Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Puppet Design

The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Puppetry 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 award was first presented at the 1998 ceremony, as the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Puppet Design,^[1] then suspended from use until the 2017 ceremony. The current name was introduced as of the 2023 ceremony.

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Puppet Design
Awarded for	Outstanding Puppet Design
Location	New York City
Country	United States
Presented by	Drama Desk
First awarded	1998
Currently held by	Ray Wetmore, JR Goodman, and Camille Labarre for Water for Elephants (2024)
Website	dramadesk.org (defunct)

Unlike some Drama Desk Awards, the award for Outstanding Puppetry combines plays and musicals into a single category.

Winners and nominees

1990s

Year	Designer	Production
1998[1]	Julie Taymor and Michael Curry	The Lion King
	The Big Nazo Studio	Jackie: An American Life
	Bruce Schwartz	Ballad of Yachiyo
	Basil Twist	Tell-Tale

2010s

Year	Designer	Production
2017[2]	Basil Twist	Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
	Lyndie Wright and Sarah Wright	946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips
2018[3]
	Michael Curry	Frozen
	Finn Caldwell and Nick Barnes	Angels in America
	Charlie Kanev, Sarah Nolan, and Jonathan Levin	A Hunger Artist
	Vandy Wood	The Artificial Jungle
2019[4]
	Sonny Tilders	King Kong
	Michael Curry	Beetlejuice
	Tschabalala Self	Daddy

2020s

Year	Designer	Production
2020[5]	Raphael Mishler	Tumacho
	Rockefeller Productions	Paddington Gets in a Jam
	Amanda Villalobos	Is This a Room
2021	No awards: New York theatres shuttered, March 2020 to September 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City[6]
2022[7][8]
	James Ortiz	The Skin of Our Teeth
	Amanda Villalobos	Wolf Play
	Rockefeller Productions	Winnie the Pooh
2023
	Nick Barnes & Finn Caldwell	Life of Pi
	John Leader	Wuthering Heights
	James Ortiz (design), Kennedy Kanagawa (as Milky White)	Into the Woods
	Kirjan Waage	The Immortal Jellyfish Girl
2024
	Ray Wetmore, JR Goodman, and Camille Labarre	Water for Elephants
	Matt Acheson	Hotel Happy
	Adrian Kohler & Handspring Puppet Company	Life & Times of Michael K
	David Valentine	Poor Yella Rednecks

References

1. Gans, Andrew; Lefkowitz, David; Viagas, Robert (May 18, 1998). "Ragtime, Beauty Queen Win Drama Desk Awards". Playbill. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
2. Rosky, Nicole (June 4, 2017). "62nd Annual Drama Desk Awards, Full List of 2017 Winners!". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
3. Lefkowitz, Andy (June 3, 2018). "SpongeBob SquarePants & More Win 2018 Drama Desk Awards". Broadway.com. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
4. Fierberg, Ruthie (June 2, 2019). "Tootsie, Hadestown, and The Ferryman Lead 2019 Drama Desk Award Winners". Playbill. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
5. Meyer, Dan (June 13, 2020). "A Strange Loop, The Inheritance, Moulin Rouge! Win Big at 2020 Drama Desk Awards". Playbill. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
6. 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.
7. Gans, Andrew (May 16, 2022). "Six, Kimberly Akimbo Lead 2022 Drama Desk Award Nominations; See the Full List". Playbill. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
8. Culwell-Block, Logan (June 8, 2022). "Clyde's, Company, SIX: The Musical Lead 2022 Drama Desk Awards; See the Full List of Winners". Playbill. Retrieved July 30, 2022.