First presented in 1922, then formalized in 1935, the Drama League Awards are the oldest theatrical honors in America and the only major theatrical awards chosen by the entire theater community of Drama League members nationwide who attend Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. They include award-winning actors, designers, directors, playwrights, producers, industry veterans, critics, and dedicated audiences from across the US.
Keeping in the tradition of honoring the outstanding accomplishments of the NYC theatrical community, the awards for the 2021-22 season will be bestowed in seven competitive categories, including two new directing awards being presented for the first time this year.
The nominations, announced this morning at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts by co-hosts Denée Benton and André De Shields, are:
Distinguished Performance Award:
Uzo Aduba, Clyde’s;Â Simon Russell Beale, The Lehman Trilogy; Shoshana Bean, Mr. Saturday Night; Gabby Beans, The Skin of Our Teeth; Victoria Clark, Kimberly Akimbo; Sharon D. Clarke, Caroline, or Change; Billy Crystal, Mr. Saturday Night; Matt Doyle, Company; Rachel Dratch, POTUS; Edie Falco, Morning Sun; Tyler Fauntleroy, Tambo & Bones; Beanie Feldstein, Funny Girl; Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Take Me Out; Sutton Foster, The Music Man; Myles Frost, MJ: The Musical; Adrianna Hicks, SIX; Marin Ireland, Morning Sun; Nikki M. James, Suffs; Ron Cephas Jones, Clyde’s; Joaquina Kalukango, Paradise Square; LaChanze, Trouble in Mind; L Morgan Lee, A Strange Loop; Jane Lynch, Funny Girl; Taylor Mac, The Hang; Brittney Mack, SIX; Ebony Marshall-Oliver, 7 Minutes; Elizabeth Marvel, Long Day’s Journey Into Night; James McAvoy, Cyrano de Bergerac; Rob McClure, Mrs. Doubtfire; Kenita R. Miller, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf; Bonnie Milligan, Kimberly Akimbo; David Morse, How I Learned to Drive; Deirdre O’Connell, Dana H.; Sarah Jessica Parker, Plaza Suite; Phylicia Rashad, Skeleton Crew; Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Lackawanna Blues; Arturo Luis Soria, Ni Mi Madre; Jaquel Spivey, A Strange Loop; Cecily Strong, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe; Will Swenson, Assassins; Julie White, POTUS; Jesse Williams, Take Me Out; and Michelle Wilson, Confederates.
Outstanding Production of a Play:
Clyde’s, Second Stage Theater, The Helen Hayes Theater, written by Lynn Nottage; Confederates, Signature Theatre, The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre, written by Dominique Morisseau; Dana H., Lyceum Theatre, written by Lucas Hnath, adapted from interviews with Dana Higginbotham conducted by Steve Cosson; English, Atlantic Theater Company and Roundabout Theatre Company, Linda Gross Theater, written by Sanaz Toossi; Hangmen, John Golden Theatre, written by Martin McDonagh; The Lehman Trilogy, Nederlander Theatre, written by Stefano Massini, adapted by Ben Power; Merry Wives, The Public Theater/Free Shakespeare in the Park, Delacorte Theater, written By William Shakespeare, adapted by Jocelyn Bioh; The Minutes, Studio 54, written by Tracy Letts; POTUS, Shubert Theatre, written by Selina Fillinger; Prayer for the French Republic, Manhattan Theatre Club, NY City Center Stage 1, written by Joshua Harmon; and Selling Kabul, Playwrights Horizons, written by Sylvia Khoury.
Outstanding Production of a Musical:
David Byrne’s American Utopia, St. James Theatre, music by David Byrne, production consultant Alex Timbers; The Hang, HERE Arts Center, book and lyrics by Taylor Mac, music by Matt Ray; Kimberly Akimbo, Atlantic Theater Company, Linda Gross Theater, book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, music by Jeanine Tesori; MJ: The Musical, Neil Simon Theatre, book by Lynn Nottage, featuring songs by Michael Jackson, Dallas Austin, Bruce Swedien, René Moore, Berry Gordy, Alphonso J. Mizell, Frederick J. Perren, Deke Richards, Dave Jackson Rich, Elmar Krohn, Michael Jackson Clark, Hans Kampschroer, Thomas Meyer, Jackie Jackson, Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II, Harold Edward Davis, Donald Eddie Fletcher, Weldon Dean Parks, Charlie Smalls, Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, Anthony Jackson, John Bettis, Steven M. Porcaro, Stevie Wonder, Susaye Greene, Willie M. Hutchinson, Bob West, Teddy Riley, Glen Ballard, Siedah Garrett, William Hart, Thomas Bell, Babatunde Olatunji, James Brown, Rod Temperton, Tom Bahler, O’Kelly Isley, Jr., Rudolph Isley, Ronald Isley, Terry Lewis, James Harris, Gary Jackson, Raynard Miner, and Carl William Smith; Mr. Saturday Night, Nederlander Theatre, book by Billy Crystal, Lowell Ganz, and Babaloo Mandel, music by Jason Robert Brown, lyrics by Amanda Green; Mrs. Doubtfire, Stephen Sondheim Theatre, book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell, music by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick, lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick; Oratorio for Living Things, Ars Nova, composed and created by Heather Christian; SIX, Brooks Atkinson Theatre, book, music, and lyrics by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss; A Strange Loop, Lyceum Theatre, book, music, and lyrics by Michael R. Jackson; and Suffs, The Public Theater, book, music, and lyrics by Shaina Taub.
Outstanding Revival of a Play:
American Buffalo, Circle in the Square Theatre, written by David Mamet; Cyrano de Bergerac, Brooklyn Academy of Music, written by Edmond Rostand, in a new version by Martin Crimp; for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, Booth Theatre, written by Ntozake Shange; How I Learned to Drive, Manhattan Theatre Club, Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, written by Paula Vogel; Long Day’s Journey into Night, Minetta Lane Theatre, written by Eugene O’Neill; Skeleton Crew, Manhattan Theatre Club, Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, written by Dominique Morisseau; The Skin of Our Teeth, Lincoln Center Theater, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, written by Thornton Wilder, additional material by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins; Take Me Out, Second Stage Theater, The Helen Hayes Theater, written by Richard Greenberg; and Trouble in Mind, Roundabout Theatre Company, American Airlines Theatre, written by Alice Childress.
Outstanding Revival of a Musical:
Assassins, Classic Stage Company, book by John Weidman, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; Company, Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by George Furth; Caroline, or Change, Roundabout Theatre Company, book and lyrics by Tony Kushner, music by Jeanine Tesori; Funny Girl, August Wilson Theatre, music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Merrill, book by Isobel Lennart, revised book by Harvey Fierstein; and The Music Man, Winter Garden Theatre, book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, story by Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey.
Outstanding Direction of a Play:
Knud Adams, English, Atlantic Theater Company and Roundabout Theatre Company; Saheem Ali, Merry Wives, The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival; Stori Ayers, Confederates, Signature Theatre; Camille A. Brown, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, Booth Theatre; Matthew Dunster, Hangmen, John Golden Theatre; Jamie Lloyd, Cyrano de Bergerac, Brooklyn Academy of Music; Sam Mendes, The Lehman Trilogy, Nederlander Theatre; Tyne Rafaeli, Selling Kabul, Playwrights Horizons; Taylor Reynolds, Tambo & Bones, Playwrights Horizons; Les Waters, Dana H., Lyceum Theatre; and Kate Whoriskey, Clyde’s, Second Stage Theatre.
Outstanding Direction of a Musical:
John Doyle, Assassins, Classic Stage Company; Marianne Elliott, Company, Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre; Lee Sunday Evans, Oratorio for Living Things, Ars Nova; Michael Mayer, Funny Girl, August Wilson Theatre; Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage, SIX, Brooks Atkinson Theatre; Leigh Silverman, Suffs, The Public Theater; Niegel Smith, The Hang, HERE Arts Center; Christopher Wheeldon, MJ: The Musical, Neil Simon Theatre; and Jerry Zaks, The Music Man, Winter Garden Theatre.
In addition to the competitive awards presentation, the Drama League will also recognize the following previously announced honorees:
Hugh Jackman, Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater; Lileana Blain-Cruz, Founders Award for Excellence in Directing; Billy Crystal, Contribution to the Theater Award; and Willette Murphy Klausner, Gratitude Award.
The Drama League Awards will be presented on Friday, May 20, 2022, at the Ziegfeld Ballroom, 141 West 54th Street, NYC. For tickets (starting at $350), go online. Everyone must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination and a photo ID to attend.
