2008 Drama League Nominees Announced; 70 Actors Receive Nods

The Drama League has announced the nominees for its 2007-2008 Awards, to be presented at the 74th annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon on May 16 in the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott Marquis Hotel. A total of 70 actors who have been nominated for the year's Distinguished Performance Award will appear on a dais at the event, which will be hosted by Harvey Fierstein, currently appearing as Uncle Winston in the Broadway musical A Catered Affair.

Winners of three special awards have already been named. Ellen Stewart, founder and artistic director of La MaMa ETC, will be honored for her Unique Contribution to the Theatre; music director Paul Gemignani has been cited for Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre; and South Pacific director Bartlett Sher will receive the Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing.

The nominees are as follows:

Distinguished Production of a Play
August: Osage County
Eurydice
The Farnsworth Invention
November
Rock 'n' Roll
The Seafarer
Thurgood
The 39 Steps

Distinguished Production of a Musical
A Catered Affair
Cry-Baby
Next to Normal
Passing Strange
Adding Machine
The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island
Xanadu
Young Frankenstein

Distinguished Revival of a Play
Boeing-Boeing
A Bronx Tale
Gaslight
Les Liasons Dangereuses
Macbeth
The Misanthrope
Romeo and Juliet
The Ritz

Distinguished Revival of a Musical
Black Nativity
Gypsy
Seussical
South Pacific
Sunday in the Park with George

The following actors have been nominated for the Drama League's Distinguished Performance Award. Previous winners who are ineligible this year include Norbert Leo Butz, Kathleen Chalfant, Harvey Fierstein, James Earl Jones, John Lithgow, Ian McKellen and Mary-Louise Parker.

Lauren Ambrose, Romeo and Juliet
Hank Azaria, The Farnsworth Invention
Roger Bart, Young Frankenstein
Christine Baranski, Boeing-Boeing
Laura Benanti, Gypsy
Sierra Boggess, The Little Mermaid
Daniel Breaker, Passing Strange
Ellen Burstyn, The Little Flower of East Orange
Charles Busch, Die Mommie Die!
Kerry Butler, Xanadu
Bill Camp, The Misanthrope
Bobby Cannavale, Mauritius
Margaret Colin, Old Acquaintance
Ben Daniels, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Andre de Shields, Black Nativity
Peter Dinklage, Things We Want
Deanna Dunagan, August: Osage County

Daniel Evans, Sunday in the Park with George
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, A Midsummer Night's Dream
Laurence Fishburne, Thurgood
Sutton Foster, Young Frankenstein
Elizabeth Franz, The Piano Teacher
Morgan Freeman, The Country Girl
Peter Gallagher, The Country Girl
David Greenspan, Beebo Brinker Chronicles
Harriet Harris, Old Acquaintance, Cry-Baby
Jayne Houdyshell, The Receptionist, The New Century
Terrence Howard, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cheyenne Jackson, Xanadu
Brian d'Arcy James, Next To Normal
Francis Jue, Yellow Face
Kevin Kline, Cyrano de Bergerac
Nathan Lane, November
Angela Lansbury, Deuce
Hoon Lee, Yellow Face
Laura Linney, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Patti LuPone, Gypsy
Elizabeth Marvel, Top Girls
Alli Mauzey, Cry-Baby
Jefferson Mays, Pygmalion
Frances McDormand, The Country Girl
S. Epatha Merkerson, Come Back, Little Sheba
David Morse, The Seafarer
Amy Morton, August: Osage County
Jim Norton, The Seafarer
Chazz Palminteri, A Bronx Tale
Rosie Perez, The Ritz
Martha Plimpton, A Midsummer's Night Dream, Cymbeline, Top Girls
Faith Prince, A Catered Affair
Bill Pullman, Peter and Jerry
Dallas Roberts, Peter and Jerry
Anika Noni Rose, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Mark Rylance, Boeing-Boeing
Jenna Russell, Sunday in the Park with George
Tobias Segal, From Up Here
Marian Seldes, Deuce
Jeanine Serralles, The Black Eyed, The Misanthrope
Rufus Sewell, Rock 'N' Roll
Jimmi Simpson, The Farnsworth Invention
Lois Smith, 100 Saints You Should Know
James Snyder, Cry-Baby
David Staller, Gaslight
Bobby Steggert, The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island
Stew, Passing Strange
Patrick Stewart, Macbeth
Paulo Szot, South Pacific
Julie White, From Up Here
Dianne Wiest, The Seagull
Mare Winningham, 10 Million Miles
Tom Wopat, A Catered Affair