Nominations for the 2024 Drama League Awards, recognizing the best of Broadway and Off-Broadway, were revealed April 22 in an announcement read by Vanessa Williams and Bebe Neuwirth at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. Winners will be named at a May 17 ceremony at the Ziegfeld Ballroom.
The Drama League Awards' limited category roster includes Outstanding Production of a Play, Outstanding Revival of a Play, Outstanding Production of a Musical, Outstanding Revival of a Musical, Outstanding Direction of a Play, Outstanding Direction of a Musical, and Distinguished Performance. Actors are only eligible to receive the Distinguished Performance Award once in their career, making the honor a unique one.
Notably, Here We Are, the final Sondheim musical that posthumously premiered last year Off-Broadway at The Shed, was not considered for this year's awards at the request of the production. Broadway's Appropriate and Mary Jane were both ruled revivals since they are being presented on Broadway with "substantially different production elements" compared to the works' Off-Broadway premieres, whereas The Prayer for the French Republic and Suffs were ruled transfers, making them eligible in the Outstanding Production categories.
Nominated for Outstanding Production of a Play were The Comeuppance, Flex, Grief Hotel, The Hunt, Jaja's African Hair Braiding, Mother Play, Oh, Mary!, Patriots, Prayer for the French Republic, Stereophonic, and Wet Brain. Outstanding Production a Musical nominees include Buena Vista Social Club, Dead Outlaw, Harmony, The Heart of Rock and Roll, Hell's Kitchen, Illinoise, Lempicka, The Notebook, The Outsiders, Suffs, Teeth, and Water for Elephants.
The May 17 ceremony will be open to the public, with tickets and tables available to the lunchtime event at DramaLeague.org.
See the complete list below.
Outstanding Production of a Play
The Comeuppance
Flex
Grief Hotel
The Hunt
Jaja's African Hair Braiding
Mother Play
Oh, Mary!
Patriots
Prayer for the French Republic
Stereophonic
Wet Brain
Outstanding Revival of a Play
An Enemy of the People
Appropriate
Danny and the Deep Blue Sea
Doubt: A Parable
The Effect
Mary Jane
Our Class
Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch
Uncle Vanya
The White Chip
Outstanding Production of a Musical
Buena Vista Social Club
Dead Outlaw
Harmony
The Heart of Rock and Roll
Hell's Kitchen
Illinoise
Lempicka
The Notebook
The Outsiders
Suffs
Teeth
Water for Elephants
Outstanding Revival of a Musical
Cabaret
Gutenberg! The Musical!
Here Lies Love
I Can Get It For You Wholesale
Merrily We Roll Along
Spamalot
The Who's Tommy
The Wiz
Outstanding Direction of a Play
Tara Ahmadinejad, Grief Hotel
Daniel Aukin, Stereophonic
Sam Gold, An Enemy of The People
Rupert Goold, The Hunt
Rupert Goold, Patriots
Jamie Lloyd, The Effect
Lila Neugebauer, Appropriate
Lila Neugebauer, Uncle Vanya
Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary!
Eric Ting, The Comeuppance
Whitney White, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
Outstanding Direction of a Musical
Saheem Ali, Buena Vista Social Club
Sarah Benson, Teeth
David Cromer, Dead Outlaw
Rebecca Frecknall, Cabaret
Maria Friedman, Merrily We Roll Along
Des McAnuff, The Who’s Tommy
Leigh Silverman, Suffs
Alex Timbers, Gutenberg! The Musical!
Alex Timbers, Here Lies Love
Distinguished Performance
Betsy Aidem, Prayer for the French Republic
Shoshana Bean, Hell's Kitchen
Gabby Beans, Jonah
Joshua Boone, The Outsiders
Ali Louis Bourzgui, The Who’s Tommy
Steve Carell, Uncle Vanya
Jenn Colella, Suffs
Danny DeVito, I Need That
Caleb Eberhardt, The Comeuppance and An Enemy of the People
Alex Edelman, Just for Us
Cole Escola, Oh, Mary!
Eden Espinosa, The Gardens of Anuncia and Lempicka
Paapa Essiedu, The Effect
Melissa Etheridge, Melissa Etheridge: My Window
Laurence Fishburne, Like They Do in the Movies
Josh Gad, Gutenberg! The Musical!
Eli Gelb, Stereophonic
Brody Grant, The Outsiders
Jonathan Groff, Merrily We Roll Along
Dorian Harewood, The Notebook
Willam Jackson Harper, Primary Trust and Uncle Vanya
Amber Iman, Lempicka
Eddie Izzard, Hamlet
Nikki M. James, Suffs
Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, Spamalot
Jessica Lange, Mother Play
Kecia Lewis, Hell’s Kitchen
Nichelle Lewis, The Wiz
Maribel Martinez, Bees and Honey
Rachel McAdams, Mary Jane
Lindsay Mendez, Merrily We Roll Along
Tobias Menzies, The Hunt
Cynthia Nixon, The Seven Year Disappear
Eva Noblezada, The Great Gatsby
Kelli O'Hara, Days of Wine and Roses
Leslie Odom, Jr., Purlie Victorious, A Non-Confederate Romp Through The Cotton Patch
Patrick Page, All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented The Villain
Nicole Ari Parker, The Refuge Plays
Jim Parsons, Mother Play
Sarah Paulson, Appropriate
Sarah Pidgeon, Stereophonic
Aubrey Plaza, Danny and The Deep Blue Sea
Maryann Plunkett, The Notebook
Daniel Radcliffe, Merrily We Roll Along
Gayle Rankin, Cabaret
Andrew Rannells, Gutenberg! The Musical!
Eddie Redmayne, Cabaret
Conrad Ricamora, Here Lies Love and Oh, Mary!
Corey Stoll, Appropriate
Michael Stuhlbarg, Patriots
Jeremy Strong, An Enemy of the People
Zenzi Williams, Jaja's African Hair Braiding
Kara Young, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through The Cotton Patch
Jehan O. Young, The Cotillion
The Drama League also acknowledges exemplary work for the following previous recipients of the Distinguished Performance Award, who are therefore ineligible to win or be nominated in the category again:
Alfred Molina, Uncle Vanya
Bebe Neuwirth, Cabaret
Liev Schreiber, Doubt: A Parable
As previously announced, the Drama League is also bestowing non-competitive special recognitions at the 2024 ceremony. Jonathan Groff will receive the Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater Award, with Schele Williams receiving the Founders Award for Excellence in Directing, Jessica Lange the Contribution to the Theater Award, and Kandi Burruss the Gratitude Award.
This year's event co-chairs are Bonnie Comley and Darin Oduyoye. The Steering Committee is Trish Chambers, Jonathan Demar, Irene Gandy, Sarah Hutton, Kirk Iwanowski, Mary Jain, Paula Kaminsky Davis, Fred Siegel, and Kumiko Yoshii.
