Video: Vanessa Williams & Bebe Neuwirth Announce 2024 Drama League Awards Nominees

Earlier today, Grammy, Emmy, and Tony nominee Vanessa Williams and Bebe Neuwirth co-hosted the 2024 Drama League Awards Nominations announcement from the Lincoln Center’s New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. You can watch the live stream exclusively here at BroadwayWorld.

VIEW THE FULL LIST OF NOMINEES

Keeping in the tradition of honoring the outstanding accomplishments of the theatrical community since 1935, the Drama League Award nominations will be bestowed in the following categories, honoring Broadway and Off-Broadway artists of the 2023-24 season:  

-Distinguished Performance Award 
-Outstanding Production of a Play 
-Outstanding Production of a Musical 
-Outstanding Revival of a Play 
-Outstanding Revival of a Musical 
-Outstanding Direction of a Play 
-Outstanding Direction of a Musical 

Broadway and Off-Broadway productions will need to have been in previews between April 24, 2023 – April 20, 2024, to be eligible for this season’s awards.   The 90th Annual Drama League Awards, the theater industry’s distinguished, historic annual luncheon ceremony, will be presented at The Ziegfeld Ballroom on Friday, May 17, 2024, at 12:00PM. 
 
As recently announced, this year’s Special Recognition Honorees at the Drama League Awards are Jonathan Groff, Jessica Lange, Schele Williams, and Kandi Burruss. A two-time Tony Award and Emmy Award nominee, Jonathan Groff – currently starring on Broadway in Merrily We Roll Along – will receive the Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater Award for his outstanding work on stage as part of the musical theater community. Tony Award and two-time Academy Award winner Jessica Lange – who returns to Broadway this spring in Mother Play – will be honored with the Contribution to the Theater Award for her unwavering commitment to furthering the art of the American theater. Schele Williams will be honored with the Founders Award for Excellence in Directing for her incredible contributions to the field, which includes this season’s The Wiz and The Notebook. Burruss will recieve the annual Gratitude Award, in recognition of her leadership and commitment to the theater industry as a producer and performer.

About the Nominations Hosts:

Vanessa Williams is returning to the stage this summer as Miranda Priestly in the West End premiere of The Devil Wears Prada, is one of the most respected and multi-faceted performers in the entertainment industry today. Having sold millions of records worldwide, Vanessa has also achieved numerous #1 and Top 10 hits on various Billboard Album and Singles charts, from Pop, Dance, R&B, Adult Contemporary to Holiday, Latin, Gospel, and Jazz. Her critically acclaimed work in film, television, recordings and the Broadway stage has been recognized by every major industry award affiliate including 4 Emmy nominations, 11 Grammy nominations, a Tony nomination, 3 SAG award nominations, 7 NAACP Image Awards and 3 Satellite Awards. Her Platinum single "Colors of the Wind”, from Disney’s “Pocahontas”, won the Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe for Best Original Song. Her work on Broadway includes: POTUS, Into the Woods, Kiss of the Spider Woman, St. Louis Woman, Sondheim on Sondheim, and After Midnight. Her many film credits include: “Eraser”, “Soul Food”, “Shaft”, “Dance With Me”, “Hoodlum”, “Light It Up”, and “Johnson Family Vacation”. On television, she starred in ABC’s global hit series “Ugly Betty” and “Desperate Housewives”.

Bebe Neuwirth is currently starring as Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club. She has achieved extraordinary success in theater, television, and film. In 1980, she made her Broadway debut in A Chorus Line. She then appeared in Little Me, Dancin’, and Sweet Charity, for which she won her first Tony Award, followed by Damn Yankees, Fosse, and The Addams Family. Bebe won her second Tony, as well as the Drama Desk, Astaire, Outer Critics Circle, and Drama League Distinguished Performance of the Year Awards for her portrayal of ‘Velma’ in Chicago. A few years later she played ‘Roxie’ in the show, and a few years after that she played ‘Mama Morton,’ making her the only triple-threat to have played all three leading ladies’ roles on Broadway. Bebe’s ‘Velma’ is recorded on the Grammy-winning cast album of Chicago. Her many and diverse roles in regional theater and Off-Broadway include ‘Anita’ in West Side Story, ‘Katherine’ in The Taming of the Shrew at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Writer’s Block written and directed by Woody Allen, and The Bedwetter by Sarah Silverman, both at the Atlantic Theatre Company, among many others. On London’s West End, Bebe followed Chita Rivera into the role of ‘Aurora’ in Kiss of the Spider Woman. In 2005, she appeared in the critically acclaimed Here Lies Jenny, a music theater piece comprised entirely of music by Kurt Weill, at the Zipper Theatre. It was directed by Roger Rees and choreographed by Ann Reinking.