The Drama League (Jano Herbosch, President; Gabriel Shanks, Executive Director) is proud to announce the recipients of its 2010 Special Recognitions, to be presented along with its five competitive production and performance awards at The 76th Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon on Friday, May 21, 2010 (noon) in the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square (1535 Broadway).
Nathan Lane (currently starring on Broadway in The Addams Family) will receive the Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award, Kenny Leon (Fences) will be honored with the Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing, and Macy's Parade & Entertainment Group will receive the Unique Contribution to the Theatre Award.
Veteran Broadway director Jerry Zaks will be on-hand to present the award to Nathan Lane, Academy Award winner and Fences star Denzel Washington will present to Kenny Leon, and Broadway legend Betty Buckley will present to Macy's Parade & Entertainment Group.
As previously announced, The 76th Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon will be co-hosted by Vanessa Williams (Broadway's Sondheim on Sondheim) and her "Ugly Betty" co-star Michael Urie (Off-Broadway's The Temperamentals).
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 76th Annual Drama League Awards dais will feature approximately 60 stars from the 2009-10 Broadway and Off-Broadway season.
In addition to the Special Recognitions,The Drama League's 3,000+ members vote on five other annual awards: Distinguished Production of a Play, Distinguished Production of a Musical, Distinguished Revival of a Play, Distinguished Revival of a Musical and The Distinguished Performance Award. Nominations for these five awards will be announced live from Sardi's on Tuesday, April 20 at 11:00 a.m.
Tickets for The 76th Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon are now available by calling 212-244-9494 ext 5.
For more information, please visit
www.dramaleague.org.
Last season, Drama League Awards were presented to Geoffrey Rush (Distinguished Performance), God of Carnage (Distinguished Production of a Play), Billy Elliot (Distinguished Production of a Musical), Blithe Spirit (Distinguished Revival of a Play) and Hair (Distinguished Revival of a Musical).
The Drama League's first Distinguished Performance 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, Christine Ebersole, Liev Schreiber and Patti LuPone, among others.
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. 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.
Photo by Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.
