# Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical

The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in theatre across collective Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. The awards were established in 1955, with the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director being presented each year to a director from any play or musical production. Starting in 1975, the singular director's award was replaced by separate play and musical categories.

## Winners and nominees
### 1970s

| Year | Director | Production |
| 1975 |
| 1975 | Arthur Laurents | Gypsy |
| 1975 | Geoffrey Holder | The Wiz |
| 1975 | Sue Lawless | In Gay Company |
| 1975 | William Martin | The Lieutenant |
| 1975 | Joel Zwick | Dance with Me |
| 1976 |
| 1976 | Michael Bennett | A Chorus Line |
| 1976 | Jerry Adler | My Fair Lady |
| 1976 | Richard Foreman | The Threepenny Opera |
| 1976 | Gerald Freedman | The Robber Bridegroom |
| 1976 | Harold Prince | Pacific Overtures |
| 1977 |
| 1977 | Martin Charnin | Annie |
| 1977 | Gerald Freedman | The Robber Bridegroom |
| 1977 | Jack O'Brien | Porgy and Bess |
| 1977 | Gene Saks | I Love My Wife |
| 1977 | Tommy Tune | The Club |
| 1978 |
| 1978 | Peter Masterson and Tommy Tune | The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas |
| 1978 | Stephen Schwartz | Working |
| 1978 | Elizabeth Swados | Runaways |
| 1979 |
| 1979 | Harold Prince | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street |
| 1979 | Michael Bennett | Ballroom |

### 1980s

| Year | Director | Production |
| 1980 |
| 1980 | Harold Prince | Evita |
| 1980 | Walton Jones | 1940's Radio Hour |
| 1980 | Joe Layton | Barnum |
| 1980 | Gary Pearle | Tintypes |
| 1981 |
| 1981 | Wilford Leach | The Pirates of Penzance |
| 1981 | Arthur Faria | Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music |
| 1982 |
| 1982 | Tommy Tune | Nine |
| 1982 | Michael Bennett | Dreamgirls |
| 1982 | Tony Tanner | Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat |
| 1983 |
| 1983 | George Abbott | On Your Toes |
| 1983 | Howard Ashman | Little Shop of Horrors |
| 1984 |
| 1984 | James Lapine | Sunday in the Park with George |
| 1984 | A.J. Antoon | The Rink |
| 1984 | Jacques Levy | Doonesbury |
| 1985 | — | — |
| 1986 |
| 1986 | Wilford Leach | The Mystery of Edwin Drood |
| 1986 | Andre Ernotte | Goblin Market |
| 1986 | Bob Fosse | Big Deal |
| 1986 | Bob Fosse | Sweet Charity |
| 1986 | Paul Lazarus | Personals |
| 1987 |
| 1987 | Mike Ockrent | Me and My Girl |
| 1987 | Barry Harman | Olympus on My Mind |
| 1988 |
| 1988 | Harold Prince | The Phantom of the Opera |
| 1988 | James Lapine | Into the Woods |
| 1988 | Harold Prince | Cabaret |
| 1988 | Jerry Zaks | Anything Goes |
| 1989 | — | — |

### 1990s

| Year | Director | Production |
| 1990 |
| 1990 | Tommy Tune | Grand Hotel |
| 1990 | Michael Blakemore | City of Angels |
| 1990 | James Hammerstein | The Sound of Music |
| 1991 |
| 1991 | Scott Ellis | And the World Goes 'Round |
| 1991 | Scott Ellis | A Little Night Music |
| 1991 | Lisa Peterson | The Waves |
| 1991 | Susan H. Schulman | The Secret Garden |
| 1991 | Jerry Zaks | Assassins |
| 1992 |
| 1992 | Jerry Zaks | Guys and Dolls |
| 1992 | Gerald Gutierrez | The Most Happy Fella |
| 1992 | Mike Ockrent | Crazy for You |
| 1992 | George C. Wolfe | Jelly's Last Jam |
| 1993 |
| 1993 | Des McAnuff | The Who's Tommy |
| 1993 | Michael Leeds | Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh |
| 1993 | Michael Maggio | Wings |
| 1993 | Joel Paley | Ruthless! |
| 1994 |
| 1994 | Nicholas Hytner | Carousel |
| 1994 | Graciela Daniele | Hello Again |
| 1994 | Scott Ellis | She Loves Me |
| 1994 | Andre Gilbert Ernotte | Christina Alberta's Father |
| 1994 | James Lapine | Passion |
| 1995 |
| 1995 | Harold Prince | Show Boat |
| 1995 | Christopher Ashley | Das Barbecü |
| 1995 | Michael Mayer | America Dreaming |
| 1995 | Trevor Nunn | Sunset Boulevard |
| 1996 |
| 1996 | Christopher Renshaw | The King and I |
| 1996 | Graciela Daniele | Chronicle of a Death Foretold |
| 1996 | Andre Gilbert Ernotte | Bed and Sofa |
| 1996 | Michael Greif | Rent |
| 1996 | Tina Landau | Floyd Collins |
| 1996 | George C. Wolfe | Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk |
| 1997 |
| 1997 | Walter Bobbie | Chicago |
| 1997 | Michael Blakemore | The Life |
| 1997 | Scott Ellis | Steel Pier |
| 1997 | Susan H. Schulman | Violet |
| 1997 | Mark Waldrop | Howard Crabtree's When Pigs Fly |
| 1998 |
| 1998 | Julie Taymor | The Lion King |
| 1998 | Scott Ellis | 1776 |
| 1998 | Frank Galati | Ragtime |
| 1998 | Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall | Cabaret |
| 1999 |
| 1999 | Matthew Bourne | Swan Lake |
| 1999 | Graciela Daniele | A New Brain |
| 1999 | Richard Maltby, Jr. and Ann Reinking | Fosse |
| 1999 | Michael Mayer | You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown |
| 1999 | Harold Prince | Parade |

### 2000s

| Year | Director | Production |
| 2000 |
| 2000 | Michael Blakemore | Kiss Me, Kate |
| 2000 | Gabriel Barre | The Wild Party |
| 2000 | Susan Stroman | Contact |
| 2000 | Susan Stroman | The Music Man |
| 2001 |
| 2001 | Susan Stroman | The Producers |
| 2001 | Christopher Ashley | The Rocky Horror Show |
| 2001 | Wilfredo Medina | The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin |
| 2001 | Jack O'Brien | The Full Monty |
| 2001 | John Rando | Urinetown |
| 2001 | Scott Schwartz | Bat Boy: The Musical |
| 2002 |
| 2002 | Michael Mayer | Thoroughly Modern Millie |
| 2002 | Nicholas Hytner | Sweet Smell of Success |
| 2002 | James Lapine | Into the Woods |
| 2002 | Trevor Nunn | Oklahoma! |
| 2002 | Scott Schwartz | Tick, Tick... Boom! |
| 2002 | George C. Wolfe | Elaine Stritch: At Liberty |
| 2003 |
| 2003 | Jack O'Brien | Hairspray |
| 2003 | James Lapine | Amour |
| 2003 | David Leveaux | Nine |
| 2003 | Baz Luhrmann | La bohème |
| 2003 | Joe Mantello | A Man of No Importance |
| 2003 | Twyla Tharp | Movin' Out |
| 2004 |
| 2004 | Joe Mantello | Wicked |
| 2004 | Jeff Calhoun | Big River |
| 2004 | Pamela Hunt | The Musical of Musicals: The Musical |
| 2004 | Joe Mantello | Assassins |
| 2004 | Kathleen Marshall | Wonderful Town |
| 2004 | George C. Wolfe | Caroline, or Change |
| 2005 |
| 2005 | James Lapine | The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee |
| 2005 | Matthew Bourne | Play Without Words |
| 2005 | Jack Cummings III | The Audience |
| 2005 | Mark Dornford-May | The Mysteries |
| 2005 | Mike Nichols | Spamalot |
| 2005 | Bartlett Sher | The Light in the Piazza |
| 2006 |
| 2006 | John Doyle | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street |
| 2006 | Michael Greif | Grey Gardens |
| 2006 | Daniel Finzi Pasca | Rain |
| 2006 | Des McAnuff | Jersey Boys |
| 2006 | Casey Nicholaw | The Drowsy Chaperone |
| 2006 | Kathleen Marshall | The Pajama Game |
| 2007 |
| 2007 | Michael Mayer | Spring Awakening |
| 2007 | John Doyle | Company |
| 2007 | Thomas Kail | In the Heights |
| 2007 | Jerry Mitchell | Legally Blonde |
| 2007 | Harold Prince | LoveMusik |
| 2007 | Alex Timbers | Gutenberg! The Musical! |
| 2008 |
| 2008 | Bartlett Sher | South Pacific |
| 2008 | Christopher Ashley | Xanadu |
| 2008 | Sam Buntrock | Sunday in the Park with George |
| 2008 | David Cromer | Adding Machine |
| 2008 | John Doyle | A Catered Affair |
| 2008 | Bob McGrath | The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island |
| 2009 |
| 2009 | Stephen Daldry | Billy Elliot the Musical |
| 2009 | Walter Bobbie | Irving Berlin's White Christmas |
| 2009 | Joe Mantello | 9 to 5 |
| 2009 | Jason Moore | Shrek the Musical |
| 2009 | Diane Paulus | Hair |
| 2009 | Stuart Ross | Enter Laughing the Musical |

### 2010s

| Year | Director | Production |
| 2010 |
| 2010 | Michael Mayer | American Idiot |
| 2010 | Warren Carlyle | Finian's Rainbow |
| 2010 | Marcia Milgrom Dodge | Ragtime |
| 2010 | Igor Goldin | Yank! |
| 2010 | Terry Johnson | La Cage aux Folles |
| 2010 | Susan Stroman | The Scottsboro Boys |
| 2011 |
| 2011 | Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker | The Book of Mormon |
| 2011 | Rob Ashford | How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying |
| 2011 | Joe Calarco | In Transit |
| 2011 | Jack Cummings III | Hello Again |
| 2011 | Jack Cummings III | See Rock City & Other Destinations |
| 2011 | Kathleen Marshall | Anything Goes |
| 2012 |
| 2012 | John Tiffany | Once |
| 2012 | Christopher Ashley | Leap of Faith |
| 2012 | Jack Cummings III | Queen of the Mist |
| 2012 | Doug Hughes | Death Takes a Holiday |
| 2012 | Kathleen Marshall | Nice Work If You Can Get It |
| 2012 | Eric Schaeffer | Follies |
| 2013 |
| 2013 | Diane Paulus | Pippin |
| 2013 | Andy Blankenbuehler | Bring It On: The Musical |
| 2013 | Rachel Chavkin | Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 |
| 2013 | John Doyle | Passion |
| 2013 | Emma Rice | The Wild Bride |
| 2013 | Alex Timbers | Here Lies Love |
| 2013 | Matthew Warchus | Matilda the Musical |
| 2014 |
| 2014 | Darko Tresnjak | A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder |
| 2014 | Sam Gold | Fun Home |
| 2014 | Michael Mayer | Hedwig and the Angry Inch |
| 2014 | Bartlett Sher | The Bridges of Madison County |
| 2014 | Susan Stroman | Bullets Over Broadway The Musical |
| 2014 | Alex Timbers | Rocky the Musical |
| 2015 |
| 2015 | Thomas Kail | Hamilton |
| 2015 | Carolyn Cantor | Fly By Night |
| 2015 | Bill Condon | Side Show |
| 2015 | John Doyle | The Visit |
| 2015 | Casey Nicholaw | Something Rotten! |
| 2015 | Christopher Wheeldon | An American in Paris |
| 2016 |
| 2016 | John Doyle | The Color Purple |
| 2016 | Bartlett Sher | Fiddler on the Roof |
| 2016 | Michael Arden | Spring Awakening |
| 2016 | Rupert Goold | American Psycho |
| 2016 | Bryna Wasserman and Motl Didner | The Golden Bride |
| 2017 |
| 2017 | Rachel Chavkin | Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 |
| 2017 | David Cromer | The Band's Visit |
| 2017 | Christopher Ashley | Come from Away |
| 2017 | Bill Buckhurst | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street |
| 2017 | Jerry Zaks | Hello, Dolly! |
| 2018 |
| 2018 | Tina Landau | SpongeBob SquarePants |
| 2018 | Christian Barry | Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story |
| 2018 | Teddy Bergman | KPOP |
| 2018 | Jack O'Brien | Carousel |
| 2018 | Bartlett Sher | My Fair Lady |
| 2019 |
| 2019 | Rachel Chavkin | Hadestown |
| 2019 | Noah Brody | Merrily We Roll Along |
| 2019 | Scott Ellis | Tootsie |
| 2019 | Daniel Fish | Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! |
| 2019 | Joel Grey | Fiddler on the Roof |

### 2020s

| Year | Director | Production |
| 2020 |
| 2020 | Stephen Brackett | A Strange Loop |
| 2020 | Thomas Kail | The Wrong Man |
| 2020 | Kathleen Marshall | The Unsinkable Molly Brown |
| 2020 | Leigh Silverman | Soft Power |
| 2020 | Annie Tippe | Octet |
| 2021 | No awards: New York theatres shuttered, March 2020 to September 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City | No awards: New York theatres shuttered, March 2020 to September 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City |
| 2022 |
| 2022 | Marianne Elliott | Company |
| 2022 | John Doyle | Assassins |
| 2022 | Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage | Six |
| 2022 | Bartlett Sher | Intimate Apparel |
| 2022 | Jessica Stone | Kimberly Akimbo |
| 2023 |
| 2023 | Thomas Kail | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street |
| 2023 | Jeff Calhoun | Between the Lines |
| 2023 | John Doyle | A Man of No Importance |
| 2023 | Maria Friedman | Merrily We Roll Along |
| 2023 | Jack O'Brien | Shucked |
| 2024 |
| 2024 | Jessica Stone | Water for Elephants |
| 2024 | David Cromer | Dead Outlaw |
| 2024 | Rebecca Frecknall | Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club |
| 2024 | Daisy Prince | The Connector |
| 2024 | Danya Taymor | The Outsiders |