Many Columbia faculty and alumni were successful at the 65th annual Drama Desk Awards. In total, Columbia artists earned 56 nominations at the 2020 virtual edition of the prestigious event, and three productions with Columbia involvement took home a total of eight awards.
Moulin Rouge!, featuring Professor Michael Passaro as Production Stage Manager, alumna Lynn Spector ’15 as Script Supervisor, and current Stage Management students Hadley Armstrong and Robbie Armstrong as Stage Management Interns, was nominated for five awards. It won four in the categories Outstanding Choreography, Outstanding Scenic Design for a Musical, Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical and Outstanding Sound Design for a Musical.
Writing alumnus Christopher Wolfe '18 consulted on the Broadway production of A Soldier's Play, which won two awards out of its three nominations. It succeeded in the Outstanding Fight Choreography and Outstanding Revival of a Play categories.
Jagged Little Pill directed by alumna Diane Paulus '97 with orchestration from Columbia College alumnus Tom Kitt '99 also received two awards and a total of three nominations. It won the award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical while Kitt was also directly awarded the Outstanding Orchestrations prize.
Founded in 1955, the Drama Desk Awards honor outstanding achievement by professional theater artists on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway. The Drama Desk Awards are voted on and bestowed by theater critics, journalists, editors, publishers and broadcasters covering theater.
