71st Annual Drama League Awards Announced for Friday May 13, 2005

The Drama League is proud to announce that the 71st Annual Drama League Awards luncheon and ceremony will be held on Friday, May 13, 2005 beginning at Noon in the Broadway Ballroom of The Marriott Marquis Hotel (1535 Broadway - between 45th and 46th Streets). The ceremony will be hosted by Cherry Jones, a previous recipient of The Drama League's Distinguished Performance Award. The Distinguished Performance Award, first presented in 1935, predates the Tony Awards by twelve years and is the only award chosen by theatergoers themselves. The Drama League Awards also honor distinguished productions both on and Off-Broadway, as well as exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing. The cut-off date for this year's nominations is Wednesday, April 13th. Nominations will be announced the week of April 18th.

Long considered the theatre season's most festive award ceremony, The Drama League Awards pays tribute to the season's best performers by including the nominees of The Distinguished Performance Award on a dais. The 71st Annual Drama League Awards will feature 50 stars from the 2004-2005 Broadway and off-Broadway season, including co-chairs Lea Delaria, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Sutton Foster, John Lithgow, Frances Sternhagen and Leslie Uggams.

The Drama League's 3000 members vote on four other awards in addition to The Distinguished Performance Award: Distinguished Production of a Play, Distinguished Production of a Musical, Distinguished Revival of a Play and Distinguished Revival of a Musical. In addition, The Drama League also presents awards for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theatre, Unique Contribution to the Theatre and the Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing.

The first Drama League Award was presented to actress Katharine Cornell in 1935. Since then, the Distinguished Performance Award has been accorded to a roster of theatre legends such as Helen Hayes, Ingrid Bergman, Julie Harris, Jessica Tandy, Sir Alec Guinness, Sir John Gielgud, Rosemary Harris, Christopher Plummer, Frances Sternhagen, Sir Ian McKellen, Jeremy Irons, Bernadette Peters, James Earl Jones, John Lithgow, Stockard Channing, Glenn Close, Bebe Neuwirth, Mary Louise Parker, Liam Neeson, and Harvey Fierstein, among others.

Last season, Drama League Awards were given to Hugh Jackman (Distinguished Performance), I Am My Own Wife (Distinguished Production of a Play), Wicked (Distinguished Production of a Musical), Henry IV (Distinguished Revival of a Play), Assassins (Distinguished Revival of a Musical), Donna Murphy (Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre), City Center Encores! (Unique Contribution to the Theatre) and George C. Wolfe (The Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing).

The Drama League was founded in 1916 as an association of theatre professionals and patrons dedicated to encouraging the finest in professional theatre and has since then 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 is also dedicated to building strong, passionate audiences for the American theatre and provides 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.