David Alvarez & Haydn Gwynne (AP)

The joyous story of a coal miner's son who dreams to dance was the big winner at the Drama Desk Awards, picking up 10 prizes including best musical. The show previously had collected top musical awards from the New York Drama Critics' Circle, the Drama League and the Outer Critics Circle.

E-mail This Article to a Friend
Print This Article
Tell Us What You Think

ADVERTISEMENT

All that's left for a "Billy Elliot" clean sweep is the Tony for best musical. Those awards will be handed out June 7.

On Sunday, "Billy Elliot" also received Drama Desk prizes for its composer, Elton John; book writer, Lee Hall; director, Stephen Daldry; and choreographer, Peter Darling, as well as for two of its featured performers, Haydn Gwynne and Gregory Jbara. Its other prizes were for orchestrations, lighting-musical and sound.

Meanwhile, Lynn Nottage's "Ruined," set against the backdrop of an African civil war, was named best play by the Drama Desk, an organization of theater journalists.

Geoffrey Rush, who portrays a dying monarch in "Exit the King," was named best actor-play, while Janet McTeer, who plays the doomed title character in "Mary Stuart," was picked as best actress.

The top musical acting prizes went to Allison Janney, a sardonic secretary in "9 to 5," and Brian d'Arcy James who plays the smelly green ogre in "Shrek," which also won for set and costume design.

"Hair" picked up the musical-revival award, while the play-revival prize was taken by "The Norman Conquests," whose director Matthew Warchus took the director-play crown.

Other featured acting prizes went to Angela Lansbury for Noel Coward's "Blithe Spirit," and Pablo Schreiber, who won for his performance last summer in the off-Broadway production of Neil LaBute's "reasons to be pretty."

Stephen Sondheim received the best lyricist prize for his work on the musical "Road Show," which played at the Public Theater off-Broadway.

The Drama Desk, which was founded in 1949, honors both Broadway and off-Broadway productions.

The awards show took place at the F.H. LaGuardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center.