The 70th Annual Drama Desk Awards, honoring the 2025–26 New York City theater season, were announced on May 17, 2026, at The Town Hall—the historic venue's first return for the ceremony since the 2020 Broadway shutdown. The event celebrated excellence across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions without separating by venue tier, recognizing achievements in 32 competitive, non-gendered categories. Marla Mindelle hosted the star-studded evening, with presenters including past winners and nominees such as Raúl Esparza, BD Wong, and Constance Wu.

Ragtime emerged as the top winner, taking home five awards, including Outstanding Revival of a Musical, Outstanding Direction of a Musical (Lear deBessonet), and two wins in featured performance and choreography. Death of a Salesman followed closely with four wins, including Outstanding Revival of a Play and awards for scenic and lighting design. New musical Schmigadoon! won for Outstanding Musical, while The Balusters took Outstanding Play.

A major feature of this year’s awards was the gender-free structure in performance categories, resulting in two winners named in each lead and featured role. Special honors included Tom Schumacher receiving the Harold S. Prince Award and Richard Maltby Jr. and David Shire receiving the William Wolf Award. The ceremony also recognized unique theatrical experiences like Burnout Paradise and immersive production Masquerade.