Drama League Will Announce Nominations for Gratitude Awards Next Week; BEETLEJUICE's Alex Brightman & Leslie Kritzer Will Announce Artistic Nominations During Ceremony

The Drama League has just announced The Gratitude Awards Spring 2020, a one time only pre-recorded digital fundraiser, is set to air on Thursday, April 30 at 7:30pm EST. The Gratitude Awards is a large-scale kindness project designed to share the gift of gratitude from within the theater community, with NYC, and to all. The program will include vignettes from Friends of the Drama League, which is inclusive of Broadway's biggest stars, past Honorees and Award Nominees/Recipients. The Drama League is also proud to announce the special Honorees nominated before the COVID- 19 crisis, Marianne Elliott as the recipient of the Founders Award for Excellence in Directing, and Terrence McNally as the recipient of the Unique Contribution to Theater Award. Tom Kirdahy will accept on behalf of Mr. McNally and the program will be inclusive of an In Memoriam, presented by Jeff Kaufman & Marcia Ross (producers of Terrence McNally: Every Act of Life).

Nominations for The Gratitude Awards will be announced on The Drama League's Website, Vimeo, and Social Media Accounts on Thursday, April 23, 2020. The Gratitude Awards will be free to stream due to the generosity of our sponsors Iris Smith, Joe and Lauren Pizza / Sceneworks, Una Jackman / Talu Productions & Jay Alix / Lakeview Productions. All proceeds raised during the program will go towards The Ghost Light Campaign, with 25% of funds allocated to the Directors Emergency Relief Fund, a direct micro-grant program for stage directors who have lost work due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Nominations for The Drama League's 86th Annual Artistic Awards will be presented during The Gratitude Awards program by Beetlejuice's Alex Brightman & Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer. All shows that have premiered up until March 11, 2020 are eligible for nomination. The Artistic Award Nominations are sponsored by BroadwayHD. (The 86th Artistic Awards Nominations Event was originally to be held at Sardi's on April 16).

Follow @dramaleague & #GratitudeAwards #WeAreAllWinners on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for more updates as new digital programming and fundraising opportunities are released.