Joel Grey & Stephen Daldry Among Honorees at 81st Annual Drama League Awards

The Drama League will give special recognition to Tony and Oscar winner Joel Grey, Tony and Olivier-winning director Stephen Daldry and WNET’s Neal Shapiro and David Horn. As previously reported, the 81st annual Drama League Awards ceremony will take place on May 15 in the Broadway Ballroom at the Marriott Marquis Times Square. A host for the evening will be announced soon.

Grey will receive the Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater Award. He is perhaps most known for creating the role of the Emcee in Cabaret which won him a Tony Award in 1967 and an Oscar in 1973. He was also Tony nominated for his performances in George M!, Goodtime Charley, The Grand Tour and for directing the 2011 revival of The Normal Heart. His additional credits include Chicago and Wicked.

Daldry will be honored with the Founders Award for Excellence in Directing. His productions of Skylight and The Audience are currently on Broadway this season. He won Tony awards in 1994 and 2009 for helming An Inspector Calls and Billy Elliot, respectively.

Shapiro, CEO of WNET, and Horn, Executive Producer of Great Performances and Director of Performance and Arts Programming at WNET, are responsible for bringing arts education and programming to the New York City region through networks Thirteen, WLIW21 and NJTV. In addition to these special honors, nominations for the five competitive Drama League categories (Distinguished Play, Distinguished Revival of a Play, Distinguished Best Musical, Distinguished Revival of a Musical and Distinguished Performance) will be announced on April 21.