Drama League Award for Outstanding Direction of a Musical

Drama League Award for Outstanding Direction of a Musical
Awarded for	Outstanding Direction of a Musical
Location	New York City
Country	United States
Presented by	Drama League
First award	2022
Currently held by	Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending (2025)
Website	dramaleague.org

The Drama League Award for Outstanding Direction of a Musical is a theater award presented annually since 2022 by The Drama League for the most outstanding director of a musical production of the theater season. ^[1]

Alex Timbers has received the most nominations in the category, with three, followed closely by Leigh Silverman, Lileana Blain-Cruz and Susan Stroman with two nominations each.

Winners and nominees

Key

  and bold indicates the winner.

2020s

Year	Director	Production	Ref.
2022	Marianne Elliott	Company	[2] [3]
	Michael Mayer	Funny Girl
	Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage	Six
	Leigh Silverman	Suffs
	Niegel Smith	The Hang
	Christopher Wheeldon	MJ the Musical
	Jerry Zaks	The Music Man
	Lee Sunday Evans	Oratorio for Living Things
	John Doyle	Assassins
2023	Lear deBessonet	Into the Woods	[4] [5]
	Bartlett Sher	Camelot
	Lileana Blain-Cruz	White Girl in Danger
		Dreaming Zenzile
	Thomas Kail	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
	Susan Stroman	New York, New York
	Casey Nicholaw	Some Like It Hot
	Jack O'Brien	Shucked
2024	Maria Friedman	Merrily We Roll Along	[6] [7]
	Alex Timbers	Gutenberg! The Musical!
		Here Lies Love
	Leigh Silverman	Suffs
	Des McAnuff	The Who's Tommy
	David Cromer	Dead Outlaw
	Sarah Benson	Teeth
	Saheem Ali	Buena Vista Social Club
	Rebecca Frecknall	Cabaret
2025	Michael Arden	Maybe Happy Ending	[8] [9] [10]
	Robert Hastie	Operation Mincemeat
	George C. Wolfe	Gypsy
	Sergio Trujillo	Real Women Have Curves
	Annie Tippe	Three Houses
	Alex Timbers	Just in Time
	Susan Stroman	Smash
	Jerry Mitchell	Boop! The Musical
	Jamie Lloyd	Sunset Boulevard
	Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch	Cats: The Jellicle Ball
	Christopher Gattelli	Death Becomes Her

Multiple nominations

3 nominations

• Alex Timbers

2 nominations

• Leigh Silverman
• Lileana Blain-Cruz
• Susan Stroman

References

1. "Award History". Drama League of New York . Retrieved February 17, 2024.
2. "Drama League Awards — 2022". About the Artists. Retrieved 2025-10-04.
3. "2022 Drama League Award Winners Announced". New York Theatre Guide. Retrieved 2025-10-05.
4. "Drama League Awards — 2023". About the Artists. Retrieved 2025-10-04.
5. "2023 Drama League Award Winners Announced". New York Theatre Guide. Retrieved 2025-10-05.
6. "Drama League Awards — 2024". About the Artists. Retrieved 2025-10-04.
7. "Sarah Paulson Wins Drama League Award; See the Full List of Winners". Playbill. Retrieved 2025-10-05.
8. "Drama League Awards — 2025". About the Artists. Retrieved 2025-10-04.
9. "2025 Drama League Awards Nominations Are Out; Read the Full List". Playbill. Retrieved 2025-10-05.
10. "Photos: 2025 Drama League Awards (Winners, Nicole Scherzinger, Sam Pinkleton & More)". Playbill. Retrieved 2025-10-05.