Drama League Award Winners Announced
Sutton Foster Earns Distinguished Performance Award
The Drama League announced the winners of the 2022 Drama League Awards on May 20. The in-person ceremony took place at the Ziegfield Ballroom and was hosted by the wonderful Frank DiLella with the magnificent Patti LuPone, Sutton Foster, Ben Vereen Shoshana Bean, Gabby Beans, and Lear deBessonet present to announce the awards.
Sutton Foster was also one of the winners, being awarded the Distinguished Performance Award for her work in The Music Man; this well-respected honor can only be won once during the career of an actor.
First awarded in 1922 and formalized in 1935, The Drama League Awards are the oldest theatrical honors in America. They are the only major theater awards chosen by a cross-section of the theater community—specifically, by the industry professionals, producers, artists, audiences, and critics who are Drama League members nationwide. This year’s ceremony will see the inaugural nominees in two new categories: Outstanding Direction of a Play and Outstanding Direction of a Musical.
The full list of nominations can be found below, with the winners in bold.
Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play
Confederates
The Lehman Trilogy – WINNER
Merry Wives
POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
Prayer for the French Republic
Selling Kabul
Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play
Cyrano De Bergerac
for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Take Me Out – WINNER
Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical
David Byrne’s American Utopia
The Hang
MJ The Musical
Mr. Saturday Night
Oratorio For Living Things
A Strange Loop – WINNER
Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical
Company – WINNER
Outstanding Direction of a Play
Knud Adams, English
Saheem Ali, Merry Wives
Stori Ayers, Confederates
Camille A. Brown, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Matthew Dunster, Hangmen
Jamie Lloyd, Cyrano De Bergerac
Sam Mendes, The Lehman Trilogy
Tyne Rafaeli, Selling Kabul
Taylor Reynolds, Tambo & Bones
Les Waters, Dana H.
Kate Whoriskey, Clyde’s – WINNER
Outstanding Direction of a Musical
John Doyle, Assassins
Marianne Elliott, Company – WINNER
Lee Sunday Evans, Oratio for Living Things
Michael Mayer, Funny Girl
Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage, Six
Leigh Silverman, Suffs
Niegel Smith, The Hang
Christopher Wheeldon, MJ The Musical
Jerry Zaks, The Music Man
Nominees for the Distinguished Performance Award
Uzo Aduba, Clyde’s
Simon Russell Beale, The Lehman Trilogy
Shoshana Bean, Mr. Saturday Night
Gabby Beans, The Skin of Our Teeth
Victoria Clark, Kimberly Akimbo
Sharon D Clarke, Caroline, Or Change
Billy Crystal, Mr. Saturday Night
Matt Doyle, Company
Rachel Dratch, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive
Edie Falco, Morning Sun
Tyler Fauntleroy, Tambo & Bones
Beanie Feldstein, Funny Girl
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Take Me Out
Sutton Foster, The Music Man – WINNER
Myles Frost, MJ The Musical
Adrianna Hicks, Six
Marin Ireland, Morning Sun
Nikki M. James, Suffs
Ron Cephas Jones, Clyde’s
Joaquina Kalukango, Paradise Square
LaChanze, Trouble in Mind
L Morgan Lee, A Strange Loop
Jane Lynch, Funny Girl
Taylor Mac, The Hang
Brittney Mack, Six
Ebony Marshall-Oliver, 7 Minutes
Elizabeth Marvel, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
James McAvoy, Cyrano de Bergerac
Rob McClure, Mrs. Doubtfire
Kenita R. Miller, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Bonnie Milligan, Kimberly Akimbo
David Morse, How I Learned to Drive
Deirdre O’Connell, Dana H.
Sarah Jessica Parker, Plaza Suite
Phylicia Rashad, Skeleton Crew
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Lackawanna Blues
Arturo Luis Soria, Ni Mi Madre
Jaquel Spivey, A Strange Loop
Cecily Strong, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
Will Swenson, Assassins
Julie White, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive
Jesse Williams, Take Me Out
Michelle Wilson, Confederates
The Drama League also acknowledges previous recipients who appeared in Broadway or Off-Broadway productions this season. As the award can only be won once in a performer’s lifetime, they are ineligible to be nominated again.
Hugh Jackman, The Music Man
Patti LuPone, Company
Mary-Louise Parker, How I Learned to Drive
As previously reported, this year’s honorees include:
Mr. Saturday Night star and creator Billy Crystal
The Music Man star Hugh Jackman
Lincoln Center Theater Resident Director Lileana Blain-Cruz
Tony Award-winning producer Willette Murphy Klausner.
Crystal was presented with the Contribution to the Theater Award for his extraordinary work on stages across the country and commitment to mentorship in the field. Jackman received the Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater Award for his outstanding work on stage and in film. Blain-Cruz was honored with the Founders Award for Excellence in Directing. Klausner was honored with the Gratitude Award.
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