Nominations have been announced for the 90th annual Drama League Awards. Bebe Neuwirth and Vanessa Williams announced the nominations for the awards body, which acknowledges Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, on April 22 at the New York Library for the Performing Arts. As previously announced, winners will be announced at the 2024 Drama League Awards ceremony on May 17.
Thirty-two Broadway productions from the 2023-2024 season were named in all seven competitive categories: 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.
Of the 32 Broadway productions acknowledged, 22 received more than one nomination. The revival of “Merrily We Roll Along” received five, the most of any Broadway show. “An Enemy of the People,” “Appropriate,” “Cabaret,” “Gutenberg! The Musical!,” “Stereophonic,” “Suffs” and “Uncle Vanya” received four nominations each.
Three directors received double nominations. Tony Award winner Alex Timbers was nominated twice in the Outstanding Direction of a Musical category, for his work on “Gutenberg! The Musical!” and “Here Lies Love.” In the Outstanding Direction of a Play category, Tony nominee Rupert Goold (“The Hunt” and “Patriots”) and Lila Neugebauer (“Appropriate” and “Uncle Vanya”) were also double-nominated.
As previously announced, Kandi Burruss, Jonathan Gross, Jessica Lange and Schele Williams will receive special citations.
To be eligible for the 2024 Drama League Awards, productions must have begun previews between April 24, 2023 and April 20, 2024.
The 2024 awards committee is co-chaired by Bonnie Comley and Darin Oduyoye. The steering committee includes Trish Chambers, Jonathan Demar, Irene Gandy, Sarah Hutton, Kirk Iwanowski, Mary Jain, Paula Kaminsky Davis, Fred Siegel and Kumiko Yoshii.
A complete list of nominees can be found 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”
“The Effect”
“Mary Jane”
“Our Class”
“Purlie Victorious”
“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”
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”
Jehan O. Young, “The Cotillion”
Special Recognitions:
Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater
Jonathan Groff
Founders Award for Excellence in Directing
Schele Williams
Contribution to the Theater
Jessica Lange
Gratitude Award
Kandi Burruss
Nominations by Broadway show:
“Merrily We Roll Along” — 5
“An Enemy of the People” — 4
“Appropriate” — 4
“Cabaret” — 4
“Gutenberg! The Musical!” — 4
“Stereophonic” — 4
“Suffs” — 4
“Uncle Vanya” — 4
“Hell’s Kitchen — 3
“Here Lies Love” — 3
“Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” — 3
“Lempicka” — 3
“Mother Play” — 3
“Patriots” — 3
“Purlie Victorious” — 3
“The Notebook” — 3
“The Outsiders” — 3
“The Who’s Tommy” — 3
“Mary Jane” - 2
“Prayer for the French Republic” - 2
“Spamalot” — 2
“The Wiz” — 2
“Days of Wine and Roses” — 1
“Doubt” — 1
“Harmony” — 1
“I Need That” — 1
“Illinoise” — 1
“Just for Us” — 1
“Melissa Etheridge: My Window” — 1
“The Great Gatsby” — 1
“The Heart of Rock and Roll” — 1
“Water for Elephants” — 1
As an individual can only win the Distinguished Performance Award once in their lifetime, the Drama League acknowledges this season’s work of previous recipients Alfred Molina (for “Uncle Vanya”), Neuwirth (“Cabaret”) and Liev Schreiber (“Doubt”).
The Drama League deemed the Broadway mountings of “Appropriate” and “Mary Jane” revivals, as their respective Off-Broadway productions were substantially different. Similarly, “Prayer for the French Republic” and “Suffs” were deemed substantially similar to their previous Off-Broadway productions and are considered in the Outstanding Production of a Play and Musical categories, respectively. The world of Stephen Sondheim’s “Here We Are,” which played Off-broadway in the fall of 2023, was not considered eligible, as per the request of the production’s producers.
