David Hyde Pierce to Host Drama League Awards; Honorary Co-Chairs Include Alan Cumming, Nathan Lane & More

Tony and Emmy winner David Hyde Pierce, currently starring in Broadway’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, will host the 79th annual Drama League Awards at New York’s Marriot Marquis on May 17. This year’s awards will honor Tony winners Bernadette Peters and Jerry Mitchell, Madison Square Garden Entertainment and the Radio City Rockettes.

The Drama League also announced that the 2013 Awards honorary co-chairs will include current Broadway headliners Alan Cumming (Macbeth), Patina Miller (Pippin), Bobby Cannavale (The Big Knife), Nathan Lane (The Nance), Judith Light (The Assembled Parties), Fiona Shaw (The Testament of Mary), Cicely Tyson (The Trip to the Bountiful) and Holland Taylor (Ann), as well as Broadway vets Donna Murphy, Edie Falco, Judith Ivey and Michael Urie.

Peters will be presented the Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award by her Broadway Barks co-founder Mary Tyler Moore, while Jerry Mitchell will take home the Founders Award for Excellence in Directing, presented by his Kinky Boots collaborator Cyndi Lauper.

In addition to the special recognition awards, the Drama League will also present trophies in five competitive categories: Distinguished Play, Distinguished Revival of a Play, Distinguished Best Musical, Distinguished Revival of a Musical and the Distinguished Performance Award. Nominees for the competitive categories will be announced at Sardi’s on April 23.