Drama League Sets Gratitude Awards & Artistic Awards Dates; Alex Brightman and Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer to Present

The Drama League has set dates for the previously announced Gratitude Awards, which replaces the previously planned 86th Annual Drama League Awards. Nominations for the Gratitude Awards will be announced on the Drama League’s website, Vimeo and social media accounts on  April 23. The Gratitude Awards, a pre-recorded digital fundraiser, will air on April 30 at 7:30PM ET. Nominations for the Drama League’s 86th Annual Artistic Awards will be presented during the Gratitude Awards program by Beetlejuice’s Alex Brightman and Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer.

The Drama League has also announced the the special honorees who were nominated before the COVID- 19 crisis that shutdown Broadway. Director Marianne Elliott (Company) as the recipient of the Founders Award for Excellence in Directing, and Terrence McNally as the recipient of the Unique Contribution to Theater Award. Tom Kirdahy will accept on behalf of McNally, who passed away at the age of 81 on March 24 due to complications from coronavirus. The program will be inclusive of an In Memoriam, presented by Jeff Kaufman and Marcia Ross (producers of the documentaryTerrence McNally: Every Act of Life).

Shows premiered up until March 11 are eligible for nominations for the Gratitude Awards. All proceeds raised during the program will go toward the Ghost Light Campaign, with 25 percent of funds allocated to the Directors Emergency Relief Fund, a direct micro-grant program for stage directors who have lost work due to the COVID-19 crisis.