THE DRAMA DESK AWARDS WERE HOT !

Christine Ebersole and Matt Cavanagh

The Drama Desk festivities began at 5 PM at that legendary home of theater dealmakers the newly refurbished Russian Tea Room. Thoroughly restored to its original glory, and the some, the glitzy red and gold rooms were the perfect showcase for the high glam event. The incandescent Christine Ebersole co-hosted the VIP reception with longtime Drama Desk show producer Robert Blume. After the reception, guests piled onto luxury buses for the short trip over to the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center at Lincoln Center for the 52nd annual awards. The delightfully bubbly Drama Desk winner Kristen Chenoweth of Wicked fame hosted the ceremonies with Broadway and film biggest talents in attendance. The glittering crowd included: Kevin Spacey, Audra McDonald, Ashley Brown and the kids from Mary Poppins; Martin Short, Jim Dale, Tommy Tune, Phylicia Rashad, Marsha Mason, Lea Salonga, Raul Esparza, Lea Michele, and nominees including Vanessa Redgrave, Frank Langella, Liev Schreiber, Brian F. O’Byrne, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eve Best, Gianni Russo, Donna Moore, Annie Parisse, Jonathan Groff, Donna Murphy, Michael Cerveris, Jan Maxwell, Martha Plimpton, Gavin Lee, Billy Crudup, Boyd Gaines, Debra Monk, Karen Ziemba, Barbara Walsh, Orfeh, Jack O’Brien, Hal Prince, Michael Mayer, John Doyle, Patricia Birch, Jerry Mitchell, Matthew Bourne, John Kander, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Julian Fellowes, Rupert Holmes, Alfred Uhry, Jonathan Tunick, William Ivey Long, Santo Loquasto, Capathia Jenkins, Austin Pendleton. Before the show began there were more cocktails with still more theater folks thanks to the good people at Grey Goose Vodka and Lubov Wines. Then into the theater for the much awaited magic moments. When the first tallies were taken The Coast of Utopia, Tom Stoppard’s epic trilogy of intellectual life in pre-revolutionary Russia swept the drama category winning seven awards including Outstanding Play. Spring Awakening, the rock musical based on the 1891 German play about sexually anguished teens coming of age picked up four awards including Best Musical. The show’s composer rocker Duncan Sheik won the Outstanding Music award for his pulsating, high energy score. Frank Langella scored Outstanding Actor in a play for Frost/Nixon; Eve Best, Outstanding Actress in a Play for A Moon for the Misbegotten; Raul Esparza for Outstanding Actor in a Musical for Company which also won Outstanding Revival and a two way tie with a pair of dynamic talents Audra McDonald for 110 in the Shade and Donna Murphy for Love Musik for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. A midnight supper followed at the China Grill in a wonderful show of fellowship many non-winners came to congratulate their peers.
Report: John Wegorzewski

Comments

Anonymous said…
If you got supper, you're lucky! There were waiters with trays of food, but it looked like they wouldn't get more than 3 steps into the crowd before it was all gone!
James Edstrom said…
Thats why these parties bore me. I'd rather just be writing about them instead of attending. After 20 years of these events, it's all the same to me now. Anyway, thanks for reading !

James
Anonymous said…
Hello,

The cocktail receptions are not dinner. It is appetizers and cocktails.

The biggest problem of these events are the crashers that somehow get in and eat all the food.