Drama League Awards

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.
The Drama League Awards honor distinguished productions, performances, and exemplary career achievements in musical theatre and directing. The first Drama League Award was presented to Katharine Cornell in 1935. Since then, the Distinguished Performance Award has been accorded to a roster of theatre legends such as Liam Neeson, Hugh Jackman, Patti LuPone, Glenn Close, Liev Schreiber, Sir John Gielgud, Harvey Fierstein, Cherry Jones, Alec Guinness, James Earl Jones, Julie Harris, Helen Hayes, Jeremy Irons, Mary-Louise Parker, Sir Ian McKellen, Bernadette Peters, and Christopher Plummer.
At the height of the theatrical season each May, The Drama League Awards are presented in a star-studded ceremony during The Annual Awards Luncheon, attended by a star-studded guest list of performers, directors, producers, and Drama League members. Lauded as “a wonderful, notoriously swanky affair” by Playbill and as “the best party on Broadway” by John Lithgow, the Awards Luncheon is considered the most intimate, friendly, and enjoyable event in the awards season.

2011 DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE AWARD

Nina Arianda, Born Yesterday
Vanessa Aspillaga, underneathmybed
Daniel Beaty, Through The Night
Brian Bedford, The Importance of Being Earnest
Jim Belushi, Born Yesterday
Laura Benanti, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
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
Victoria Clark, Sister Act
Billy Crudup, Arcadia and The Metal Children
Colin Donnell, Anything Goes
Lisa Emery, The Collection and A Kind of Alaska
The Ensemble of Sleep No More
The Ensemble of Hello Again
Raúl Esparza, Arcadia
Edie Falco, The House of Blue Leaves and This Wide Night
Halley Feiffer, Tigers Be Still
Sutton Foster, Anything Goes
Josh Gad, The Book of Mormon
Laura Heisler, Kin
John Benjamin Hickey, The Normal Heart
Marin Ireland, Three Sisters and In the Wake
John Larroquette, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Dan Lauria, Lombardi
John Leguizamo, Ghetto Klown
Judith Light, Lombardi
Joe Mantello, The Normal Heart
Elizabeth Marvel, The Little Foxes and Other Desert Cities
Frances McDormand, Good People
Laurie Metcalf, The Other Place
Patina Miller, Sister Act
Arian Moayed, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Donna Murphy, The People in the Picture
Seth Numrich, War Horse
Al Pacino, The Merchant of Venice
Estelle Parsons, Good People
Alison Pill, This Wide Night
Lily Rabe, The Merchant of Venice
Daniel Radcliffe, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Andrew Rannells, The Book of Mormon
Martin Rayner, Freud’s Last Session
Vanessa Redgrave, Driving Miss Daisy
Paul Reubens, The Pee-Wee Herman Show
Chris Rock, The Motherf**ker With The Hat
Mark Rylance, Jerusalem and La Bête
Michael Shannon, Mistakes Were Made
Fiona Shaw, John Gabriel Borkman
Tony Sheldon, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
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
Will Swenson, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Kathleen Turner, High
Aaron Tveit, Catch Me If You Can
Robin Williams, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Tom Wopat, Catch Me If You Can



PREVIOUS DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE AWARD RECIPIENTS
This award can only be won once in a performer’s lifetime. However, The Drama League recognizes the following previous recipients for their work this season:

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

So, apart from a few no-shows, this is the group who all sat at three long tables on a dais at the Marriot Marquis and ate their lunch in front of a paying audience (which included Angela Lansbury) in the style of the famous newsreel of the MGM studio luncheon from the 1940s. We all knew perfectly well that Mark Rylance was going to win the acting award because he is quite simply the finest actor of our time so there was no suspense there. But we did all have to make a short speech when the hostess Kathleen Turner called on us in alphabetical order. The speeches ranged from trite to moving to hilarious but everyone was proud to be a part of the proceedings and honoured to be in such illustrious company. As Liza Minnelli summed it up, "I'm so impressed with myself just being here!" I was seated behind Victoria Clark, Will Swenson and Jim Belushi, and next to Frances McDormand, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Daniel Radcliffe. I wish I could have enjoyed it more but I'm truly socially inept.