2015 Drama League Awards: And the Winners are...

The winners for the 81st Annual Drama League Awards have now been announced. Hand to God star Steven Boyer (and evil handpuppet Tyrone) hosted the ceremony last Friday at the Marriott Marquis Times Square.

Broadway legend Chita Rivera picked up the coveted Distinguished Performance award for her role in Kander & Ebb's The Visit, whilst An American in Paris and The King and I were awarded Distinguished Musical and Distinguished Revival of a Musical respectively.

In the Play categories, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was named Distinguished Play and You Can't Take It With You received the Distinguished Revival of a Play award.

Tony winner Neil Patrick Harris, who won the Distinguished Performance award last year, presented the top honor to Chita Rivera, whilst Zachary Quinto presented the four winning productions.

The previously announced recipients of this year's special recognition awards included Joel Grey for 'Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre', WNET: Neal Shapiro and David Horn for their 'Unique Contribution to the Theatre' and Stephen Daldry, who received the 'Founders Award for Excellence in Directing'.

Here is the complete list of 2015 nominees by category:
(**Winners are listed in CAPITAL letters**)

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF A BROADWAY OR OFF-BROADWAY PLAY

  • The Audience
  • Between Riverside and Crazy
  • Bootycandy
  • Constellations
  • THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME
  • Hand to God
  • An Octoroon
  • Punk Rock
  • Scenes from a Marriage
  • Wolf Hall: Parts 1 & 2

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF A BROADWAY OR OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL

  • AN AMERICAN IN PARIS
  • Finding Neverland
  • Fun Home
  • Ghost Quartet
  • Hamilton
  • It Shoulda Been You
  • Something Rotten!
  • The Visit

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A BROADWAY OR OFF-BROADWAY PLAY

  • Big Love
  • The Elephant Man
  • The Heidi Chronicles
  • The Iceman Cometh
  • It's Only a Play
  • Skylight
  • Tamburlaine, Parts I and II
  • This Is Our Youth
  • YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A BROADWAY OR OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL

  • Allegro
  • Into the Woods
  • THE KING AND I
  • On The Town
  • On The Twentieth Century

DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE AWARD
(One winner is selected from this category. The recipient can only receive the award once during his or her career)

  • Usman Ally, The Invisible Hand
  • Christian Borle, Something Rotten!
  • Steven Boyer, Hand to God
  • Sterling K. Brown, Father Comes Home from the Wars Parts 1, 2 & 3
  • Michael Cerveris, Fun Home
  • Kristin Chenoweth, On The Twentieth Century
  • Bradley Cooper, The Elephant Man
  • Leanne Cope, An American in Paris
  • Jim Dale, Just Jim Dale
  • Tyne Daly, It Shoulda Been You
  • Daveed Diggs, Hamilton
  • Robert Fairchild, An American in Paris
  • Renee Fleming, Living on Love
  • Kelsey Grammer, Finding Neverland
  • Jake Gyllenhaal, Constellations
  • Stephen McKinley Henderson, Between Riverside and Crazy
  • Lisa Howard, It Shoulda Been You
  • Brian D'Arcy James, Something Rotten!
  • Rebecca Naomi Jones, Big Love
  • Cush Jumbo, Josephine and I / The River
  • Andy Karl, On The Twentieth Century
  • Judy Kuhn, Fun Home
  • Lesley Manville, Ghosts
  • Jan Maxwell, The City of Conversation
  • Richard McCabe, The Audience
  • Rob McClure, Honeymoon in Vegas
  • Ewan McGregor, The Real Thing
  • Ben Miles, Wolf Hall: Parts One & Two
  • Ruthie Ann Miles, The King and I
  • Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
  • Helen Mirren, The Audience
  • Matthew Morrison, Finding Neverland
  • Elisabeth Moss, The Heidi Chronicles
  • Carey Mulligan, Skylight
  • Tam Mutu, Doctor Zhivago
  • Bill Nighy, Skylight
  • Kelli O'Hara, The King and I
  • Nathaniel Parker, Wolf Hall: Parts One & Two
  • Bryce Pinkham, The Heidi Chronicles
  • Roger Rees, The Visit
  • CHITA RIVERA, THE VISIT
  • Alexander Sharp, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
  • Douglas Sills, Living on Love
  • John Douglas Thompson, Tamburlaine: Parts I and II / The Iceman Cometh
  • Julie White, Airline Highway
  • Ruth Wilson, Constellations
  • Tony Yazbeck, On The Town

NOTE: The Drama League also wished to acknowledge the previous recipients of the Distinguished Performance Award who appeared in New York productions this season. As the Award can only be won once in a performer's lifetime, they were ineligible this season. Their exemplary work, however, was recognized and applauded:

  • Kathleen Chalfant, A Walk in the Woods
  • Stockard Channing, It's Only A Play
  • Glenn Close, A Delicate Balance
  • Rosemary Harris, Indian Ink
  • Hugh Jackman, The River
  • Cherry Jones, When We Were Young and Unafraid
  • James Earl Jones, You Can't Take It With You
  • Nathan Lane, The Iceman Cometh / It's Only A Play
  • John Lithgow, A Delicate Balance / King Lear

Chita Rivera

Originally published on

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