Photo Source: Joan Marcus
The Drama League honors distinguished productions, performances, and career achievements. First presented in 1922 and formalized in 1935, they are the oldest theatrical honors in America. The awards are chosen by theatergoers who are Drama League members.
Nominations were announced in five categories: Distinguished Production of a Play, Distinguished Revival of a Play, Distinguished Production of a Musical, Distinguished Revival of a Musical, and the Distinguished Performance Award. Drama League Award guidelines dictate that no production may be nominated in more than one category, although productions that have transferred from Off-Broadway to Broadway, or vice versa, in successive years are eligible to be nominated in both seasons. (So productions like "Clybourne Park," "Other Desert Cities," "Peter and the Starcatcher," and "Venus in Fur," which played Off-Broadway in earlier years, are up for honors.)
In the Distinguished Performance Award category, no production may be represented by more than two performers. Additionally, an actor may receive the Distinguished Performance Award just once in his or his lifetime; today’s nomination announcement ceremony began by acknowledging previous winners who appeared on Broadway or Off-Broadway stages this season.
In addition to the categories presented this morning, Special Recognition Awards were previously announced in three categories: The Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award will go to Alan Menken, who currently has three Broadway productions running (“Newsies,” “Leap of Faith,” and “Sister Act”); Diane Paulus, Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theatre (and director of current Broadway production “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess”), will receive The Founders Award for Excellence in Directing; and The Unique Contribution to the Theatre Award will be given to Rosie O’Donnell, in acknowledgement of her continuing efforts to promote live theater.
The 78th Annual Drama League Awards will be presented Friday, May 18th by Stockard Channing ("Other Desert Cities") and John Larroquette ("Gore Vidal’s The Best Man") at the Marriott Marquis Times Square. A complete list of the nominees appears below:
DISTINGUISHED PRODUCTION OF A PLAY
"Clybourne Park"
"The Columinst"
"The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures"
"The Lyons"
"One Man, Two Guvnors"
"Other Desert Cities"
"Peter and The Starcatcher"
"Tribes"
"Seminar"
"Septimus and Clarissa"
"Venus in Fur"
DISTINGUISHED REVIVAL OF A PLAY
"And God Created Great Whales"
"Death of a Salesman"
"Gore Vidal’s The Best Man"
"How I Learned To Drive"
"Look Back in Anger"
"The Maids"
"Wit"
DISTINGUISHED PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL
"Ghost"
"Leap of Faith"
"Mission Drift"
"Newsies"
"Nice Work If You Can Get It"
"Once"
"Queen of the Mist"
DISTINGUISHED REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
"Carrie"
"Follies"
"Evita"
"The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess"
"Jesus Christ Superstar"
DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE AWARD
One winner is selected from this category, for which the recipient can only receive the award once during his or her career.
Jane Alexander, "The Lady From Dubuque"
Nina Arianda, "Venus in Fur"
Annaleigh Ashford, "Rent"
Angela Bassett, "The Mountaintop"
Simon Russell Beale, "Bluebird"
Tracie Bennett, "End of the Rainbow"
Christian Borle, "Peter and the Starcatcher"
Matthew Broderick, "Nice Work If You Can Get It"
Kim Cattrall, "Private Lives"
Heather Christian, "Mission Drift"
James Corden, "One Man, Two Guvnors"
Michael Cristofer, "The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures"
Tyne Daly, "Master Class"
Jesse Eisenberg, "Asuncion"
Linda Emond, "The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures"
Raúl Esparza, "Leap of Faith"
Santino Fontana, "Sons of the Prophet"
Andrew Garfield, "Death of a Salesman"
Russell Harvard, "Tribes"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Death of a Salesman"
Samuel L. Jackson, "The Mountaintop"
Jeremy Jordan, "Newsies," "Bonnie and Clyde"
Steve Kazee, "Once"
Celia Keenan-Bolger, "Peter and the Starcatcher"
Christine Lahti, "Dreams of Flying, Dreams of Falling"
Angela Lansbury, "Gore Vidal's The Best Man"
John Larroquette, "Gore Vidal's The Best Man"
Linda Lavin, "The Lyons"
Norm Lewis, "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess"
Judith Light, "Other Desert Cities"
Ricky Martin, "Evita"
Jan Maxwell, "Follies"
Jefferson Mays, "Blood and Gifts"
Marin Mazzie, "Carrie"
Audra McDonald, "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess"
Ellen McLaughlin, "Septimus and Clarissa"
Cristin Milioti, "Once"
Jessie Mueller, "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever"
Carey Mulligan, "Through a Glass Darkly"
Cynthia Nixon, "Wit"
Leslie Odom, Jr., "Leap of Faith"
Kelli O'Hara, "Nice Work If You Can Get It"
Denis O'Hare, "An Iliad"
Lily Rabe, "Seminar"
Da'Vine Joy Randolph, "Ghost"
Molly Ranson, "Carrie"
Condola Rashad, "Stick Fly"
Matthew Rhys, "Look Back in Anger"
Alan Rickman, "Seminar"
Elena Roger, "Evita"
Jeremy Shamos, "Clybourne Park"
Kevin Spacey, "Richard III"
Stephen Spinella, "An Iliad"
Mary Testa, "Queen of the Mist"
Blair Underwood, "A Streetcar Named Desire"
Mary Louise Wilson, "4,000 Miles"
The Drama League wishes to recognize the superb contributions to the season of its previous distinguished performance award winners including:
Norbert Leo Butz, "How I Learned To Drive"
Zoe Caldwell, "Elective Affinities"
Kathleen Chalfant, "Painting Churches"
Stockard Channing, "Other Desert Cities"
Rosemary Harris, "The Road to Mecca"
Hugh Jackman, "Hugh Jackman: Back On Broadway"
Sir Derek Jacobi, "King Lear"
James Earl Jones, "Gore Vidal’s The Best Man"
Frank Langella, "Man and Boy"
John Lithgow, "The Columnist"
Patti LuPone, "An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin"
Bebe Neuwirth, "A Midsummer Night’s Dream"
Bernadette Peters, "Follies"
Sam Waterston, "King Lear"
DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSICAL THEATRE
Alan Menken
UNIQUE CONTRIBUTION TO THE THEATRE
Rosie O’Donnell
FOUNDERS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN DIRECTING
Diane Paulus