53rd Annual Drama Desk Awards winners were announced on Sun 18 May 2008 at an award ceremony hosted by Broadway-bound cast of '[title of show]' at FH LaGuardia Concert Hall at the Lincoln Center.

The Lincoln Center Theatre's production of 'South Pacific,' currently playing an open run at the Vivian Beaumont, was the most honored production of the evening, winning a total of five awards, including Outstanding Revival of a Musical.

'Passing Strange' was named Outstanding Musical, and won a total of three awards, while Tracy Letts, 'August: Osage County' was named Outstanding Play, and also won a total of three wards.

Boeing Boeing was awarded Outstanding Revival of a Play, and its star British actor Mark Rylance, in his Broadway debut, was named Outstanding Actor in a Play.

A Catered Affair, which led the way in the nominations - having been nominated in 12 categories - walked away empty handed, as did Adding MAchine which received a total of nine nominations.

The following awards, announced in April 2008, were presented by the Drama Desk at the awards ceremony:

Outstanding Ensemble Performances:
The Dining Room
The Homecoming

Special Awards:

Each year, the Drama Desk votes special awards to recognize excellence and significant contributions to the theater. For 2006/2007, these awards are presented:

• Edward Albee "whose provocative plays, including this season's 'Peter and Jerry,' enrich the American theater."
• James Earl Jones, a "commanding force on the stage for nearly half a century."
• 59E59 Theaters, whose "imaginative curatorial vision has created a stimulating environment to nurture a diverse range of artists."
• Playwrights Horizons for "ongoing support to generations of theater artists and undiminished commitment to producing new work."

The2008 Drama Desk Award winners and nominations are listed below: ***Winners are indicated in bold font.

Outstanding Play:

• Intimate Exchanges: by Alan Ayckbourn
• Horizon: by Rinde Eckert
• From Up Here: by Liz Flahive
• Dividing the Estate: by Horton Foote
• August: Osage County: by Tracy Letts
• Rock ’n’ Roll: by Tom Stoppard

Outstanding Musical:

• A Catered Affair
• Adding Machine
• Passing Strange
• The Glorious Ones
• The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island
• Xanadu

Outstanding Revival of a Play:

• Boeing-Boeing
• Happy Days
• Macbeth
• The Country Girl
• The Dining Room
• The Return of the Prodigal

Outstanding Revival of a Musical:

• Black Nativity
• Gypsy
• South Pacific
• Sunday in the Park with George
• Take Me Along

Outstanding Revue:

• Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening
• Fugitive Songs
• Make Me a Song

Outstanding Actor in a Play:

• Bill Champion: Intimate Exchanges
• Kevin Kline: Cyrano de Bergerac
• Bill Pullman: Peter and Jerry
• Mark Rylance: Boeing-Boeing
• Tobias Segal: From Up Here
• Rufus Sewell: Rock 'n' Roll

Outstanding Actress in a Play:

• Sinead Cusack: Rock 'n' Roll
• Deanna Dunagan: August: Osage County
• Frances McDormand: The Country Girl
• Amy Morton: August: Osage County
• Fiona Shaw: Happy Days
• Julie White: From Up Here

Outstanding Actor in a Musical:

• Daniel Breaker: Passing Strange
• André De Shields: Black Nativity
• Daniel Evans: Sunday in the Park with George
• Cheyenne Jackson: Xanadu
• Matthew Morrison: 10 Million Miles
• Paulo Szot: South Pacific

Outstanding Actress in a Musical:

• Sierra Boggess: The Little Mermaid
• Patti LuPone: Gypsy
• Kelli O’Hara: South Pacific
• Faith Prince: A Catered Affair
• Alice Ripley: Next to Normal
• Jenna Russell: Sunday in the Park with George

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play:

• John Cullum: The Conscientious Objector
• Conleth Hill: The Seafarer
• Francis Jue: Yellow Face
• Arian Moayed: Masked
• Jeff Perry: August: Osage County
• Michael T. Weiss: Scarcity

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play:

• Elizabeth Ashley: Dividing the Estate
• Johanna Day: Peter and Jerry
• Zoe Kazan: 100 Saints You Should Know
• Linda Lavin: The New Century
• Rondi Reed: August: Osage County
• Marisa Tomei: Top Girls

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical:

• Danny Burstein: South Pacific
• Christopher Fitzgerald: Young Frankenstein
• Boyd Gaines: Gypsy
• Shuler Hensley: Young Frankenstein
• Bobby Steggert: The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island
• Tom Wopat: A Catered Affair

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical:

• Laura Benanti: Gypsy
• Leslie Kritzer: A Catered Affair
• Andrea Martin: Young Frankenstein
• Mary Testa: Xanadu
• Amy Warren: Adding Machine
• Mare Winningham: 10 Million Miles

Outstanding Director of a Play:

• David Schweizer: Horizon
• Anna D. Shapiro: August: Osage County
• Leigh Silverman: From Up Here
• Jonathan Silverstein: The Dining Room
• Matthew Warchus: Boeing-Boeing
• Deborah Warner: Happy Days

Outstanding Director of a Musical:

• Christopher Ashley: Xanadu
• Sam Buntrock: Sunday in the Park with George
• David Cromer: Adding Machine
• John Doyle: A Catered Affair
• Bob McGrath: The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island
• Bartlett Sher: South Pacific

Outstanding Choreography:

• Karole Armitage: Passing Strange
• Rob Ashford: Cry-Baby The Musical
• Shana Carroll and Gypsy Snider: Traces
• Dan Knechtges: Xanadu
• Peter Pucci: Queens Boulevard (the musical)
• Susan Stroman: Young Frankenstein

Outstanding Music:

• John Bucchino: A Catered Affair
• Stephen Flaherty: The Glorious Ones
• Tom Kitt: Next to Normal
• Mark Mulcahy: The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island
• Joshua Schmidt: Adding Machine
• Stew and Heidi Rodewald: Passing Strange

Outstanding Lyrics:

• Lynn Ahrens: The Glorious Ones
• Mel Brooks: Young Frankenstein
• John Bucchino: A Catered Affair
• Ben Katchor: The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island
• Jason Loewith and Joshua Schmidt: Adding Machine
• Stew: Passing Strange

Outstanding Book of a Musical:

• Douglas Carter Beane: Xanadu
• Harvey Fierstein: A Catered Affair
• Ben Katchor: The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island
• Jason Loewith and Joshua Schmidt: Adding Machine
• Stew: Passing Strange
• Eric H. Weinberger: Wanda's World

Outstanding Orchestrations:

• Doug Besterman: Young Frankenstein
• Jason Carr: Sunday in the Park with George
• Michael Starobin: The Glorious Ones
• Stew and Heidi Rodewald: Passing Strange
• Jonathan Tunick: A Catered Affair
• Tim Weil: 10 Million Miles

Outstanding Set Design of a Play:

• Beowulf Boritt: Spain
• Scott Bradley: Eurydice
• David Korins: Hunting and Gathering
• Santo Loquasto: Trumpery
• Scott Pask: Les Liaisons Dangereuses
• Clint Ramos: The Return of the Prodigal

Outstanding Set Design of a Musical:

• David Gallo: A Catered Affair
• Takeshi Kata: Adding Machine
• Derek McLane: 10 Million Miles
• George Tsypin: The Little Mermaid
• Robin Wagner: Young Frankenstein
• Michael Yeargan: South Pacific

Outstanding Costume Design:

• Mara Blumenfeld: The Glorious Ones
• Michael Bottari and Ronald Case, Jessica Jahn: Die Mommie Die!
• Ann Hould-Ward: A Catered Affair
• Ana Kuzmanic: August: Osage County
• Katrina Lindsay: Les Liaisons Dangereuses
• William Ivey Long: Young Frankenstein

Outstanding Lighting Design:

• Kevin Adams: The 39 Steps
• Ken Billington: Sunday in the Park with George
• Maruti Evans: Slaughterhouse-Five
• Donald Holder: South Pacific
• Natasha Katz: The Little Mermaid
• Keith Parham: Adding Machine

Outstanding Sound Design:

• Adam Cork: Macbeth
• Jorge Cousineau: Opus
• Joseph Fosco: The Conversation
• Scott Lehrer: South Pacific
• Mic Pool: The 39 Steps
• Tony Smolenski IV: Adding Machine

Outstanding Solo Performance:

• Kris Andersson: Dixie's Tupperware Party
• Laurence Fishburne: Thurgood
• Stephen Lang: Beyond Glory
• April Yvette Thompson: Liberty City

Outstanding Projection and Video Design:

• Paul Barritt: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
• Timothy Bird and The Knifedge Creative Network: Sunday in the Park with George
• Zachary Borovay: A Catered Affair
• Jim Findlay and Jeff Sugg: The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island
• Lorna Heavey: Macbeth
• Tal Yarden: The Misanthrope

Unique Theatrical Experience:

• Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
• Cut to the Chase
• Fabrik – The Legend of M. Rabinowitz
• The 39 Steps
• Traces

The Drama Desk was founded in 1949 to explore key issues in the theater and to bring together critics and writers in an organization to support the ongoing development of theater in New York. The organization began presenting its awards in 1955, and it is the only critics’ organization to honor achievement in the theater with competition between Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions.

The 2008 Drama Desk nominators included chairperson Barbara Siegel (chairperson,) Dan Bacalzo, Robert Cashill, Celia Ipiotis, Gerard Raymond and Richard Ridge.