2007-08 Drama League Award Nominations Announced

The Drama League (Jano Herbosch, President; Roger T. Danforth and Gabriel Shanks, Co-Managing Directors) proudly announces nominations for the 2007-08 Drama League Awards, to be awarded at 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).  The event will be hosted by Harvey Fierstein (A Catered Affair).

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

DISTINGUISHED PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL (8)
· The 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.

The 74th Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheonis 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.

ABOUT THE DRAMA LEAGUE

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 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