Drama Legue 2012 nominations

The nominations for the 2011-12 Drama League Awards were announced today at Sardi's Restaurant by Raven-Symoné, Megan Hilty and Justin Long.

The winners will be announced at the 78th Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon, to be held on the 18 May in the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square. The event will be hosted by Stockard Channing and John Larroquette.

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

Distinguished Production of a Play:

• CLYBOURNE PARK (B'way)
  by Bruce Norris
  
• THE COLUMNIST (Off-B'way)
  by David Auburn
  
• THE INTELLIGENT HOMOSEXUAL'S GUIDE TO CAPITALISM AND SOCIALISM WITH A KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES (Off-B'way)
  by Tony Kushner
  
• THE LYONS (B'way)
  by Nicky Silver
  
• ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS (B'way)
  by Richard Bean
  based on Carlo Goldoni's The Servant of Two Masters
  
• OTHER DESERT CITIES (B'way)
  by Jon Robin Baitz
  
• PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (B'way)
  by Rick Elice
  adapted from Dave Barry's and Ridley Pearson's novel.
  
• TRIBES (Off-B'way)
  by Nina Raine
  
• SEMINAR (B'way)
  By Theresa Rebeck
  
• SEPTIMUS AND CLARISSA (Off-B'way)
  By Ellen McLaughlin
  adaptation of Virginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway,"
  
• VENUS IN FUR (B'way)
  By David Ives
  

Distinguished Production of a Musical

• GHOST THE MUSICAL (B'way)
  Score and lyrics by Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard. Bruce Joel Rubin adapts his original screen play for the stage and co-writes the lyrics.
  Based on the Paramount film
  
• LEAP OF FAITH (B'way)
  Score by Alan Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater, book by Warren Leight and Janus Cercone. Based the Paramount film
  
• MISSION DRIFT (Off-B'way)
  Written by the theatre Company TEAM, in collaboration with Heather Christian and Sarah Gancher
  
• NEWSIES (B'way)
  Score by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman, book by Harvey Fierstein
  
• NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT (B'way)
  Book, music, and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez, James-Allen Ford, Russ Kaplan, and Sara Wordsworth.
  Score by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, book by Joe DiPietro
  
• ONCE (B'way)
  Score and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, book by Enda Walsh
  
• QUEEN OF THE MIST (Off-B'way)
  By Michael John LaChiusa
  

Distinguished Revival of a Play:

• AND GOD CREATED GREAT WHALES (Off-B'way)
  by Rinde Eckert
  
• DEATH OF A SALESMAN (B'way)
  by Arthur Miller
  
• THE BEST MAN (B'way)
  by Gore Vidal
  
• HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE (Off-B'way)
  by Paula Vogel
  Classic Stage Company (Atlantic)
  
• LOOK BACK IN ANGER (Off-B'way)
  By John Osborne
  
• THE MAIDS (Off-B'way)
  By Jean Genet
  
• WIT (B'way)
  By Margaret Edson
  

Distinguished Revival of a Musical

• CARRIE (Off-B'way)
  Score by Michael Gore, lyrics by Dean Pitchford, book by Lawrence D. Cohen
  
• FOLLIES (Off-B'way)
  Score and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Goldman
  
• EVITA (B'way)
  Score by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Tim Rice
  
• THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS (B'way)
  Score by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward, book by DuBose Heyward, re-imagined by Diane Paulus, Suzan-Lori Parks, and Diedre Murray
  
• JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (B'way)
  Score by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Tim Rice
  

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 18 May 2012.

The Distinguished Performance Award
The list of nominees:

• Jane Alexander The Lady From Dubuque
• Nina Arianda Venus In Fur (B'way)
• Annaleigh Ashford Rent
• Angela Bassett The Mountaintop (B'way)
• Simon Russell Beale Bluebird
• Tracie Bennett End of the Rainbow (B'way)
• Christian Borle Peter and the Starcatcher (B'way)
• Matthew Broderick Nice Work If You Can Get It (B'way)
• Kim Cattrall Private Lives (B'way)
• Heather Christian Mission Drift
• James Corden One Man, Two Guvnors (B'way)
• Michael Cristofer The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures
• Tyne Daly Master Class (B'way)
• Jesse Eisenberg Asuncion
• Linda Emond The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures
• Raúl Esparza Leap of Faith (B'way)
• Santino Fontana Sons of the Prophet
• Andrew Garfield Death of a Salesman
• Russell Harvard Tribes
• Philip Seymour Hoffman Death of a Salesman (B'way)
• Samuel L. Jackson The Mountaintop (B'way)
• Jeremy Jordan, Newsies Bonnie and Clyde (B'way)
• Steve Kazee Once (B'way)
• Celia Keenan-Bolger Peter and the Starcatcher (B'way)
• Christine Lahti Dreams of Flying, Dreams of Falling
• Angela Lansbury Gore Vidal's The Best Man (B'way)
• John Larroquette Gore Vidal's The Best Man (B'way)
• Linda Lavin The Lyons (B'way)
• Norm Lewis The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess (B'way)
• Judith Light Other Desert Cities (B'way)
• Ricky Martin Evita (B'way)
• Jan Maxwell Follies (B'way)
• Jefferson Mays Blood and Gifts
• Marin Mazzie Carrie
• Audra McDonald The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess (B'way)
• Ellen McLaughlin Septimus and Clarissa
• Cristin Milioti Once (B'way)
• Jessie Mueller On A Clear Day You Can See Forever (B'way)
• Carey Mulligan Through A Glass Darkly
• Cynthia Nixon Wit (B'way)
• Leslie Odom, Jr. Leap of Faith (B'way)
• Kelli O'Hara Nice Work If You Can Get It (B'way)
• Denis O'Hare An Iliad
• Lily Rabe Seminar (B'way)
• Da'Vine Joy Randolph Ghost the Musical (B'way)
• Molly Ranson Carrie
• Condola Rashad Stick Fly (B'way)
• Matthew Rhys Look Back In Anger
• Alan Rickman Seminar (B'way)
• Elena Roger Evita (B'way)
• Jeremy Shamos Clybourne Park (B'way)
• Kevin Spacey Richard III
• Stephen Spinella An Iliad
• Mary Testa Queen of the Mist
• Blair Underwood A Streetcar Named Desire (B'way)
• Mary Louise Wilson 4,000 Miles

In addition, fourteen 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 How I Learned To Drive
• Zoe Caldwell Elective Affinities
• Kathleen Chalfant Painting Churches
• Stockard Channing Other Desert Cities
• Rosemary Harris The Road To Mecca
• Hugh Jackman Hugh Jackman: Back On Broadway
• Sir Derek Jacobi King Lear
• James Earl Jones Gore Vidal's The Best Man
• Frank Langella Man and Boy
• John Lithgow The Columnist
• Patti LuPone An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin
• Bebe Neuwirth A Midsummer Night's Dream
• Bernadette Peters Follies
• Sam Waterston King Lear

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

• The Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award:Alan Menken
• The Unique Contribution to the Theatre Award: Rosie O'Donnell
• The Founders Award for Excellence in Directing: Diane Paulus

First awarded in 1922 and formalized in 1935, The Drama League Awards are the oldest theatrical honors in America. They are the only major theatergoer awards chosen by audience members — specifically, by the thousands of Drama League members nationwide who attend Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. 2012 Nominees were selected from over 170 productions.