Drama Desk vs. Likely Tony Winners
The relationship of last night’s Drama Desk winners to the Tony Awards was even less helpful than the Golden Globes’ relationship this year to the Oscars. To wit: the likely Tony winners in featured actor and featured actress in a play (John Benjamin Hickey and Ellen Barkin from “The Normal Heart”) weren’t eligible for DDs because their entire cast got an ensemble award. Similarly, the directors and set and lighting designers from “War Horse“, the best play winner, weren’t DD eligible, because that show got a special DD for overall creativity. Laura Benanti continued her momentum in the Featured Actress in a musical sweepstakes by winning the DD in that category. I don’t expect Bobby Cannavale, the DD Best Actor in a Play winner, to displace Mark Rylance (“Jerusalem”) at the Tonys. Most of the other DD winners — led by “The Book of Mormon” with 5 awards — could plausibly transfer to Tony glory, except of course for the handful of DD winners from off-Broadway. (The Tonys, of course, include only Broadway productions.)
