will this year be given to the late Alice Childress, whose Trouble in Mind played on Broadway earlier this season. That production earned nods for its stars LaChanze and Chuck Cooper.
In addition, the Chase Award for Unique Theatrical Experience will go to Seven Deadly Sins, which ran in the Meatpacking District last summer and featured short plays by well-known playwrights. Selling Kabul star Marjan Neshat will receive the Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award, while additional special honors will be given to costume designer Dede Ayite, scenic designer Adam Rigg, and Oratorio for Living Things creator Heather Christian.
It’s worth noting that the 2020 winner, A Strange Loop, was only eligible for new aspects of the production, meaning Jacquel Spivey earned a nod for his performance as Usher but the production received no other nominations. The same rules applied to for colored girls…, Hangmen, Is This A Room, Skeleton Crew, and The Lehman Trilogy.
For a full list of nominees, click here.
