Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations

The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in musical theatre across collective Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. This category was eliminated after the 2011 ceremony, only to be reinstated about a week later due to popular and overwhelming demand from much of the Broadway community.

Drama Desk Award
for Outstanding Orchestrations
Awarded forOutstanding Orchestrations
LocationNew York City
CountryUnited States
Presented byDrama Desk
First awarded1983
Currently held byMarco Paguia for Buena Vista Social Club (2024)
Websitedramadesk.org (defunct)

Winners and nominees

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1980s

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Year Orchestrator Production
1983
Michael Gibson My One and Only
Hans Spialek On Your Toes
1984
Michael Starobin Sunday in the Park with George
Jonathan Tunick Baby
Jim Tyler La Cage aux Folles
1985
Steven Margoshes and Danny Troob Big River
Bill Byers Grind
Michael Starobin Three Guys Naked from the Waist Down
La bohème
1986
Rupert Holmes The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Ralph Burns Sweet Charity
James McElwaine Goblin Market
1987
John Cameron Les Misérables
Wally Harper Barbara Cook: A Concert for the Theatre
Michael Starobin Rags
Chris Walker Me and My Girl
1988
David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber The Phantom of the Opera
Michael Gibson Anything Goes
Michael Starobin Birds of Paradise
Jonathan Tunick Into the Woods
1989

1990s

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Year Orchestrator Production
1990
Billy Byers City of Angels
Rodolfo Alchourron and James Kowal Dangerous Games
David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber Aspects of Love
Peter Matz Grand Hotel
1991
William David Brohn Miss Saigon
The Secret Garden
Billy Byers The Will Rogers Follies
David Krane And the World Goes 'Round
Mboni Ngema Township Fever
1992
Luther Henderson Jelly's Last Jam
John Carlini Song of Singapore
William David Brohn Crazy For You
1993
Jose Libertella and Luis Stazo Tango Pasion
Steven Margoshes The Who's Tommy
Michael Starobin My Favorite Year
Chris Walker Putting It Together
1994
Jonathan Tunick Passion
Douglas Besterman Damn Yankees
Peter Matz The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public
Danny Troob Beauty and the Beast
1995
1996
Steve Skinner Rent
Bruce Coughlin Floyd Collins
1997
Jonathan Tunick Titanic
Michael Gibson Steel Pier
Joseph Joubert and Buryl Red Violet
Don Sebesky and Harold Wheeler The Life
1998
William David Brohn Ragtime
Lisandro Adrover Luis Bravo's Forever Tango
Bruce Coughlin The Sound of Music
Robert Elhai, David Metzger and Bruce Fowler The Lion King
Michael Gibson Cabaret
Stanley Silverman The Capeman
1999
Don Sebesky Parade
Michael Starobin A New Brain
Jonathan Tunick Captains Courageous
Jeff Waxman Woody Guthrie's American Song

2000s

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Year Orchestrator Production
2000
Don Sebesky Kiss Me, Kate
Doug Besterman The Music Man
Michael Gibson The Wild Party
Taliep Petersen Kat and the Kings
Jonathan Tunick Saturday Night
Harold Wheeler Swing!
2001
Doug Besterman The Producers
Bruce Coughlin Urinetown
Michael Starobin The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Jonathan Tunick Follies
Harold Wheeler The Full Monty
2002
Doug Besterman and Ralph Burns Thoroughly Modern Millie
Jason Robert Brown The Last Five Years
Jonathan Tunick Elaine Stritch: At Liberty
2003
Harold Wheeler Hairspray
Luther Henderson Little Ham
Michel Legrand Amour
2004
William David Brohn Wicked
Paul Bogaev Bombay Dreams
Michael Starobin Assassins
Harold Wheeler Never Gonna Dance
2005
Bruce Coughlin, Adam Guettel and Ted Sperling The Light in the Piazza
Steven M. Alper The Immigrant
Larry Hochman Monty Python's Spamalot
Doug Katsaros and Lynne Shankel Altar Boyz
Kim Scharnberg Little Women
Harold Wheeler Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
2006
Sarah Travis Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Larry Blank The Drowsy Chaperone
Bruce Coughlin Grey Gardens
See What I Wanna See
Daniel Feyer and Peter Mills The Pursuit of Persephone
Danny Troob and Dick Lieb The Pajama Game
2007
Mary Mitchell Campbell Company
Jonathan Tunick LoveMusik
William David Brohn Curtains
Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman In the Heights
Duncan Sheik Spring Awakening
Jonathan Tunick The Apple Tree
2008
Jason Carr Sunday in the Park with George
Doug Besterman Young Frankenstein
Michael Starobin The Glorious Ones
Stew and Heidi Rodewald Passing Strange
Jonathan Tunick A Catered Affair
Tim Weil 10 Million Miles
2009
Martin Koch Billy Elliot the Musical
Larry Blank Irving Berlin's White Christmas
Bruce Coughlin, Stephen Oremus and Alex Lacamoire 9 to 5
Aaron Johnson and Antibalas Fela!
Edward B. Kessel A Tale of Two Cities
Danny Troob and John Clancy Shrek the Musical

2010s

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Year Orchestrator Production
2010
Daryl Waters and David Bryan Memphis
Larry Hochman The Scottsboro Boys
Tom Kitt American Idiot
Everyday Rapture
John Oddo All About Me
2011
Larry Hochman and Stephen Oremus The Book of Mormon
Mary-Mitchell Campbell Hello Again
Bruce Coughlin The Burnt Part Boys
Simon Hale, Jim Abbott and David Yazbek Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Marc Shaiman and Larry Blank Catch Me If You Can
Lynne Shankel The Extraordinary Ordinary
2012
Martin Lowe Once
Bill Elliott Nice Work If You Can Get It
Larry Hochman Death Takes a Holiday
John McDaniel Bonnie & Clyde
Michael Starobin Queen of the Mist
Danny Troob Newsies
2013
Danny Troob Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella
Trey Anastasio and Don Hart Hands on a Hardbody
Larry Blank A Christmas Story: The Musical
Bruce Coughlin Giant
Larry Hochman Chaplin: The Musical
Steve Margoshes Soul Doctor
2014
Jason Robert Brown The Bridges of Madison County
John Clancy Fun Home
Larry Hochman Big Fish
Steve Sidwell Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Michael Starobin If/Then
Jonathan Tunick A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
2015
Christopher Austin An American in Paris
Mary-Mitchell Campbell Allegro
Larry Hochman Something Rotten!
Alex Lacamoire Hamilton
Rob Mathes The Last Ship
Don Sebesky, Larry Blank, Jason Robert Brown and Charlie Rosen Honeymoon in Vegas
2016
Larry Hochman She Loves Me
August Eriksmoen Bright Star
Joseph Joubert and Catherine Jayes The Color Purple
Andrew Lloyd Webber School of Rock
Michael Starobin and Bruce Coughlin First Daughter Suite
2017
Bill Elliott and Greg Anthony Rassen Bandstand
Doug Besterman Anastasia
Bruce Coughlin War Paint
Benjamin Cox Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
August Eriksmoen Come from Away
Jamshied Sharifi The Band's Visit
2018
Jonathan Tunick Carousel
Tom Kitt SpongeBob SquarePants
Annmarie Milazzo and Michael Starobin Once on This Island
Charlie Rosen and Erin McKeown Miss You Like Hell
Jonathan Tunick Pacific Overtures
2019
Daniel Kluger Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!
Larry Blank Fiddler on the Roof
Simon Hale Girl from the North Country
Charlie Rosen Be More Chill
Daryl Waters The Cher Show

2020s

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Year Orchestrator Production
2020
Tom Kitt Jagged Little Pill
Alex Lacamoire The Wrong Man
Or Matias and Dave Malloy Octet
Danny Troob, John Clancy, and Larry Hochman Soft Power
Jonathan Tunick West Side Story
2021 No awards: New York theatres shuttered, March 2020 to September 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City[1]
2022
Jason Michael Webb and David Holcenberg MJ
Tom Curran Six
Greg Jarrett Assassins
Mark Hartman and Yasuhiko Fukuoka The Streets of New York
2023
Bryan Carter and Charlie Rosen Some Like It Hot
Bruce Coughlin A Man of No Importance
Jason Howland Shucked
Kenny Seymour The Harder They Come
Daryl Waters and Sam Davis New York, New York
2024[2]
Marco Paguia Buena Vista Social Club
Timo Andres Illinoise
Will Butler and Justin Craig Stereophonic
Andy Evan Cohen The Greatest Hits Down Route 66
Erik Della Penna, Dean Sharenow, and David Yazbek Dead Outlaw
Michael Starobin, Shaina Taub (vocal arrangements), and Andrea Grody (vocal arrangements) Suffs

Multiple wins

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "Stereophonic Leads 2024 Drama Desk Awards with 7 Wins Including Outstanding Play - Playbill.com". 2024-06-10. Retrieved 2024-06-13.