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Drama Desk Award
for Outstanding Lyrics
Drama Desk Award ; for Outstanding Lyrics
Awarded for	Outstanding Lyrics
Location	New York City
Country	United States
Presented by	Drama Desk
First awarded	1969
Currently held by	David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna for Dead Outlaw (2024)
Website	dramadesk.org (defunct)

The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics 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.

Stephen Sondheim holds the record for most wins and nominations for the award, with ten wins out of twelve nominations.

Winners and nominees

1960s

Year	Lyricist	Production
1969
	George Haimsohn & Robin Miller	Dames at Sea
	Fred Ebb	Zorba

1970s

Year	Lyricist	Production
1970
	Stephen Sondheim	*Company*
	Bertolt Brecht	Mahagonny
1971
1971	Stephen Sondheim	*Follies*
1972
1972	John Guare	*Two Gentlemen of Verona*
1973
1973	Stephen Sondheim	*A Little Night Music*
1974
1974	Al Carmines	The Faggot
1975
	Charlie Smalls	*The Wiz*
	Gene Curty, Nitra Scharfman & Chuck Strand	The Lieutenant
	Jerry Herman	Mack and Mabel
	Fred Silver	In Gay Company
1976
	Edward Kleban & Marvin Hamlisch	*A Chorus Line*
	Leonard Bernstein	1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
	Bill Heyer & Hank Beebe	Tuscaloosa's Calling Me
	Stephen Sondheim	Pacific Overtures
1977
	Martin Charnin	*Annie*
	Alfred Uhry	The Robber Bridegroom
1978
	Carol Hall	The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
	Elizabeth Swados	Runaways
1979
	Stephen Sondheim	*Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street*
	Gretchen Cryer	I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road

1980s

Year	Lyricist	Production
1980
	Tim Rice	*Evita*
	Steve Brown	Strider
1981	—
1982
	Stephen Sondheim	*Merrily We Roll Along*
	Maury Yeston	*Nine*
	Tom Eyen	Dreamgirls
	Jim Wann	Pump Boys and Dinettes
1983
	Howard Ashman	Little Shop of Horrors
	Michael Colby	Charlotte Sweet
	T.S. Eliot	Cats
	Des McAnuff	Death of Von Richthofen
1984
	Stephen Sondheim	*Sunday in the Park with George*
	Jerry Herman	La Cage aux Folles
	Richard Maltby Jr.	Baby
	Garry Trudeau	Doonesbury
1985
	Roger Miller	*Big River*
	Jerry Colker	3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down
	Ellen Fitzhugh	Grind
1986, 1987	—
1988
	Stephen Sondheim	*Into the Woods*
	Barry Harman	Romance/Romance
1989	—

1990s

Year	Lyricist	Production
1990
	David Zippel	*City of Angels*
	Richard Maltby Jr.	Closer Than Ever
	Chet Forrest, Bob Wright & Maury Yeston	Grand Hotel
1991
	William Finn	Falsettoland
	Marsha Norman	The Secret Garden
	Stephen Sondheim	Assassins
1992
	Susan Birkenhead	*Jelly's Last Jam*
	Erik Frandsen, Michael Garin, Robert Hipkins & Paul Lockheart	Song of Singapore
1993
	Joel Paley	Ruthless!
	Douglas Bernstein & Denis Markell	A Backer's Audition
	Arthur Perlman	Wings
	David Zippel	The Goodbye Girl
1994
	Stephen Sondheim	*Passion*
	Howard Ashman & Tim Rice	Beauty and the Beast
	Michael John LaChiusa	Hello Again
1995	—
1996
1996	Jonathan Larson	*Rent*
1997
	Gerard Alessandrini	Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back
	Brian Crawley	Violet
	Mark Waldrop	When Pigs Fly
1998
	Lynn Ahrens	*Ragtime*
	Stephen Trask	Hedwig and the Angry Inch
	Susan Birkenhead	Triumph of Love
1999
	Gerard Alessandrini	Forbidden Broadway Cleans Up Its Act
	Jason Robert Brown	Parade
	William Finn	A New Brain

2000s

Year	Lyricist	Production
2000
	Stephen Sondheim	Saturday Night
	Boyd Graham	The Big Bang
	Jordan Allen-Dutton, Jason Catalano & GQ	The Bomb-itty of Errors
	Andrew Lippa	The Wild Party
2001
	Mel Brooks	*The Producers*
	Kirsten Childs	The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin
	Mark Hollmann & Greg Kotis	Urinetown
	Ed Kleban	A Class Act
	Laurence O'Keefe	Bat Boy: The Musical
	David Yazbek	The Full Monty
2002
	Jason Robert Brown	The Last Five Years
	Craig Carnelia	Sweet Smell of Success
	Jonathan Larson	Tick, Tick... BOOM!
	Kevin Murphy	Reefer Madness
	Dick Scanlan	Thoroughly Modern Millie
	Ben Schatz	Dragapella Starring The Kinsey Sicks
2003
	Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman	*Hairspray*
	Tim Acito & Alexander Dinelaris	Zanna, Don't!
	Lynn Ahrens	A Man of No Importance
	Craig Carnelia	Imaginary Friends
	Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx	Avenue Q
	Jeremy Sams & Didier van Cauwelaert	Amour
2004
	Stephen Schwartz	*Wicked*
	Joanne Bogart	The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!)
	Boy George	Taboo
	Sean Hartley	Cupid and Psyche
	Joel Higgins	Johnny Guitar
2005
	Eric Idle	*Spamalot*
	Gary Adler & Michael Patrick Walker	Altar Boyz
	Douglas J. Cohen	Children's Letters to God
	Rick Crom	Newsical
	William Finn	The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
	David Yazbek	Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
2006
	Lisa Lambert & Greg Morrison	*The Drowsy Chaperone*
	Chad Beguelin	The Wedding Singer
	Mark Campbell	Songs from an Unmade Bed
	Ryan Cunningham	I Love You Because
	Michael Korie	Grey Gardens
	Michael John LaChiusa	See What I Wanna See
2007
	Steven Sater	*Spring Awakening*
	Fred Ebb, Rupert Holmes & John Kander	Curtains
	Lin-Manuel Miranda	In the Heights
	Nell Benjamin & Laurence O'Keefe	Legally Blonde
	Mark Eaton, Elaina Newport & William Strauss	Capitol Steps
	Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman	Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me
2008
	Stew	*Passing Strange*
	Lynn Ahrens	The Glorious Ones
	Mel Brooks	Young Frankenstein
	John Bucchino	A Catered Affair
	Ben Katchor	The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island
	Jason Loewith & Joshua Schmidt	Adding Machine
2009
	Stephen Sondheim	Road Show
	Neil Bartram	The Story of My Life
	Jason Robert Brown	13
	Marcy Heisler	Dear Edwina
	David Lindsay-Abaire	Shrek the Musical
	Dolly Parton	9 to 5

2010s

Year	Lyricist	Production
2010
	Fred Ebb & John Kander	*The Scottsboro Boys*
	Rick Crom	Newsical
	Kevin Del Aguila	Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type
	Adèle Anderson & Dillie Keane	Fascinating Aïda
	Andrew Lippa	The Addams Family
	David Zellnik	Yank!
2011
	Trey Parker, Robert Lopez & Matt Stone	*The Book of Mormon*
	Rick Crom	Newsical The Musical – Full Spin Ahead
	Jack Lechner	The Kid
	Adam Mathias	See Rock City & Other Destinations
	Glenn Slater	Sister Act
	Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman	Catch Me If You Can
2012
	Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová	Once
	Don Black	Bonnie & Clyde
	Jack Feldman	Newsies
	Joy Gregory & Gunnar Madsen	The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World
	Michael John LaChiusa	Queen of the Mist
	Maury Yeston	Death Takes a Holiday
2013
	Tim Minchin	*Matilda the Musical*
	Amanda Green	Hands on a Hardbody
	Green & Lin-Manuel Miranda	Bring It On: The Musical
	Michael John LaChiusa	Giant
	Dave Malloy	Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812
	Steve Rosen & David Rossmer	The Other Josh Cohen
2014
	Robert L. Freedman & Steven Lutvak	*A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder*
	Howard Ashman, Chad Beguelin & Tim Rice	Aladdin
	Jason Robert Brown	The Bridges of Madison County
	Michael Friedman	Love's Labour's Lost
	Michael Korie	Far from Heaven
	Lisa Kron	Fun Home
2015
	Lin-Manuel Miranda	*Hamilton*
	Jason Robert Brown	Honeymoon in Vegas
	Fred Ebb	The Visit
	Michael Friedman	The Fortress of Solitude
	Karey & Wayne Kirkpatrick	Something Rotten!
	Benjamin Scheuer	The Lion
2016
	Benj Pasek & Justin Paul	*Dear Evan Hansen*
	Sara Bareilles	Waitress
	Glenn Slater	School of Rock
	Michael John LaChiusa	First Daughter Suite
2017
	David Yazbek	*The Band's Visit*
	Gerard Alessandrini	Spamilton
	GQ & JAQ	Othello: The Remix
	Michael Korie	War Paint
	David Hein & Irene Sankoff	Come from Away
2018
	Peter Kellogg	*Desperate Measures*
	Nell Benjamin	Mean Girls
	Quiara Alegría Hudes & Erin McKeown	Miss You Like Hell
	Helen Park & Max Vernon	KPOP
2019
	David Yazbek	*Tootsie*
	Chad Beguelin	The Prom
	Andrew R. Butler	Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future
	Joe Iconis	Be More Chill
	Peter Mills	The Hello Girls

2020s

Year	Lyricist	Production
2020
	Michael R. Jackson	A Strange Loop
	Susan Birkenhead	The Secret Life of Bees
	Adam Gwon	Scotland, PA
	Joanne Sydney Lessner & Joshua Rosenblum	Einstein's Dreams
	Dave Malloy	Octet
	Mark Saltzman	Romeo & Bernadette
2021	No awards: New York theatres shuttered, March 2020 to September 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City^[1]
2022
	Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss	Six
	Amanda Green	Mr. Saturday Night
	Taylor Mac	The Hang
	David Lindsay-Abaire	Kimberly Akimbo
	Lynn Nottage	Intimate Apparel
	Shaina Taub	Suffs
2023
	Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman	Some Like It Hot
	Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally	Shucked
	Jonathan Hogue	Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical
	Michael R. Jackson	White Girl in Danger
	Adam Schlesinger and Sarah Silverman	The Bedwetter
2024^[2]
	David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna	Dead Outlaw
	Rachel Bloom, Eli Bolin, and Jack Dolgen	Rachel Bloom: Death, Let Me Do My Show
	Jason Robert Brown	The Connector
	Michael R. Jackson	Teeth
	Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance) and Justin Levine	The Outsiders

Multiple wins

10 wins

Stephen Sondheim

2 wins

Multiple nominations

12 nominations

Stephen Sondheim

5 nominations

4 nominations

3 nominations

2 nominations

References

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

[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.

[1]

[2]

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics