Drama Legue 2010 nominations

The nominations for the 2009-10 Drama League Awards were announced today at Sardi's restaurant by Kelsey Grammer and Bebe Neuwirth.

The winners will be announced at the 76th Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon, to be held on the 21 May at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square. The event will be co-hosted by Vanessa Williams and Michael Urie.

The nominations for the Drama League's five major production award categories are:

Distinguished Production of a Musical:

• THE ADDAMS FAMILY
  Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice; Music and Lyrics by Andrew Lippa, Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
• AMERICAN IDIOT
  Book by Billie Joe Armstrong and Michael Mayer; Lyrics by Billie Joe Armstrong; Music by Green Day, St. James Theatre
  
• BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON (Off-B'way)
  Book by Alex Timbers; Music and Lyrics by Michael Friedman, The Public Theater
  
• BRIEF ENCOUNTER (Off-B'way)
  by Noel Coward; Adapted by Emma Rice/Kneehigh Theatre, St. Ann's Warehouse
  
• COME FLY AWAY
  Conceived by Twyla Tharp; Music and Lyrics by Various Artists, Marquis Theatre
  
• MEMPHIS
  Book and Lyrics by Joe DiPietro; Music and Lyrics by David Bryan, Shubert Theatre
  
• MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET
  ook by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux; Music and Lyrics by Various Artists, Nederlander Theatre
  
• THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS (Off-B'way)
  Book by David Thompson; Music and Lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb, Vineyard Theatre
  
• SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM
  Conceived by James Lapine; Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Roundabout Theatre Company

Distinguished Production of a Play

• AFTERMATH (Off-B'way)
  by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, New York Theatre Workshop
  
• A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE
  by Martin McDonagh, Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre
  
• THE BROTHER/SISTER PLAYS (Off-B'way)
  by Tarell Alvin McCraney, The Public Theater
  
• CLYBOURNE PARK (Off-B'way)
  by Bruce Norris, Playwrights Horizons
• ENRON
  by Lucy Prebble, Broadhurst Theatre
  
• NEXT FALL
  by Geoffrey Nauffts, Helen Hayes Theatre
  
• THE PRIDE (Off-B'way)
  by Alexi Kaye Campbell, MCC Theater
  
• RED
  by John Logan, John Golden Theatre
  
• VENUS IN FUR (Off-B'way)
  by David Ives, Classic Stage Company

Distinguished Revival of a Musical:

• A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
  Book by Hugh Wheeler; Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Walter Kerr Theatre
  
• FINIAN'S RAINBOW
  Book by Yip Harburg and Fred Saidy; Lyrics by Harburg; Music by Burton Lane, St. James Theatre
  
• LA CAGE AUX FOLLES
  Book by Harvey Fierstein; Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman, Longacre Theatre
  
• PROMISES, PROMISES
  Book by Neil Simon; Lyrics by Hal David; Music by Burt Bacharach, Broadway Theatre
• RAGTIME
  Book by Terrence McNally; Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens; Music by Stephen Flaherty, Neil Simon Theatre

Distinguished Revival of a Play

• AS YOU LIKE IT (Off-BRoadway)
  by William Shakespeare, Brooklyn Academy of Music
  
• BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS
  by Neil Simon, Nederlander Theatre
  
• COLLECTED STORIES
  by Donald Margulies, Manhattan Theatre Club
  
• THE EMPEROR JONES (Off-Broadway)
  by Eugene O'Neill, Irish Repertory Theatre
  
• FENCES
  by August Wilson, Cort Theatre
  
• LEND ME A TENOR
  by Ken Ludwig, Music Box Theatre
  
• A LIE OF THE MIND (Off-Broadway)
  by Sam Shepard, The New Group
  
• A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE
  by Arthur Miller, Cort 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 Venus In Fur
• Laura Benanti In The Next Room, or The Vibrator Play
• Barbara Cook Sondheim on Sondheim (B'way)
• Daniel Craig A Steady Rain (B'way)
• Tyne Daly Love, Loss and What I Wore
• Hugh Dancy The Pride
• Viola Davis Fences (B'way)
• Brandon Victor Dixon The Scottsboro Boys
• Colman Domingo A Boy and his Soul
• Ensemble Aftermath**
• Ensemble Brief Encounter**
• Katie Finneran Promises, Promises (B'way)
• Carrie Fisher Wishful Drinking (B'way)
• John Gallagher, Jr. American Idiot (B'way)
• Victor Garber Present Laughter (B'way)
• Montego Glover Memphis (B'way)
• Mark-Paul Gosselaar The Understudy
• Kelsey Grammer La Cage aux Folles (B'way)
• David Alan Grier Race (B'way)
• Lance Guest Million Dollar Quartet (B'way)
• Jonathan Hammond The Boys in the Band
• Valerie Harper Looped (B'way)
• Sean Hayes Promises, Promises (B'way)
• Jessica Hecht A View From The Bridge (B'way)
• Jon Michael Hill Superior Donuts (B'way)
• Douglas Hodge La Cage aux Folles (B'way)
• Judith Ivey The Glass Menagerie/The Lady With All The Answers
• Scarlett Johansson A View from the Bridge (B'way)
• Marc Damon Johnson The Brother/Sister Plays
• Leslie Jordan My Trip Down The Pink Carpet
• Levi Kreis Million Dollar Quartet (B'way)
• Nathan Lane The Addams Family (B'way)
• Angela Lansbury A Little Night Music (B'way)
• Linda Lavin Collected Stories (B'way)
• Jude Law Hamlet (B'way)
• Laura Linney Time Stands Still (B'way)
• Jan Maxwell Lend Me A Tenor/The Royal Family (B'way)
• Marin Mazzie Enron (B'way)
• Alfred Molina Red (B'way)
• Jim Norton Finian's Rainbow (B'way)
• Rosie O'Donnell Love, Loss and What I Wore
• Karine Plantadit Come Fly Away (B'way)
• Eddie Redmayne Red (B'way)
• Roslyn Ruff Things of Dry Hours
• Tony Shalhoub Lend Me A Tenor (B'way)
• Jeremy Shamos Clybourne Park
• Anna Deavere Smith Let Me Down Easy
• Bobby Steggert Ragtime/Yank! (B'way/Off)
• John Douglas Thompson The Emperor Jones
• Michael Urie The Temperamentals
• Tony Vincent American Idiot (B'way)
• Christopher Walken A Behanding in Spokane (B'way)
• Benjamin Walker Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
• Denzel Washington Fences (B'way)
• Ben Whishaw The Pride
• Vanessa Williams Sondheim on Sondheim (B'way)
• Catherine Zeta-Jones A Little Night Music (B'way)

(** The producers of Aftermath and Brief Encounter may, at their discretion, designate one cast member to appear on the dais on behalf of the full acting ensemble.)

In addition, eight past recipients of the Distinguished Performance Award will be honored on this 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 Fifty Words
• Kathleen Chalfant Family Week
• Rosemary Harris The Royal Family (B'way)
• Hugh Jackman A Steady Rain (B'way)
• John Lithgow Mr. and Mrs. Fitch
• Bebe Neuwirth The Addams Family (B'way)
• Stephen Rea Ages of the Moon
• Liev Schreiber A View from the Bridge (B'way)

In addition, The Drama League will present the following specialty awards.

• The Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing will be presented to Kenny Leon
• The Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award will be presented to Nathan Lane
• The Unique Contribution to the Theatre Award will go to Macy's Parade and Entertainment Group

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.