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.

Winners and nominees Key

1980s Year Orchestrator(s) Production Ref. 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 colspan="3"

1990s Year Orchestrator(s) Production Ref. 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 colspan="3" 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 Year Orchestrator(s) Production Ref. 2000 Don Sebesky Kiss Me, Kate |rowspan=6| |- | Doug Besterman | The Music Man |- | Michael Gibson | The Wild Party |- | Taliep Petersen | Kat and the Kings |- | Jonathan Tunick | Saturday Night |- | Harold Wheeler | Swing! |- ! rowspan="6"| 2001 |- style="background:#DCEEFF" | Doug Besterman| The Producers |rowspan=5| |- | Bruce Coughlin | Urinetown |- | Michael Starobin | The Adventures of Tom Sawyer |- | Jonathan Tunick | Follies |- | Harold Wheeler | The Full Monty |- ! rowspan="4"| 2002 |- style="background:#DCEEFF" | Doug Besterman and Ralph Burns| Thoroughly Modern Millie |rowspan=3| |- | Jason Robert Brown | The Last Five Years |- | Jonathan Tunick | Elaine Stritch: At Liberty |- ! rowspan="4"| 2003 |- style="background:#DCEEFF" | Harold Wheeler| Hairspray |align=center rowspan=3| |- | Luther Henderson | Little Ham |- | Michel Legrand | Amour |- ! rowspan="5"| 2004 |- style="background:#DCEEFF" | William David Brohn| Wicked |align=center rowspan=4| |- | Paul Bogaev | Bombay Dreams |- | Michael Starobin | Assassins |- | Harold Wheeler | Never Gonna Dance |- ! rowspan="7"| 2005 |- style="background:#DCEEFF" | Bruce Coughlin, Adam Guettel and Ted Sperling| The Light in the Piazza |rowspan=6| |- | 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 |- ! rowspan="7"| 2006 |- style="background:#DCEEFF" | Sarah Travis| Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street |rowspan=6| |- | Larry Blank | The Drowsy Chaperone |- | rowspan="2"| 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 |- ! rowspan="7"| 2007 |- style="background:#DCEEFF" | 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 rowspan=6| 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 Year Orchestrator(s) Production Ref. 2010 Daryl Waters and David Bryan Memphis |rowspan=5| |- | Larry Hochman | The Scottsboro Boys |- | rowspan="2"| Tom Kitt | American Idiot |- | Everyday Rapture |- | John Oddo | All About Me |- ! rowspan="7"| 2011 |- style="background:#DCEEFF" | Larry Hochman and Stephen Oremus| The Book of Mormon |align=center rowspan=6| |- | 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 |- ! rowspan="7"| 2012 |- style="background:#DCEEFF" | Martin Lowe| Once |align=center rowspan=6| |- | 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 |- ! rowspan="7"| 2013 |- style="background:#DCEEFF" | Danny Troob| Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella |rowspan=6| |- | 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 |- ! rowspan="7"| 2014 |- style="background:#DCEEFF" | Jason Robert Brown| The Bridges of Madison County |align=center rowspan=6| |- | 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 |- ! rowspan="7"| 2015 |- style="background:#DCEEFF" | 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 |rowspan=5| |- | 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 |- ! rowspan="7" |2017 |- style="background:#DCEEFF" |Bill Elliott and Greg Anthony Rassen|Bandstand |rowspan=6| |- |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 |- ! rowspan="6" |2018 |- style="background:#DCEEFF" | Jonathan Tunick|Carousel |rowspan=5| |- |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 |- ! rowspan="6" |2019 |- style="background:#DCEEFF" |Daniel Kluger|Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!Larry BlankFiddler on the RoofSimon HaleGirl from the North CountryCharlie RosenBe More ChillDaryl WatersThe Cher Show

2020s Year Orchestrator(s) Production Ref. 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 colspan="3" 2022 Jason Michael Webb and David Holcenberg MJ Tom Curran Six Greg Jarrett Assassins Mark Hartman and Yasuhiko Fukuoka The Streets of New York 2023Bryan Carter and Charlie RosenSome Like It HotBruce CoughlinA Man of No ImportanceJason HowlandShuckedKenny SeymourThe Harder They ComeDaryl Waters and Sam DavisNew York, New York2024 Marco PaguiaBuena Vista Social Club Timo AndresIllinoise 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 2025 Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber Just in Time Will Aronson Maybe Happy Ending Doug Besterman Boop! The Musical Joseph Joubert and Daryl Waters Pirates! The Penzance Musical Michael Starobin All the World's a Stage2026David M. Lutken, Morgan Morse, Lisa Helmi Johanson and Sherry Stregack LutkenThe Porch on Windy HillDaniel KlugerThe Seat of Our PantsBryan CarterThe Fear of 13John McDanielLights Out: Nat “King” ColeThe Bengsons and Or MatiasMy Joy is Heavy

Statistics

Multiple wins 4 wins Jonathan Tunick

3 wins William David Brohn

2 wins Doug Besterman Larry Hochman Don Sebesky Danny Troob

Multiple nominations 15 nominations Jonathan Tunick Michael Starobin

9 nominations Larry Hochman

7 nominations Doug Besterman Danny Troob

6 nominations Harold Wheeler

5 nominations William David Brohn Michael Gibson

4 nominations Don Sebesky Alex Lacamoire

3 nominations Steven Margoshes Bill Byers Jason Robert Brown Tom Kitt Joseph Joubert

2 nominations David Yazbek Ralph Burns Peter Matz Luther Henderson

See also Tony Award for Best Orchestrations Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Orchestrations

References