LuPone, Ebersole and More To Present Drama League Awards

 The Drama League (Jano Herbosch, President; Roger T. Danforth and Gabriel Shanks, Executive Directors) proudly announces the roster of presenters scheduled to appear for the The 74th Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon on Friday, May 16, 2008 (noon) at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square (1535 Broadway at 46th Street).
 
Christine Ebersole, who was honored with The Drama League's Distinguished Performance Award in 2006, will present this year's award. In addition, Patti LuPone (Gypsy) will present the award for Distinguished Production of a Musical and Christine Baranski (Boeing, Boeing) will present the award for Distinguished Production of a Play.
 
Sierra Boggess (The Little Mermaid) and James Snyder (Cry-Baby) will present the award for Distinguished Revival of a Musical and Charles Busch (Die Mommie Die!) will present the award for Distinguished Revival of a Play.
 
For The Drama League's three annual specialty awards, producer Roger Berlind will present the award for Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre, former BAM Executive Director Harvey Lichtenstein will present the award for Unique Contribution to the Theatre and Lincoln Center Theatre Artistic Director Andre Bishop will present the Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing.

 As previously announced, this year's nominees for The Drama League's four major production award categories are as follows:

 

DISTINGUISHED PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL (8)

· Adding Machine - Book by Jason Loewith, Book and Music by Joshua Schmidt (Minetta Lane Theatre)

· A Catered Affair - Book by Harvey Fierstein, Music and Lyrics by John Bucchino (Walter Kerr Theatre)

· Cry-Baby - Book by Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell, Lyrics by David Javerbaum, Music by Adam Schlesinger (Marquis Theatre)

· Next To Normal - Music by Tom Kitt, Book and Lyrics by Brian Yorkey (Second Stage Theatre)

· Passing Strange - Book and Lyrics by Stew, Music by Stew and Heidi Rodewald, Created in collaboration with Annie Dorsen (The Public Theater/Belasco Theatre)

· The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island - Libretto by Ben Katchor, Music by Mark Mulcahy (Vineyard Theatre)

· Xanadu - Book by Douglas Carter Beane, Music and Lyrics by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar (Helen Hayes Theatre)

· Young Frankenstein - Book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan, Music and Lyrics by Mel Brooks (Hilton Theatre)

 

DISTINGUISHED PRODUCTION OF A PLAY (8)

· August: Osage County - By Tracy Letts (Imperial Theatre/Music Box Theatre)

· Eurydice - By Sarah Ruhl (Second Stage Theatre)

· The Farnsworth Invention - By Aaron Sorkin (Music Box Theatre)

· November - By David Mamet (Ethel Barrymore Theatre)

· Rock 'n' Roll - By Tom Stoppard (Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre)

· The Seafarer - By Conor McPherson (Booth Theatre)

· The 39 Steps -Adapted by Patrick Barlow, Based on a concept by Simon Corble, Nobby Dimon and the novel by John Buchan (Roundabout Theatre Company/Cort Theatre)
· Thurgood - By George Stevens Jr. (Booth Theatre)

 

DISTINGUISHED REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL (5)

· Black Nativity - Written by Langston Hughes, Adapted by Alfred Preisser (Classical Theatre of Harlem/The Duke on 42nd Street)

· Gypsy - Book by Arthur Laurents, Music by Jule Styne, Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim (St. James Theatre)

· Seussical - Book by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, Music by Stephen Flaherty, Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens (Theatreworks USA/Lucille Lortel Theatre)

· South Pacific - Book by Joshua Logan and Oscar Hammerstein II, Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II (Lincoln Center Theatre)

· Sunday in the Park with George - Book by James Lapine, Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim (Roundabout Theatre Company/Studio 54)

 

DISTINGUISHED REVIVAL OF A PLAY (8)

· Boeing-Boeing - Written by Marc Camoletti (Longacre Theatre)

· A Bronx Tale - Written by Chazz Palminteri (Walter Kerr Theatre)

· Gaslight - Written by PatRick Hamilton (Irish Repertory Theatre)

· Les Liaisons Dangereuses - Written by Christopher Hampton, From the novel by Choderlos de Laclos (Roundabout Theatre Company/American Airlines Theatre)

· Macbeth - Written by William Shakespeare (Brooklyn Academy Of Music/Lyceum Theatre)

· The Misanthrope - Written by Molière(New York Theatre Workshop)

· The Ritz - Written by Terrence McNally (Roundabout Theatre Company/Studio 54)

· Romeo and Juliet - Written by William Shakespeare (The Public Theatre/New York Shakespeare Festival/Delacorte Theatre)

 

In The Heights was previously nominated for Drama League Awards during its Off-Broadway run in 2007, and is thus ineligible this season. The Broadway production of Glory Days will be considered next season. The cut-off date for this season's Drama League Awards was Sunday, April 20, 2008.

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 70-member dais includes the following performers, one of whom will be honored with the Distinguished Performance Award at the awards ceremony on Friday, May 16:

 

Lauren Ambrose               Romeo and Juliet

Hank Azaria                     The Farnsworth Invention

Roger Bart                       Young Frankenstein

Christine Baranski            Boeing-Boeing

Laura Benanti                  Gypsy

Sierra Boggess                 The Little Mermaid

Daniel Breaker                 Passing Strange

Ellen Burstyn                   The Little Flower of East Orange

Charles Busch                  Die Mommie Die!

Kerry Butler                     Xanadu

Bill Camp                         The Misanthrope

Bobby Cannavale             Mauritius

Margaret Colin                 Old Acquaintance

Ben Daniels                     Les Liaisons Dangereuses

Andre De Shields              Black Nativity

Peter Dinklage                 Things We Want

Deanna Dunagan              August: Osage County

Daniel Evans                    Sunday in the Park with George

Jesse Tyler Ferguson        A Midsummer Night's Dream

Laurence Fishburne          Thurgood

Sutton Foster                   Young Frankenstein

Elizabeth Franz                The Piano Teacher

Morgan Freeman              The Country Girl

Peter Gallagher                The Country Girl

David Greenspan              The Beebo Brinker Chronicles

Harriet Harris                   Old Acquaintance, Cry-Baby

Jayne Houdyshell             The Receptionist, The New Century

Terrence Howard              Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Cheyenne Jackson           Xanadu

Brian d'Arcy James           Next To Normal

Francis Jue                      Yellow Face

Kevin Kline                       Cyrano de Bergerac

Nathan Lane                    November

Angela Lansbury              Deuce

Hoon Lee                         Yellow Face

Laura Linney                    Les Liaisons Dangereuses

Patti LuPone                    Gypsy

Elizabeth Marvel              Top Girls

Alli Mauzey                      Cry-Baby

Jefferson Mays                 Pygmalion

Frances McDormand         The Country Girl

S. Epatha Merkerson         Come Back, Little Sheba

David Morse                     The Seafarer

Amy Morton                     August: Osage County

Jim Norton                       The Seafarer

Chazz Palminteri              A Bronx Tale

Rosie Perez                      The Ritz

Martha Plimpton               A Midsummer's Night Dream, Cymbeline, Top Girls

Faith Prince                     A Catered Affair

Bill Pullman                      Peter and Jerry

Dallas Roberts                  Peter and Jerry

Anika Noni Rose               Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Mark Rylance                   Boeing-Boeing

Jenna Russell                   Sunday in the Park with George

Tobias Segal                    From Up Here

Marian Seldes                  Deuce

Jeanine Serralles              The Black Eyed, The Misanthrope

Rufus Sewell                    Rock 'n' Roll

Jimmi Simpson                 The Farnsworth Invention

Lois Smith                       100 Saints You Should Know

James Snyder                  Cry-Baby

David Staller                    Gaslight

Bobby Steggert                The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island

Stew                               Passing Strange

Patrick Stewart                Macbeth

Paulo Szot                       South Pacific

Julie White                       From Up Here

Dianne Wiest                    The Seagull

Mare Winningham            10 Million Miles

Tom Wopat                      A Catered Affair

In addition, seven 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              Is He Dead?

Kathleen Chalfant             A Hard Heart, Dead Man's Cell Phone, Vita and Virginia

Harvey Fierstein              A Catered Affair

James Earl Jones             Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

John Lithgow                   Stories By Heart

Ian McKellen                    King Lear

Mary-Louise Parker          Dead Man's Cell Phone

Earlier this spring,The Drama League announced the recipients of its three annual specialty awards: Paul Gemignani will receive the Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award, Bartlett Sher will be honored with the Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing, and Ellen Stewart / La Mama E.T.C. will receive the Unique Contribution to the Theatre Award.

Hosted by Harvey Fierstein (A Catered Affair), The 74th Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon is co-chaired by Broadway luminaries Bobby Cannavale (Mauritius), Laurence Fishburne (Thurgood), Peter Gallagher (The Country Girl), Terrence Howard (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Cheyenne Jackson (Xanadu),  Laura Linney (Les Liaisons Dangereuses) S. Epatha Merkerson (Come Back, Little Sheba), Rosie Perez (The Ritz), Martha Plimpton (Cymbeline) and Patrick Stewart (Macbeth).

Tickets for The 74th Annual Drama League Awards are now available.  Individual tickets are $150-$475. Tables of ten range from $1,500 to $4,750. 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 Liev Schreiber (Distinguished Performance), The Coast of Utopia (Distinguished Production of a Play), Spring Awakening  (Distinguished Production of a Musical), Journey's End  (Distinguished Revival of a Play) and Company (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 and Christine Ebersole, 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.

www.DramaLeague.org