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The Drama League to Honor Bill Berloni and Michael Greif and 83rd Annual Awards Ceremony Set for 5/19
By: A.A. Cristi Mar. 09, 2017
The Drama League (Executive Artistic Director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks) will honor two outstanding stage luminaries at this year's 83RD Annual Drama League Awards, set for Friday afternoon, May 19, 2017 at the Marriott Marquis Times Square (1535 Broadway).
The 2017 recipients are: Bill Berloni will receive the Unique Contribution to the Theater Award; Tony® Award-nominee Michael Greif, represented this season on Broadway by Dear Evan Hansen and War Paint, will receive The Founders Award for Excellence in Directing. A third honoree for Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater will be announced shortly.
These Special Recognition Honors are in addition to the five competitive categories. The 2017 Drama League Nominees for Outstanding Play, Outstanding Revival of a Play, Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Revival of a Musical, and the much-coveted Distinguished Performance Award will be announced on Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at Sardi's (234 West 44thStreet), and will be streamed live via BroadwayWorld.com. The Nominee Announcement will be hosted by Resolution Life, the proud Lead Season Sponsor of The Drama League and supporter of the arts.
The 83rd Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon includes a nominees cocktail reception, luncheon, and awards presentation and will be held at the Marriott Marquis Times Square in the Broadway Ballroom (1535 Broadway) on Friday, May 19, 2017 beginning at 11:30 a.m.
Resolution Life is the proud Lead Season Sponsor of The Drama League. MAC Cosmetics is the Official Makeup Partner of The Drama League. The Drama League Awards Chairpersons are Bonnie Comley and Jano Herbosch.
First awarded in 1922 and formalized in 1935, The Drama League Awards are the oldest theatrical honors in America. The Drama League Awards recognize distinguished productions, performances, and exemplary career achievements. The first Drama League Award was presented to Katharine Cornell in 1935; since then, the Distinguished Performance Award has been accorded to a roster of theatre legends such as Lin-Manuel Miranda, Chita Rivera, Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Lane, Audra McDonald, Liam Neeson, Hugh Jackman, Patti LuPone, Glenn Close, Liev Schreiber, Sir John Gielgud, Harvey Fierstein, Cherry Jones, Alec Guinness, James Earl Jones, Helen Hayes, Jeremy Irons, Mary-Louise Parker, Sir Ian McKellen, Bernadette Peters, and Christopher Plummer.
For more information about the Drama League Awards, please call (212) 244-9494 or visit www.dramaleague.org.
Bill Berloni (Unique Contribution to the Theater Award). Animal Director and Trainer. 2011 Tony® Honoree for Excellence in Theatre and 2014 Outer Critics Circle award for Special Achievement. Broadway: The Crucible; The Audience with Dame Helen Mirren; Living on Love; Bullets Over Broadway; Lady Day at The Emerson Bar and Grill; Annie (original and all revivals); A Christmas Story The Musical; Legally Blonde; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; Joe Turner's Come and Gone; Camelot; Frankenstein; The First; Alice In Wonderland; Oliver!; Anything Goes; Nick and Nora; The Wiz, (20th Anniversary revival and City Center 2009); The Wizard Of Oz; Dinner at Eight; Double Feature (NYCB); The Woman in White; Awake and Sing; and The Lieutenant Of Inishmore. Berloni is the Animal Director of the new musical Because of Winn Dixie with music by Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by Nell Benjamin. He has trained animals for hundreds of Off-Broadway productions, regional theatres, tours, television and movies. Recent films include Paterson, directed by Jim Jarmusch and starring Adam Driver. He provided the first live dog to play "Nana" in "Peter Pan Live" as well as Toto in "The Wiz Live," both on NBC. Other television credits include "Power," "Billions," "Sneaky Pete," "Sesame Street," "High Maintenance" and "Mr. Robot." Berloni and his family are the subjects of the docu-series entitled "Wags To Riches With Bill Berloni" on the Discovery Family Channel that premiered in August 2015. Published author of Broadway Tails, Doga and Sandy The Autobiography of A Star. Director of Animal Behavior at the Humane Society of New York. Follow William Berloni Theatrical Animals, Inc. on Facebook and on twitter @BillBerloni. www.theatricalanimals.com.
Michael Greif (The Founders Award for Excellence in Directing). Michael Greif will be represented on Broadway this season with two new musicals: Dear Evan Hansen (now playing at the Music Box Theatre) and the upcoming War Paint (opening this spring at the Nederlander Theatre). Other Broadway credits: Rent, Grey Gardens, Next to Normal (Tony noms.); Never Gonna Dance; If/Then. Recent work includes War Paint (Goodman Theatre); Our Lady of Kibeho and Angels in America (NY's Signature Theatre); The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide... (Public); and The Tempest, A Winter's Tale and Romeo and Juliet at The Public's Delacorte Theater. Off-Broadway, he's received Obie Awards for Machinal, Dogeaters (Public) and Rent (NYTW), and has directed new plays and musicals at Playwrights Horizons, Roundabout, MTC, MCC, New York Theatre Workshop and at Second Stage, where he directed Next to Normal and Dear Evan Hansen. Regional work includes premieres and revivals at Williamstown Theatre Festival (ten seasons), La Jolla Playhouse (AD, five seasons), Arena Stage, Center Stage, Mark Taper Forum, Dallas Theater Center, Trinity Repertory Company. Mr. Greif holds a BS from Northwestern University and an MFA from the University of California, San Diego.
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