2009-2010 nominations award announcement — May 3, 2010 (press098)
This is the nominations issued for the 2009-2010 season, dated May 3, 2010. It is held at its original address because other sites cite it directly. The entries themselves are not repeated here — they are on the 2009-2010 record, so there is one place to correct if anything in them turns out to be wrong.
Eleven headings were carried that season, with 29 nominated entries standing behind eleven awards. Five of the eleven award rows carry no usable recipient name in the source used here, published as unnamed rather than filled in.
Two headings appear on this record for the first time this season: sound design of a musical and sound design of a play. The undivided sound design heading, which had run since 1979-1980, does not appear in 2009-2010 at all — the split replaced it outright.
Five of the eleven headings carry only one recorded entry each and no usable name: lighting design of a musical, lighting design of a play, projection design, scenic design of a musical and scenic design of a play. Each had already been introduced in an earlier season; what is missing here is the name, not the heading.
None of the six named winners repeats a production. Twyla Tharp takes choreography for Come Fly Away, Matthew Wright costume design for La Cage aux Folles, and Neil Austin lighting design for Red; the remaining three named credits go to The Addams Family, Ragtime and When the Rain Stops Falling.
Of the 34 people and firms named across the season, 21 appear in at least one other season held here. Derek McLane, nominated for set design for Ragtime, is the most frequently recorded of them, with sixteen appearances across the record in total.
A separate announcement, issued 20 days later on 23 May 2010, covered the winners of this same season and is held at its own address on this site. This document announced the nominations only; the two are separate papers, each keeping the address it was cited at.
No production wins more than once among the six named awards, unlike several other seasons on this record where one show sweeps two or three headings. Neil Austin's lighting win for Red is one of four appearances he makes across the whole record, and Fitz Patton's sound win for When the Rain Stops Falling is one of three.
No production runs away with the nominated field this season: La Cage aux Folles, Ragtime and The Scottsboro Boys each take two nods in the craft categories tracked here, the widest any production reaches. Two of the three go on to win — La Cage aux Folles for costume design, Ragtime for sound design of a musical.
Eighteen of the season's twenty-nine distinct nominees, beyond the six named winners already covered, recur in at least one other season held here — the lowest recurrence rate among the seasons this record covers at this level of detail, though still the majority of names on the page.
Every entry recorded for the 2009-2010 season is cross-checked against a published external source rather than resting on this announcement alone — the standard applied to every season here since the mid-1970s. That distinction, cross-checked against archive-only, is stated on every entry in the record rather than assumed from the season it falls in. Nothing here is left to a reader's assumption.
Outstanding Sound Design of a Musical enters the record here, for the first time in any season. It is one of 2 headings new to the record this season. How the sound categories developed →
Questions about this announcement
What did the May 2010 announcement cover?
The nominations for the 55th Annual Drama Desk Awards, announced 3 May 2010 for the 2009-2010 season. Eleven design and craft headings were carried, with 29 nominated entries behind eleven awards. The winners were announced separately, 20 days later, in a different document held at its own address here.
Which heading split apart this season?
Sound design, into sound design of a musical and sound design of a play. The undivided sound design heading, which had run since 1979-1980, does not appear at all in 2009-2010 — this is the season the split replaced it outright, rather than the two running alongside the original.
Why do five of the eleven awards carry no name?
The source used to build this record does not name a recipient for lighting design of a musical or of a play, projection design, or scenic design of a musical or of a play. All five headings had already existed before this season; what is missing is the name, not the category.
Did any production or individual win more than once?
No. Among the six named winners, Twyla Tharp, Matthew Wright, Neil Austin, Acme Sound Partners and Fitz Patton each take one award for a different production, and a shared design credit takes the sixth. None of the eleven awards repeats a name or a production this season.
Which name connected to this season is the most frequently recorded on the whole record?
Derek McLane, nominated for set design for Ragtime. He is the most frequently recorded name connected to this season, with sixteen appearances spanning the whole record — more than any of the season's six named winners, the highest of whom reaches eight.