Seattle’s Own “Indie Queer Musical” Lizard Boy Receives 3 Drama Desk Award Nominations

It’s a big day for Justin Huertas and the creative team of the locally created “indie queer musical” LIZARD BOY which made its world premiere at the Seattle Rep back in 2015. The indie rock musical was originally written as a solo piece with book, lyrics and music all by Huertas who played Trevor, a young gay man with lizard scales as skin who goes on a blind date with a boy he met on Grinder and discovers he has superpowers AND a mysterious woman stalking him…it’s a very modern kind of musical that’s a little bit X-Men/Spiderman and a little bit Spring Awakening and very, very queer.

Since 2015, the show has had several productions including its long awaited off Broadway New York premiere last summer with the Prospect Theatre Company with its original cast of Justin Huertas, William A. Williams as Cary, and Kirsten deLohr Helland as the mysterious Siren and with direction by Brandon Ivie. Well, today, that production was honored with three Drama Desk Award nominations including one for Best Musical, and individual nominations for Huertas for Best Music, and Best Book of a Musical.

Not surprisingly, Huertas and the creative team are a tad bit excited about these nominations:

Justin Huertas is in some prestigious company for his personal nominations:

Outstanding Music

• Jason Robert Brown, The Connector, MCC Theater
• Justin Huertas, Lizard Boy, Prospect Theater Company
• Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay & Zach Chance) and Justin Levine, The Outsiders
• Shaina Taub, Suffs
• David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna, Dead Outlaw

Outstanding Book of a Musical

• Justin Huertas, Lizard Boy, Prospect Theater Company
• Michael R. Jackson, Teeth, Playwrights Horizons
• Michael John LaChiusa, The Gardens of Anuncia, Lincoln Center Theater
• Rebekah Greer Melocik, How to Dance in Ohio
• Itamar Moses, Dead Outlaw

The winners for the 2024 will be announced at a ceremony to be held on Monday, June 10 at The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in New York. The Drama Desk Awards are the only major NYC theater award where productions from Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway compete against each other.

As for Mr. Huertas and Lizard Boy, you’ll have a local-ish opportunity to check out the musical this year when all three original cast members and director Brandon Ivie head to Ashland Oregon for a 4 month run of the show at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Opening on June 11th and running until October 12th, you’ll have a whole summer and half of fall to check out this terrific show. Get tickets at: https://www.osfashland.org/productions/2024-plays/lizard-boy

And, congratulations to Justin and the entire Lizard Boy team for their Drama Desk nominations!