The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Sound Design of a Play is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in theatre across collective Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City.
| Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Sound Design of a Play | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Outstanding Sound Design of a Play |
| Location | New York City |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Drama Desk |
| First award | 2010 |
| Currently held by | Tom Gibbons, Oedipus (2026) |
| Website | dramadesk.org (defunct) |
The award was established in 1980, with the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Sound Design being presented each year to any play or musical production. Starting in 2010, the singular award was replaced by separate play and musical categories.
Four individuals hold the record for most wins in the category--Fitz Patton, Gareth Fry, Paul Arditti and Ben and Max Ringham--with two each. For nominations, Bray Poor, Gareth Fry and Tom Gibbons hold the record for most nominations with four each.
Winners and nominees
edit- Key
and bold indicates the winner.
2010s
edit| Year | Designer | Production | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | |||
| Fitz Patton | When the Rain Stops Falling | [1] | |
| Dan Bianchi and Wes Shippee | Frankenstein | ||
| Dale Bigall | Underground | ||
| Adam Cork | ENRON | ||
| Lindsay Jones | Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers | ||
| Elizabeth Rhodes | John Ball's In the Heat of the Night | ||
| 2011 | |||
| Acme Sound Partners and Cricket S. Myers | Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo | [2][3] [4] | |
| Acme Sound Partners | The Merchant of Venice | ||
| Ian Dickinson | John Gabriel Borkman | ||
| Brett Jarvis | Baby Universe | ||
| Bray Poor | Wings | ||
| Eric Shimelonis | The Hallway Trilogy | ||
| 2012 | |||
| John Gromada | The Best Man | [5][6] [7] | |
| Quentin Chiappetta | The Navigator | ||
| Gregory Clarke | Misterman | ||
| Gareth Fry | Richard III | ||
| Stowe Nelson | Samuel and Alasdair: A Personal History of the Robot War | ||
| Shane Rettig | She Kills Monsters | ||
| 2013 | |||
| Mel Mercier | The Testament of Mary | [8][9] | |
| Ien DeNio | The Pilo Family Circus | ||
| Steve Fontaine | Last Man Club | ||
| Christian Frederickson | Through the Yellow Hour | ||
| Lindsay Jones | Wild With Happy | ||
| Fergus O'Hare | Macbeth | ||
| 2014 | |||
| Matt Tierney | Machinal | [10][11] [12] | |
| M.L. Dogg | The Open House | ||
| Katie Down | The Golden Dragon | ||
| Paul James Prendergast | All the Way | ||
| Dan Moses Schreier | Act One | ||
| Christopher Shutt | Love and Information | ||
| 2015 | |||
| Ian Dickinson | The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time | [13][14] | |
| Nathan Davis | The Other Mozart | ||
| Ien Denio | Deliverance | ||
| Gareth Fry | Let the Right One In | ||
| John Gromada | Lives of the Saints (an anthology of short plays by David Ives) | ||
| Matt Tierney | Our Lady of Kibeho | ||
| 2016 | |||
| Fitz Patton | The Humans | [15][16] | |
| Fitz Patton | An Act of God | ||
| Miles Polaski | Fulfillment | ||
| Bray Poor | John | ||
| Ryan Rumery | Empanada Loca | ||
| 2017 | |||
| Gareth Fry and Pete Malkin | The Encounter | [17][18] | |
| Mikhail Fiksel | A Life | ||
| Brian Quijada | Where Did We Sit on the Bus? | ||
| Leon Rothenberg | Notes from the Field | ||
| Jane Shaw | Men on Boats | ||
| 2018 | |||
| Gareth Fry | Harry Potter and the Cursed Child | [19][20] | |
| Brendan Aanes | Balls | ||
| Tom Gibbons | 1984 | ||
| People, Places and Things | |||
| Stefan Gregory | Yerma | ||
| Palmer Hefferan | Today is My Birthday | ||
| 2019 | |||
| Nick Powell | The Ferryman | [21][22] | |
| Tyler Kieffer | Plano | ||
| Fitz Patton | Choir Boy | ||
| Jane Shaw | I Was Most Alive with You | ||
| Mikaal Sulaiman | Fairview |
2020s
edit| Year | Designer | Production | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | |||
| Paul Arditti and Christopher Reid | The Inheritance | [23][24] | |
| Justin Ellington | Heroes of the Fourth Turning | ||
| Mikhail Fiksel | Dana H. | ||
| Palmer Hefferan | Fefu and Her Friends | ||
| Lee Kinney and Sanae Yamada | Is This A Room | ||
| 2021 | No awards: New York theatres shuttered, March 2020 to September 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City | [25] | |
| 2022 | |||
| Ben and Max Ringham | Cyrano de Bergerac | [26][27] [28] | |
| Tyler Kieffer | Seven Deadly Sins | ||
| Hidenori Nakajo and Ryan Rumery | Autumn Royal | ||
| Mikaal Sulaiman | Sanctuary City | ||
| Lee Kinney | Selling Kabul | ||
| 2023 | |||
| Ben & Max Ringham | A Doll's House | [29][30] | |
| Justin Ellington | Ohio State Murders | ||
| Tom Gibbons | Hamlet | ||
| Josh Anio Grigg | Love | ||
| Lee Kinney & Daniel Kluger | You Will Get Sick | ||
| Mikaal Sulaiman | Fat Ham | ||
| 2024 | |||
| Ryan Rumery | Stereophonic | [31][32] | |
| Adam Cork | The Hunt | ||
| Tom Gibbons | Grey House | ||
| Palmer Hefferan | The Comeuppance | ||
| Bray Poor and Will Pickens | Appropriate | ||
| 2025 | |||
| Paul Arditti | Stranger Things: The First Shadow | [33][34] | |
| Johnny Gasper | Two Sisters Find a Box of Lesbian Erotica in the Woods | ||
| Matt Otto | All of Me | ||
| Bray Poor | Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp. | ||
| Clemence Williams | The Picture of Dorian Gray | ||
| Fan Zhang | Good Bones | ||
| 2026 | |||
| Tom Gibbons | Oedipus | [35][36] | |
| Caroline Eng | The Unknown | ||
| Angela Baughman | Initiative | ||
| Kieran Lucas | Weather Girl | ||
| Nevin Steinberg | Anna Christie | ||
| Giles Thomas | Kenrex | ||
Multiple wins
edit- 2 wins
- Fitz Patton
- Gareth Fry
- Paul Arditti
- Ben and Max Ringham
Multiple nominations
edit- 4 nominations
- Bray Poor
- Gareth Fry
- Tom Gibbons
- 3 nominations
- Ryan Rumery
- Mikaal Sulaiman
- Lee Kinney
- Palmer Hefferan
- 2 nominations
- Fitz Patton
- Adam Cork
- Lindsay Jones
- Acme Sound Partners
- Ian Dickinson
- John Gromada
- Ien DeNio
- Matt Tierney
- Mikhail Fiksel
- Paul Arditti
- Tyler Kieffer
- Ben and Max Ringham
See also
editReferences
edit- ↑ "2010 Awards – Nominees and Recipients". Drama Desk. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ "2011 Awards – Nominees and Recipients". Drama Desk. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ Kenneth Jones (May 24, 2011). "Drama Desk Awards Go to Book of Mormon, Normal Heart, War Horse, Sutton Foster, Norbert Leo Butz". Playbill. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
- ↑ David Rooney (May 23, 2011). "Book of Mormon, Anything Goes Top Drama Desk Awards". Variety. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
- ↑ "2012 Awards – Nominees and Recipients". Drama Desk. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ "Drama Desk Awards". The New York Times. June 4, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ New York Theatre Guide Staff (June 3, 2012). "The 57th Annual Drama Desk Awards". New York Theatre Guide. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
- ↑ "2013 Awards – Nominees and Recipients". Drama Desk. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ Michael Paulson (May 20, 2013). "Matilda Wins Big at Drama Desk Awards". The New York Times. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
- ↑ "2014 Awards – Nominees and Recipients". Drama Desk. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ New York Theatre Guide Staff (June 1, 2014). "The 59th Annual Drama Desk Awards". New York Theatre Guide. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
- ↑ Jesse Green (June 1, 2014). "Drama Desk Embraces a Gentleman's Guide". The New York Times. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
- ↑ "2015 Awards – Nominees and Recipients". Drama Desk. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ Gordon Cox (May 31, 2015). "2015 Drama Desk Awards Winners (FULL LIST): 'Hamilton' Takes 7". Variety. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
- ↑ "2016 Awards – Nominees and Recipients". Drama Desk. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ Gordon Cox (June 5, 2016). "2016 Drama Desk Awards (FULL LIST): 'Shuffle Along,' 'The Humans'". Variety. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
- ↑ "2017 Awards – Nominees and Recipients". Drama Desk. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ Variety Staff (June 5, 2017). "Drama Desk Awards 2017: Full List of Winners". Variety. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
- ↑ "2018 Awards – Nominees and Recipients". Drama Desk. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ Playbill Staff (June 3, 2018). "SpongeBob SquarePants Leads 2018 Drama Desk Awards". Playbill. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
- ↑ "2019 Awards – Nominees and Recipients". Drama Desk. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ Ruthie Fierberg (June 2, 2019). "Tootsie, Hadestown, and The Ferryman Lead 2019 Drama Desk Award Winners". Playbill. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
- ↑ "2020 Awards – Nominees and Recipients". Drama Desk. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ Dan Meyer (June 13, 2020). "A Strange Loop, The Inheritance, Moulin Rouge! Win Big at 2020 Drama Desk Awards". Playbill. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
- ↑ Evans, Greg (2021-05-05). "Broadway To Reopen Sept. 14, Says Gov. Andrew Cuomo; Broadway League "Cautiously Optimistic"". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 2023-06-02. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
- ↑ "2022 Awards – Nominees and Recipients". Drama Desk. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ Chloe Rabinowitz (June 8, 2022). "COMPANY, SIX & More Win 2022 Drama Desk Awards – See the Full List!". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
- ↑ Gillian Russo (June 8, 2022). "2022 Drama Desk Award winners announced". New York Theatre Guide. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
- ↑ "2023 Awards – Nominees and Recipients". Drama Desk. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ Logan Culwell-Block (May 31, 2023). "Some Like It Hot Dominates 2023 Drama Desk Awards; See the Full List of Winners". Playbill. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
- ↑ "2024 Awards – Nominees and Recipients". Drama Desk. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ Logan Culwell-Block (June 10, 2024). "Stereophonic Leads 2024 Drama Desk Awards With 7 Wins Including Outstanding Play". Playbill. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
- ↑ "2025 Awards – Nominees and Recipients". Drama Desk. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ Logan Culwell-Block (June 1, 2025). "Drama Desk Award Winners 2025: The Full List". Playbill. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
- ↑ "2026 Drama Desk Award Nominations Announced: Full List". Broadway.com. April 29, 2026. Retrieved April 29, 2026.
- ↑ Gans, Andrew (May 17, 2026). "Ragtime Leads 2026 Drama Desk Awards; Read the Full List of Winners". Playbill. Retrieved May 19, 2026.