Drama League 2011 Award Winners

The winners of the 77th Annual Drama League Awards were announced on 20 May 2011 at a luncheon hosted by Kathleen Turner at the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square.

Mark Rylance won the Distinguished Performance Award (which can be won only once in an actor's career) for his roles in Jez Butterworth's 'Jerusalem' and in the Broadway revival of David Hirson's 'La Bete.'

'The Book of Mormon' won Distinguished Production of a Musical, 'War Horse' won Distinguished Production of a Play, 'Anything Goes' won Distinguished Revival of a Musical and 'The Normal Heart' won Distinguished Revival of a Play.

The Drama League also presented its three previously announced special recognitions:

Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award went to Liza Minnelli
The Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing went to Susan Stroman
The Unique Contribution to the Theatre Award went to Whoopi Goldberg

The 2010 Drama League winners and nominations are listed below: ***Winners are indicated in bold font.

Distinguished Production of a Play:

• BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO (B'way)
  By Rajiv Joseph
  Richard Rodgers Theatre
  
• THE DIARY OF A MADMAN (Off-B'way)
  By Nikolai Gogol Adapted by David Holman with Neil Armfield & Geoffrey Rush
  Brooklyn Academy of Music
  
• THE DREAM OF THE BURNING BOY (Off-B'way)
  By David West Read
  Black Box Theatre (Roundabout)
  
• THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY (Off-B'way)
  By Kristoffer Diaz
  Second Stage Theatre
  
• GATZ (Off-B'way)
  Created by Elevator Repair Service
  The Public Theater
  
• GOOD PEOPLE (B'way)
  By David Lindsay-Abaire
  Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (MTC)
  
• JERUSALEM (B'way)
  By Jez Butterworth
  Music Box Theatre
  
• KIN (Off-B'way)
  By Bathsheba Doran
  Playwrights Horizons
  
• THE MOTHERF**KER WITH THE HAT (B'way)
  By David Lindsay-Abaire
  Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
  
• OTHER DESERT CITIES (Off-B'way)
  By Jon Robin Baitz
  Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (Lincoln Center)
  
• SLEEP NO MORE (Off-B'way)
  By Emursive
  The McKittrick Hotel Punchdrunk)
  
• WAR HORSE (B'way)
  Based on a novel by Michael Morpurgo, adapted by Nick Stafford
  Vivian Beaumont Theatre (Lincoln Center)
  

Distinguished Production of a Musical

• THE BOOK OF MORMON (B'way)
  Book, music and lyrics by Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez
  Eugene O'Neill Theatre
  
• CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (B'way)
  Book by Terrence McNally, music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman
  Neil Simon Theatre
  
• ELF (B'way)
  Book by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin, music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics Chad Beguelin Al Hirschfeld Theatre
  
• IN TRANSIT (Off-B'way)
  Book, music, and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez, James-Allen Ford, Russ Kaplan, and Sara Wordsworth.
  59E59 Theaters (Primary Stages)
  
• THE PEOPLE IN THE PICTURE (B'way)
  Book and lyrics by Iris Rainer Dart, music by Mike Stoller and Artie Butler
  Studio 54 (Roundabout)
  
• PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT (B'way)
  By Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott
  Palace Theatre
  
• SISTER ACT (B'way)
  Book by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner and Douglas Carter Beane, Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater
  Broadway Theatre
  

Distinguished Revival of a Play:

• ANGELS IN AMERICA (Off-B'way)
  By Tony Kushner
  Peter Norton Space (Signature)
  
• ARCADIA (B'way)
  By Tom Stoppard
  Ethel Barrymore Theatre
  
• BORN YESTERDAY (B'way)
  By Garson Kanin
  Cort Theatre
  
• THE COLLECTION and A KIND OF ALASKA (Off-B'way)
  By Harold Pinter
  Classic Stage Company (Atlantic)
  
• THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES (B'way)
  By John Guare
  Walter Kerr Theatre
  
• THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (B'way)
  By Oscar Wilde
  American Airlines Theatre (Roundabout)
  
• LA BETE (B'way)
  By David Hirson
  Music Box Theatre
  
• THE LITTLE FOXES (Off-B'way)
  By Lillian Hellman
  New York Theatre Workshop
  
• THE MERCHANT OF VENICE (Off-B'way & B'way)
  By William Shakespeare
  The Public Theater/Broadhurst Theatre
  
• THE NORMAL HEART (B'way)
  by Larry Kramer
  John Golden Theatre
  

Distinguished Revival of a Musical

• ANYTHING GOES (B'way)
  Original book by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse. New book by Timothy Crouse & John Weidman, Music & Lyrics by Cole Porter
  Stephen Sondheim Theatre (Roundabout)
  
• HELLO AGAIN (Off-B'way)
  Words and music by Michael John LaChiusa (suggested by the play La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler)
  52 Mercer Street (Transport Group)
  
• HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING (B'way)
  Book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert, music and lyrics by Frank Loesser
  Al Hirschfeld Theatre
  

The Drama League also pays tribute to the season's best performers by including the nominees of The Distinguished Performance Award on a dais. This season's dais includes the following performers, one of whom will be honored with the Distinguished Performance Award at the awards ceremony on 21 May 2010.

The Distinguished Performance Award
The list of nominees:

• Nina Arianda, Born Yesterday (B'way)
• Vanessa Aspillaga, underneathmybed
• Daniel Beaty, Through The Night
• Brian Bedford, The Importance of Being Earnest (B'way)
• Jim Belushi, Born Yesterday (B'way)
• Laura Benanti, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (B'way)
• Reed Birney, The Dream of the Burning Boy
• Desmin Borges, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity
• Christian Borle, 'Angels in America' and 'Peter and the Starcatcher'
• André Braugher, The Whipping Man
• Charles Busch, The Divine Sister
• Bill Camp, Notes From Underground
• Bobby Cannavale, The Motherf**ker With The Hat (B'way)
• Victoria Clark, Sister Act (B'way)
• Billy Crudup, Arcadia (B'way) and The Metal Children
• Colin Donnell, Anything Goes (B'way)
• Lisa Emery, The Collection/A Kind of Alaska
• Ensemble, Sleep No More**
• Ensemble, Hello Again**
• Raúl Esparza, Arcadia (B'way)
• Edie Falco, The House of Blue Leaves (B'way) and This Wide Night
• Halley Feiffer, Tigers Be Still
• Sutton Foster, Anything Goes (B'way)
• Josh Gad, The Book of Mormon (B'way)
• Laura Heisler, Kin
• John Benjamin Hickey, The Normal Heart (B'way)
• Marin Ireland, In the Wake and Three Sisters
• John Larroquette, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (B'way)
• Dan Lauria, Lombardi (B'way)
• John Leguizamo, Ghetto Klown (B'way)
• Judith Light, Lombardi (B'way)
• Joe Mantello The Normal Heart (B'way)
• Elizabeth Marvel, 'The Little Foxes' and 'Other Desert Cities'
• Frances McDormand, Good People (B'way)
• Laurie Metcalf, The Other Place
• Patina Miller, Sister Act (B'way)
• Arian Moayed, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (B'way)
• Donna Murphy, The People in the Picture (B'way)
• Seth Numrich War Horse (B'way)
• Al Pacino, The Merchant of Venice (B'way)
• Estelle Parsons, Good People (B'way)
• Alison Pill, This Wide Night
• Lily Rabe, The Merchant of Venice (B'way)
• Daniel Radcliffe, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (B'way)
• Andrew Rannells, The Book of Mormon (B'way)
• Martin Rayner, Freud's Last Session
• Vanessa Redgrave, Driving Miss Daisy (B'way)
• Paul Reubens, The Pee-Wee Herman Show (B'way)
• Chris Rock, The Motherf**ker With The Hat (B'way
• Martin Rayner Freud's Last Session
• Mark Rylance, Jerusalem and La Bête
• Michael Shannon, Mistakes Were Made
• Fiona Shaw John Gabriel Borkman
• Tony Sheldon, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (B'way)
• Scott Shepherd, Gatz
• Christopher Sieber, The Kid
• Alexandra Socha, The Dream of the Burning Boy
• Paul Sparks Dusk Rings a Bell
• Ben Stiller, The House of Blue Leaves (B'way)
• Will Swenson, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (B'way)
• Kathleen Turner, High (B'way)
• Aaron Tveit, Catch Me If You Can (B'way)
• Robin Williams, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (B'way)
• Tom Wopat, Catch Me If You Can (B'way)

(** The ensemble casts of Sleep No More and Hello Again were honored collectively on the dais.)

In addition, seven past recipients of the Distinguished Performance Award will be honored on the dais for their work this season. However, because an individual can only receive the Distinguished Performance Award once in his/her lifetime, they are ineligible for award consideration this year. Those past honorees include:

• Norbert Leo Butz Catch Me If You Can (B'way)
• Stockard Channing Other Desert Cities
• Cherry Jones Mrs. Warren's Profession (B'way)
• James Earl Jones Driving Miss Daisy (B'way)
• Patti LuPone Women on the Verge of Nervous Breakdown (B'way)
• Brian Stokes Mitchell Women on the Verge of Nervous Breakdown (B'way)
• Geoffrey Rush The Diary of a Madman

The Drama League was founded in 1916 as an association of theatre professionals and patrons dedicated to encouraging the finest in professional theatre and has since then developed into the theatre's premiere service organization.