The Drama Desk Special Award is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements by an individual or an organization that has made a significant contribution to the theatre across collective Broadway, off-Broadway or off-off-Broadway productions in New York City.
The award was first presented in 1976; in 2012, the Drama Desk Award Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award was added as a component of the Special Award, and those award winners are included in this article.
Winners and nominees
1970s Year Recipient and Contribution 1976 Hartman Theatre Company Outstanding Contribution by a New Theatre Company Queens Theatre in the Park Outstanding Contribution by a New Theatre Company 1977 colspan="2" 1978 Off-Off Broadway Theatre Movement Outstanding Contribution to Theatre
1980s Year Recipient and Contribution 1980 La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club Performances by International Companies 1981 colspan="2" 1982 Jonathan Tunick Ridiculous Theatrical Company The Royal Shakespeare Company The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby 1983 WPA Theatre Douglas Watt Distinguished Achievement Richard Wilbur His English Translation of The Misanthrope 1984 Alan Schneider Serving a Wide Range of Playwrights Michael Bennett, Joseph Papp and the Shubert Organization The 3,389th Performance of A Chorus Line B. H. Barry Consistent Excellence in Fight Staging Equity Library Theatre Showcasing Theater Professionals InterArt Theater Nurturing Female Theater Artists 1985 Gerard Alessandrini Forbidden Broadway Ridiculous Theatrical Company Quick Change Wizardry in The Mystery of Irma Vep Claudette Colbert and Rex Harrison The Continuing Pleasure of Their Company Veterans Ensemble Theater Company Giving Voice to Trauma of Vietnam 1986 Thomas Z. Shepard Preserving Musical Theatre Heritage on Record Agnes de Mille Her Enduring Legacy of Cherished Choreography Joyce Theater The American Theater Exchange Program The New Amsterdam Theater Company Distinguished Concert Productions Donald Pippin Musical Direction and Commitment to Theater Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn Their Continuing Theatrical Partnership 1987 Stanley Lebowsky Musical Direction and Commitment to Theater Paul Davis and Frank Verlizzo Inspired Art Work for Theatrical Productions Henry Cohen, Donald Rose and Robert Kimball Rescuing Classic Broadway Scores 1988 Actors' Equity 75 years of Championing the Professional Actor Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT) The Preservation of Our Theatrical Heritage Yale Repertory Theatre Nurturing Plays of Significance Michael Feinstein Celebrating American Musical Theater Songs 1989 Paul Gemignani Bernard Gersten Manhattan Theatre Club John A. McGlinn Gregory Mosher Jerome Robbins
1990s Year Recipient and Contribution 1990 The Fund for New American Plays Support of American Playwrights and Theaters Jule Styne A Lifetime of Glorious Theater Music Kevin Haney His Makeup for Tru and Other Shows 1991 Brooklyn Academy of Music Bringing International Productions to New York James McMullan Consistently Inspired Art Work for Theater New Dramatists Decades of Nurturing American Playwrights Harold Rome His Distinctive Contribution to Musical Theatre 1992 1993 Early Stages The Public Theater / New York Shakespeare Festival Puppetry at the Public Theater RCA Victor Records 1994 John A. Willis Fifty Years of Devotion to Theater and its Artists Janet Hayes Walker Twenty-Five Years at the York Theatre Company 1995 Eileen Atkins Otis Guernsey Jr. The Non-Traditional Casting Project Barrow Group Off-Off Broadway Excellence 1996 George C. Scott Lifetime Devotion to Theatre Repertorio Español Providing Spanish-Language Entertainment Signature Theatre Company The Concept of Annually Serving One Playwright Theatreworks USA Thirty-Five Years of Entertaining Children and Parents 1997 The Moscow Sovremennik Theatre Company Into the Whirlwind and Three Sisters 1998 Vineyard Theatre Quality Work and the New S.P.A.C.E. Program Arthur Miller Lifetime Achievement in the Theater 1999 Al Hirschfeld Lifetime Achievement Sony Classical Its Columbia Broadway Masterworks Series The Actors' Fund of America
2000s Year Recipient and Contribution 2000 Alexander H. Cohen (posthumously), Barnard Hughes and Helen Stenborg Lifetime Achievement 2001 Reba McEntire Her Performance in Annie Get Your Gun Seán Campion and Conleth Hill Their Performances in Stones in His Pockets 2002 Paul Huntley Lifetime Achievement Billy Rosenfield Preserving Musical Theatre Recordings Mint Theater Company Presenting and Preserving Little Known Classics Worth Street Theater Company Its Stage Door Canteen Shows at Ground Zero 2003 Brooklyn Academy of Music Bringing International Works to New York 2004 The Flea Theater Classical Theatre of Harlem Dakin Matthews Henry IV 2005 Keen Company Plays That Build Upon Our Theatrical Heritage The Public Theater / New York Shakespeare Festival Fifty Years of Exceptional Theater Contributions 2006 BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop Nurturing, Developing and Promoting New Talent for the Musical Theater York Theatre Company Its Vital Contributions to Theater by Developing and Presenting New Musicals Sh-K-Boom Records / Ghostlight Records Dedication to the Preservation of Musical Theater Through Cast Recordings 2007 John Kander and Fred Ebb Forty-Two Years of Excellence in Advancing the Art of the Musical Theatre Austin Pendleton A Renaissance Man of the American Theatre Transport Group Its Breadth of Vision and its Presentation of Challenging Productions Folksbiene (National Yiddish Theatre) Preserving for Ninety-Two Consecutive Seasons the Cultural Legacy of Yiddish theatre in America 2008 Edward Albee His Provocative Plays, Including This Season's Peter and Jerry, Which Enrich the American Theater James Earl Jones A Commanding Force on the Stage for Nearly Half a Century Playwrights Horizons Ongoing Support to Generations of Theater Artists and Undiminished Commitment to Producing New Work 59E59 Theaters Whose Imaginative Curatorial Vision Has Created a Stimulating Environment to Nurture a Diverse Range of Artists 2009 Liza Minnelli Her Enduring Career of Sustained Excellence, and Her Performance in Liza's at The Palace...! Atlantic Theater Company and artistic director Neil Pepe Exceptional Craftsmanship, Dedication to Excellence and Productions That Engage, Inspire and Enlighten TADA! Youth Theater Providing an Invaluable Contribution to the Future of the Theater. Forbidden Broadway Its Satire and Celebration of Broadway
2010s