Drama League Awards Nominations Announced

The Drama League has announced nominations for the 2006-07 Drama League Awards, to be awarded at the 73rd Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon on Friday, May 11, 2007 (noon) at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square (1535 Broadway at 46th Street).  The event will be hosted by Gary Beach ("Les Misérables").

Tickets for the 73rd Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon are now available by calling 212-244-9494 ext. 5.  This year's nominees for The Drama League's four major production award categories are as follows:

DISTINGUISHED PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL (7)
 "Curtains"
 "In the Heights"
 "Kiki & Herb: Alive on Broadway"
 "Legally Blonde"
 "Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me"
 "Mary Poppins"
 "Spring Awakening"

DISTINGUISHED PRODUCTION OF A PLAY (8)
 "Blackbird"
 "Coram Boy"
 "Frost/Nixon"
 "No Child"
 "Radio Golf"
 "The Coast of Utopia"
 "The Scene"
 "The Year of Magical Thinking"

DISTINGUISHED REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL (5)
 "110 in the Shade"
 "A Chorus Line"
 "Company"
 "Les Misérables"
 "The Fantasticks"

DISTINGUISHED REVIVAL OF A PLAY (8)
 "Inherit the Wind"
 "Journey's End"
 "Mother Courage and Her Children"
 "Seven Guitars"
 "Talk Radio"
 "The Hairy Ape"
 "The Merchant of Venice"
 "Translations"

The Broadway transfers of "Grey Gardens" and "The Little Dog Laughed" were previously nominated for Drama League Awards during their earlier Off-Broadway runs in 2006, and are thus ineligible this season. The production of "Deuce" has removed itself from consideration for this year's awards, and will be considered next season. The cut-off date for this season's Drama League Awards was Sunday, April 22.

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 78-member dais includes the following performers, one of whom will be honored with the Distinguished Performance Award at the awards ceremony on Friday, May 11:

F. Murray Abraham -- "The Jew of Malta," "The Merchant of Venice"
Heidi Armbruster -- "Tea and Sympathy"
Christine Baranski -- "Regrets Only"
Gary Beach -- "Les Misérables"
Daniel Beaty -- "Emergence-See!"
Eve Best -- "A Moon for the Misbegotten"
Stephanie J. Block -- "The Pirate Queen"
Justin Bond -- "Kiki & Herb: Alive on Broadway"
Christian Borle -- "Legally Blonde"
Ashley Brown -- "Mary Poppins"
Laura Bell Bundy -- "Legally Blonde"
Kate Burton -- "The Water's Edge"
Michael Cerveris -- "King Lear," "LoveMusik"
Kristin Chenoweth -- "The Apple Tree"
Anthony Chisholm -- "Radio Golf"
Jill Clayburgh -- "The Clean House," "The Busy World Is Hushed"
Jennifer Cody -- "Henry and Mudge"
Billy Crudup -- "The Coast of Utopia"
Michael Cumpsty -- "Richard II"
Charlotte D'Amboise -- "A Chorus Line"
Hugh Dancy -- "Journey's End"
Jeff Daniels -- "Blackbird"
Brian Dennehy -- "Inherit the Wind"
Gregory Derelian -- "The Hairy Ape"
*Ensemble -- "Columbinus"
*Ensemble -- "Coram Boy"
Raúl Esparza -- "Company"
Gerald Finnigan -- "The Hairy Ape"
John Fugelsang -- "All the Wrong Reasons"
Boyd Gaines -- "Journey's End"
John Gallagher Jr. -- "Spring Awakening"
Alexander Gemignani -- "Les Misérables"
Piper Goodeve -- "Anne of Green Gables"
Logan Marshall-Green -- "King Lear," "Pig Farm"
David Greenspan -- "Some Men"
George Grizzard -- "Regrets Only"
Jonathan Groff -- "Spring Awakening"
Ed Harris -- "Wrecks"
Ethan Hawke -- "The Coast of Utopia"
Phillip Seymour Hoffman -- "Jack Goes Boating"
Jayne Houdyshell -- "The Pain and the Itch"
Stephen Kunken -- "A Very Common Procedure," "Frost/Nixon"
Nathan Lane -- "Butley"
Gavin Lee -- "Mary Poppins"
Harry Lennix -- "Radio Golf"
Norm Lewis -- "Les Misérables"
Hamish Linklater -- "The Busy World Is Hushed"
John Mahoney -- "Prelude to a Kiss"
Dylan McDermott -- "The Treatment"
Audra McDonald -- "110 in the Shade"
Lin-Manuel Miranda -- "In the Heights"
Alfred Molina -- "Howard Katz"
Debra Monk -- "Curtains"
Kate Mulgrew -- "Our Leading Lady"
Donna Murphy -- "LoveMusik"
Kristine Nielsen -- "Our Leading Lady"
Bill Nighy -- "The Vertical Hour"
Brian F. O'Byrne -- "Shining City," "The Coast of Utopia"
Denis O'Hare -- "Inherit the Wind," "A Spanish Play"
Sandra Oh -- "Satellites"
Thaddeus Phillips -- "El Conquistador!"
David Hyde Pierce -- "Curtains"
Allison Pill -- "Blackbird"
Oliver Platt -- "Shining City"
Michelle Ragusa -- "Adrift in Macao"
Vanessa Redgrave -- "The Year of Magical Thinking"
Liev Schreiber -- "Macbeth," "Talk Radio"
Pablo Schreiber -- "Dying City"
Andrew Scott -- "The Vertical Hour"
Michael Sheen -- "Frost/Nixon"
Martin Short -- "Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me"
Meryl Streep -- "Mother Courage and Her Children"
Michael Stuhlbarg -- "The Voysey Inheritance"
Nilaja Sun -- "No Child"
Alan Tudyk -- "Prelude to a Kiss"
Barbara Walsh -- "Company"

The ensemble casts of "Columbinus" and "Coram Boy" will be honored collectively on the dais. The producers of each of these shows may appoint one or two cast members to appear on the dais on behalf of the show's entire ensemble.

In addition, five 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:

Zoe Caldwell -- "A Spanish Play"
Kathleen Chalfant -- "Great Expectations," "Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell"
Christine Ebersole -- "Grey Gardens"
Frank Langella -- "Frost/Nixon"
Christopher Plummer -- "Inherit the Wind"

Earlier this month, The Drama League announced the recipients of its three annual specialty awards: John Kander and Fred Ebb (posthumously) will receive the Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award, Michael Mayer ("Spring Awakening") will be honored with the Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing, and the not-for-profit charity organization Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS will receive the Unique Contribution to the Theatre Award.

The 73rd Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon is co-chaired by Michael Cerveris ("LoveMusik"), Billy Crudup ("The Coast of Utopia"), Ethan Hawke ("The Coast of Utopia"), Audra McDonald ("110 in the Shade"), Brian F. O'Byrne ("The Coast of Utopia") and David Hyde Pierce ("Curtains").  Theater luminaries Bernadette Peters, Chita Rivera, Christine Ebersole, Tony Kushner, Liev Schreiber, Audra Mcdonald, Ashley Brown and Jonathan Groff are among the confirmed presenters at this year's awards ceremony.

Tickets for the 73rd Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon are $150-$450 and are now available by calling 212-244-9494 ext. 5. For more information, please visit www.dramaleague.org.

Photo of Stephanie J. Block by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.