NOMINATIONS: 77th Drama League Awards

This morning, "Norbert Leo Butz and Kathleen Chalfant announced the nominations for The 77th Annual Drama League Awards in the categories of Distinguished Production of Play, Distinguished Production of a Musical, Distinguished Revival of a Play, Distinguished Revival of a Musical and the Distinguished Performance Award. Both actors are previous winners of The Drama League's Distinguished Performance Award.

The 2011 Drama Desk Nominees are:

The Drama League (Jano Herbosch, President; Gabriel Shanks, Executive Director) proudly announces the nominations for the 2010-11 Drama League Awards, "to be presented at The 77th Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon on Friday, May 20, 2011 (noon) in the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square (1535 Broadway at 46th Street). The ceremony will be hosted by Kathleen Turner (High).

Distinguished Production of a Play (12)
"Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo" | Richard Rodgers Theatre
"The Diary of a Madman" | Brooklyn Academy of Music
"The Dream of the Burning Boy" | Roundabout Theatre Company
"The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity" | Second Stage Theatre
"Gatz" | Elevator Repair Service/The Public Theater
"Good People" | Manhattan Theatre Club
"Jerusalem" | Music Box Theatre
"Kin" | Playwrights Horizons
"The Motherf**ker with the Hat" | Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre
"Other Desert Cities" | Lincoln Center Theatre
"Sleep No More" | Punchdrunk/The McKittrick Hotel
"War Horse" | Lincoln Center Theatre

Distinguished Production of a Musical (7)
"The Book of Mormon" | Eugene O'Neill Theatre
"Catch Me If You Can" | Neil Simon Theatre
"Elf" | Al Hirschfeld Theatre
"In Transit" | Primary Stages
"The People in the Picture" | Roundabout Theatre Company
"Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" | Palace Theatre
"Sister Act" | Broadway Theatre

Distinguished Revival of a Play (10)
"Angels in America" | Signature Theatre Company
"Arcadia" | Ethel Barrymore Theatre
"Born Yesterday" | Cort Theatre
"The Collection and a Kind of Alaska" | Atlantic Theatre Company
"The House of Blue Leaves" | Walter Kerr Theatre
"The Importance of Being Earnest" | Roundabout Theatre Company
"La Bête" | Music Box Theatre
"The Little Foxes" | New York Theatre Workshop
"The Merchant of Venice" | The Public Theater/Broadhurst Theatre
"The Normal Heart" | John Golden Theatre

Distinguished Revival of a Musical (3)
"Anything Goes" | Roundabout Theatre Company
"Hello Again" | The Transport Group
"How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" | Al Hirschfeld Theatre

"What an amazing season this has been for Broadway and Off-Broadway theatergoers! In the Distinguished Production of a Play category, there were more than seventy new plays in contention this season -- a record for Drama League consideration," said Drama League President Jano Herbosch. "The nominating committee felt, as do we all, that the stunning bounty of work on display merited an expanded slate of nominees, given the extraordinary accomplishments in that area."

This season's Broadway transfers of "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson," "Brief Encounter," "The Scottsboro Boys" and "Time Stands Still" were nominated in 2010 for their original productions, and thus were not eligible for this year's awards.

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 63-member dais includes the following performers, one of whom will be honored with The Distinguished Performance Award on Friday, May 20:

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/A Kind of Alaska"
* Ensemble, "Sleep No More"
* Ensemble, "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, "In the Wake and Three Sisters"
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"

* The ensemble casts of "Sleep No More" and "Hello Again" will be honored collectively on the dais. The producers of each show may appoint one or two cast members to appear on the dais on behalf of the show's entire ensemble.

In addition, seven 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 are:

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 Nervous Breakdown"
Brian Stokes Mitchell, "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown"
Geoffrey Rush, "The Diary of a Madman"

As previously announced, each year The Drama League awards three non-competitive Special Recognitions. This year, Whoopi Goldberg will receive the Unique Contribution to the Theatre Award, Liza Minnelli will be honored with the Distinguished Acheivement in Musical Theatre Award and Susan Stroman will receive the Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing.

Tickets for The 77th Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon are now available by calling 212-244-9494.

For more information, "please visit www.dramaleague.org.