Video: Watch Justin Guarini & Roger Bart Announce the 2023 Drama League Awards Nominees

Today Tuesday, April 25, at 11:30AM, The Drama League will welcome television and stage star Justin Guarini (upcoming Once Upon a One More Time, "American Idol") and Tony Award Winner Roger Bart (The Producers, upcoming Back to the Future: The Musical) to announce the 2023 Drama League Awards Nominations. Taking place at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY), the event will be livestreamed by BroadwayWorld, beginning at 11:30AM ET.

The 89th Annual Drama League Awards, the historic, highly anticipated annual luncheon ceremony, as well as its pre-event industry reception, will be presented at The Ziegfeld Ballroom (141 W 54th St, NYC) on Friday, May 19, 2023, at 12:00PM. More information about the ceremony and how to attend can be found at dramaleague.org/2023awards.

Check out a full list of nominees!

As previously announced, André De Shields, Lear deBessonet, The Drama Book Shop, and Darin Oduyoye are this year's Special Recognition Honorees. Tony Award winner André De Shields (Hadestown) will receive the Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater Award for his outstanding work on stage as part of the musical theater community. The Drama Book Shop (Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeffrey Seller, and James L. Nederlander) will be honored with the Contribution to the Theater Award for its unwavering commitment to furthering the art of the American theater through the stewardship of a vital, century-long creative home for artists to thrive. Encores! Artistic Director and Public Works founder Lear deBessonet (Into the Woods) will be honored with the Founders Award for Excellence in Directing for her incredible contributions to the field of directing. J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management chief communications officer Darin Oduyoye will be presented with the annual Gratitude Award in recognition of his leadership and commitment to the theater industry, through the support of many productions as part of the J.P. Morgan Next List and his work on the board of Beyond the Stage Door, a comprehensive educational program dedicated to guiding students from diverse backgrounds into theater management careers.

Keeping in the tradition of honoring the outstanding accomplishments of the theatrical community, as they have since 1935, Drama League Awards will be bestowed in the following categories:

-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 21, 2022 - April 23, 2023, to be eligible for this season's Drama League Awards.

First presented in 1922 and formalized in 1935, The Drama League Awards are a core service to the theater community of The Drama League, an arts organization that has provided vital support to the field and its artists for over a century. The organization's mission provides the nation's only full-time, lifelong creative home for stage directors and the audiences that enjoy their work around the world. For a complete list of productions and performers that have won Drama League Awards in the event's history, as well as all past Special Recognition Honorees, click here.

Drama League Members have voting privileges in the competitive award categories. Drama League Membership is open to industry professionals, artists, and audience members. They are tax-deductible and support The Drama League's programs that provide vital career support for directors; Members enjoy access to exclusive Members-only events, house seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, and more. Members needed to be in good standing by April 15, 2023, in order to vote on this year's Awards. To become a voting Member, visit dramaleague.org/membership or call (212) 244-9494, ext. 101.

The Drama League is grateful for support from its generous donors, as well as our Awards Chair, Bonnie Comley, Steering Committee Chair, Townsend Teague, and Committee Members, Valerie Novakoff Britten, Donna Daniels, Jonathan Demar, Irene Gandy, Sarah Hutton, Kenneth Hyne, Una Jackman, Mary Jain, Paula Kaminsky Davis, Fred Siegel, and Kumiko Yoshii. More information on sponsoring the event can be found at dramaleague.org/2023-awards.

ABOUT THE DRAMA LEAGUE

The Drama League advances the American theater by providing lifelong artistic resources for directors and a platform for dialogue with audiences. Founded in 1916, we are one of the longest-running arts service organizations in the country. We enable directors to make the most powerful, impactful work possible across multiple mediums reaching ever-wider audiences, and build sustainable careers. Uplifting directors of all economic classes, races, abilities, genders, and identities is a cornerstone of this mission. We provide support to directors throughout their artistic life, and our work in education offers both continued learning to professionals and introduces the skills of directing to young people. Underpinning our work is the support of our members, a community of ardent theater fans and industry professionals whose commitment to advancing the art form helps develop the careers of the talented directors we champion.

More information about The Drama League's programs, alumni, and the Awards history can be found at www.dramaleague.org.

BIOS:

Justin Guarini's career on the stage and screen spans almost 30 years and includes: the first season of "American Idol," where he performed in front of 30 million viewers each week; principal roles in seven Broadway productions (including Once Upon a One More Time this summer, as 'Prince Charming'); and his wildly popular character "Lil' Sweet" for Diet Dr. Pepper, seen in hundreds of millions of homes across America. In addition to being a sought-after performer, he has coached and mentored thousands of performers & entertainers to achieve the success they deserve in a challenging industry, via his "Audition Secrets" dynamic training programs, podcasts, and best-selling book "Audition Secrets Vol:1." As a Keynote speaker, he has helped his audiences uncover the secrets of confidence, empowerment, and stage/camera prescience on stages across America. As an emcee, he has hosted in-studio talk shows as well as live nationally broadcast red carpet events for the Emmys, Tonys, and Grammys.

Roger Bart, returning to Broadway this summer as Doc Brown in Back to The Future: The Musical, is best known for originating the role of 'Carmen Ghia' in Mel Brooks' Broadway musical, The Producers, for which he received Tony and Drama Desk nominations. He revised the character for Universal's theatrical adaptation of The Producers as well. Roger won the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for playing Snoopy in You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown. Other Broadway credits include: Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein in which he originated the title role of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, Disaster!, Triumph Of Love, The Frogs and Big River. Roger also had the unique privilege of playing Hades in The Public Theatre/Disney Theatricals production of Hercules at the Delacorte Theatre. An adaptation of the Disney animated feature Hercules, Roger sang the title character's song "Go the Distance" and was nominated for an Academy Award for best original song. On television, Bart can currently be seen on the Freeform series, "Good Trouble," which is the spin-off to their popular series, "The Fosters." He previously recurred on the Epix series, "Graves," starring opposite Nick Nolte and Sela Ward and also in "A Series of Unfortunate Events," opposite Neil Patrick Harris on Netflix. Some of his film credits include Trumbo, Last Vegas, Law Abiding Citizen, American Gangster, The Stepford Wives, The Insider, Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay, Hostel Part II, Midnight Meat Train, Speech And Debate, and Ghost Light. Bart has also had recurring characters in a number of other television series: "Desperate Housewives" (playing George, the pharmacist), "Episodes" (SHOWTIME), "No Tomorrow," "Grace and Frankie," "Revenge," "There's...Johnny" and "The Lost Room."