2008-2009 75th Annual Drama League Nominations Announced

The Drama League (Jano Herbosch, President; Gabriel Shanks, Executive Director) proudly announces nominations for the 2008-09 Drama League Awards, to be awarded at The 75th Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon on Friday, May 15, 2009 (noon) in the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square (1535 Broadway at 46th Street). The event will be co-hosted by Jeremy Irons (Impressionism) and Cynthia Nixon (Distracted).

This year's nominees for The Drama League's four major production award categories are as follows:

DISTINGUISHED PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL (10)
- 9 to 5: The Musical - Music and Lyrics by Dolly Parton; Book by Patricia Resnick (Marquis Theatre)
- Billy Elliot: The Musical - Music by Elton John; Book and Lyrics by Lee Hall (Imperial Theatre)
- Fela! - Music by Fela Kuti; Book by Bill T. Jones and Jim Lewis (37 Arts)
- Liza's at the Palace... - Music and Lyrics by Various Artists (Palace Theatre)
- The Marvelous Wonderettes - Music by Various Artists; Book by Roger Bean (Westside Theatre)
- Road Show - Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; Book by John Weidman (The Public Theater)
- Rock of Ages - Music by Various Artists; Book by Chris D'Arienzo (Brooks Atkinson Theatre)
- Shrek The Musical - Music by Jeanine Tesori; Book and Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire (Broadway Theatre)
- The Toxic Avenger - Music and Lyrics by David Bryan; Book and Lyrics by Joe DiPietro (New World Stages)
- This Beautiful City - Music, Lyrics by Michael Friedman; Book by Steven Cosson and Jim Lewis (Vineyard Theatre)

DISTINGUISHED PRODUCTION OF A PLAY (11)
- 33 Variations - by Moises Kaufman (Eugene O'Neill Theatre)
- Black Watch - by Gregory Burke (St. Ann's Warehouse)
- Chair - by Edward Bond (Theatre For A New Audience)
- God of Carnage - by Yasmina Reza (BernardB.JacobsTheatre)
- If You See Something, Say Something - by Mike Daisey (The Public Theater)
- Lady - by Craig Wright (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater)
- reasons to be pretty - by Neil LaBute (Lyceum Theatre)
- Ruined - by Lynn Nottage (Manhattan Theatre Club)
- Shipwrecked! An Entertainment: The Amazing Adventures of Louis de
Rougemont (As Told by Himself) - by Donald Margulies (Primary Stages)
- Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them - by Christopher Durang
(The Public Theater)
- Wig Out! - by Tarell Alvin McCraney (Vineyard Theatre)

DISTINGUISHED REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL (6)
- Enter Laughing - Music by Stan Daniels, Book by Joseph Stein (York Theatre Company)
- Garden of Earthly Delights - Music by Richard Peaslee (MinettaLaneTheatre)
- Guys and Dolls - Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser; Book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows (Nederlander Theatre)
- Hair - Music by Galt MacDermot; Book, Lyrics by Gerome Ragni, James Rado (Al Hirschfeld Theatre)
- Pal Joey - Music by Richard Rodgers; Lyrics by Lorenz Hart; Book by John O'Hara (Roundabout Theatre at Studio 54)
- West Side Story - Music by Leonard Bernstein; Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; Book by Arthur Laurents (Palace Theatre)

DISTINGUISHED REVIVAL OF A PLAY (12)
- Blithe Spirit - by Noel Coward (Shubert Theatre)
- The Cripple of Inishmaan - by Martin McDonagh (Atlantic Theater Company)
- Desire Under the Elms - by Eugene O'Neill (St.JamesTheatre)
- Mabou Mines Dollhouse - Adapted from Henrik Ibsen (St. Ann's Warehouse)
- Exit the King - by Eugene Ionesco (Ethel Barrymore Theatre)
- Joe Turner's Come and Gone - by August Wilson (Belasco Theatre)
- Mary Stuart - by Friedrich Schiller (Broadhurst Theatre)
- The Norman Conquests - by Alan Ayckbourn (Circle in the Square Theatre)
- Our Town - by Thornton Wilder (Barrow Street Theatre)
- The Seagull - by Anton Chekhov (Walter Kerr Theatre)
- Speed-the-Plow - by David Mamet (Ethel Barrymore Theatre)
- Uncle Vanya - by Anton Chekhov (Classic Stage Company)

The Broadway transfers of [title of show], Dividing The Estate and Next To Normal were previously considered for Drama League Awards during their Off-Broadway engagements, and are thus ineligible this season.

The Drama League also pays tribute to the season's best performers by including the nominees of The Distinguished Performance Award on a dais. This season's dais includes the following performers, one of whom will be honored with the Distinguished Performance Award at the awards ceremony on Friday, May 15:

Jane Alexander - Chasing Manet
David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, Kiril Kulish - Billy Elliot
Kahlil Ashanti - Basic Training
James Barbour - A Tale of Two Cities
David Wilson Barnes - Becky Shaw
Simon Russell Beale - The Cherry Orchard
Annika Boras - An Oresteia
Christian Camargo - Hamlet
Bobby Cannavale - The Gingerbread House
Matt Cavenaugh - West Side Story
Julia Coffey - The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd
Lynn Cohen - Chasing Manet
Chad Coleman - Joe Turner's Come and Gone
Gavin Creel - Hair
David Cromer - Our Town
Joshua Cruz - Wig Out!
Mike Daisey - If You See Something, Say Something
Saidah Arrika Ekulona - Ruined
* Ensemble - Black Watch
Raúl Esparza - Speed-the-Plow
Rupert Everett - Blithe Spirit
Tovah Feldshuh - Irena's Vow
Jane Fonda - 33 Variations
Sutton Foster - Shrek The Musical
James Gandolfini - God of Carnage
Alexander Gemignani - Road Show
John Glover - Waiting for Godot
Lauren Graham - Guys and Dolls
Nathan Lee Graham - Wig Out!
Josh Grisetti - Enter Laughing
Carla Gugino - Desire Under the Elms
Marcia Gay Harden - God of Carnage
Megan Hilty - 9 to 5: The Musical
Danny Hoch - Taking Over
Marin Ireland - reasons to be pretty
Bill Irwin - Waiting for Godot
Dana Ivey - The Savannah Disputation
Allison Janney - 9 to 5: The Musical
Angela Lansbury - Blithe Spirit
Constantine Maroulis - Rock of Ages
Elizabeth Marvel - Fifty Words
Janet McTeer - Mary Stuart
Ben Miles - The Norman Conquests
Liza Minnelli - Liza's at the Palace...
Maude Mitchell - Mabou Mines Dollhouse
Bruce Myers - The Grand Inquisitor
Sahr Ngaujah - Fela!
Kristine Nielsen - Why Torture Is Wrong...
Cynthia Nixon - Distracted
Denis O'Hare - Uncle Vanya
Karen Olivo - West Side Story
Nancy Opel - The Toxic Avenger
David Pearse - The Cripple of Inishmaan
David Hyde Pierce - Accent on Youth
Martha Plimpton - Pal Joey
Daniel Radcliffe - Equus
Heather Raffo - Palace of the End
Roger Robinson - Joe Turner's Come and Gone
Geoffrey Rush - Exit the King
Thomas Sadoski - reasons to be pretty
Susan Sarandon - Exit the King
Campbell Scott - The Atheist
Christopher Sieber - Shrek The Musical
Michael Stuhlbarg - Hamlet
Will Swenson - Hair
Kristin Scott Thomas - The Seagull
John Douglas Thompson - Othello
Harriet Walter - Mary Stuart
Patrick Wilson - All My Sons

(* The producers of Black Watch may, at their discretion, designate one or two cast members to appear on the dais on behalf of the full acting ensemble.)

In addition, nine past recipients of the Distinguished Performance Award will be honored on this dais for their work this season. However, because an individual can only receive the Distinguished Performance Award once in his/her lifetime, they are ineligible for award consideration this year.
Those past honorees include:

Norbert Leo Butz - Fifty Words
Stockard Channing - Pal Joey
Christine Ebersole - Blithe Spirit
Rosemary Harris - Oscar and the Pink Lady
Frank Langella - A Man for All Seasons
John Lithgow - All My Sons
Mary-Louise Parker - Hedda Gabler
Stephen Rea - Kicking a Dead Horse
Sam Waterston - Hamlet

Earlier this spring, The Drama League announced the recipients of its annual special recognitions: Elton John will receive the Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award, Arthur Laurents will be honored with the Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing and Angela Lansbury will receive the Unique Contribution to the Theatre Award. In addition, Broadway porducer Herb Blodgett will receive The Drama League's 75th Anniversary Leadership Award.

Tickets for The 75th Annual Drama League Awards are now available. Individual tickets are $150-$450. Tables of ten range from $1,750 to $4,250.

Special $75 "Celebration Tickets": In honor of the 75th Anniversary of The Drama League Awards, for the first time ever, mezzanine seating will be available for $75 per person. The "Celebration Ticket" price includes an open beer, wine and soda bar (lunch is not included).

For more information, please call The Drama League at 212-244-9494 ext. 5 or
visit www.dramaleague.org.

Last season, Drama League Awards were presented to Patti LuPone (Distinguished Performance), August: Osage County (Distinguished Production of a Play), A Catered Affair (Distinguished Production of a Musical), Macbeth (Distinguished Revival of a Play) and South Pacific (Distinguished Revival of a Musical).

The first Drama League Award was presented to actress Katharine Cornell in 1935, making it the oldest national theatre honor, predating the Tony Awards by twelve years.

In recent years, the Distinguished Performance Award has been accorded to a roster of theatre legends such as Rosemary Harris, Christopher Plummer, Sir Ian McKellen, Bernadette Peters, James Earl Jones, John Lithgow, Stockard Channing, Glenn Close, Bebe Neuwirth, Cherry Jones, Mary-Louise Parker, Liam Neeson, Harvey Fierstein, Norbert Leo Butz, Christine Ebersole and Liev
Schreiber, among others.

The Drama Leaguewas founded in 1916 as an association of theatre professionals and patrons dedicated to encouraging the finest in professional theatre, and has since developed into the theatre's premiere service organization.

The Drama League provides an unparalleled training program for emerging theatre artists through The Directors Project, which encourages and trains young talents while providing much-needed exposure and essential connections to the professional theatrical community.

The Drama League's Audience Project is dedicated to building strong, passionate audiences for the American theatre, providing discounted tickets for its members to the best Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional productions across the United States while enhancing the theatergoer's understanding and experience of live theatre through its informative panels, luncheons and
discussions with leading figures in the field.