On the Scene at the 2008 Drama League Awards

As one of the first events of "awards season," the Drama League luncheon is always well attended, partly because 70 actors from Broadway and off-Broadway shows line up on a three-tier dais in the ballroom of the Marriott Marquis Hotel for all to see. For a complete list of winners, announced on May 16, click here. Actually, there were 51 performers on the dais this year—among the 19 no-shows were Roger Bart, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline and Nathan Lane, though several other famous folks who didn't get Tony nominations gamely took their seats onstage, notably Frances McDormand, James Earl Jones and Laura Linney.

It's always fun to see starry-eyed newcomers like Jeanine Serralles honored for The Black Eyed and The Misanthrope and Cry-Baby's Ally Mauzey rub elbows with the likes of Patrick Stewart, Martha Plimpton and eventual "Distinguished Performance" winner Patti LuPone. "This is the closest I've ever gotten to dinner theater," Stewart quipped.

Introduced by charming host Harvey Fierstein, the honorees took the mic alphabetically to say thanks and greet the large crowd. The first 10 or so actors kept to predictable "I'm thrilled to be here in such incredible company" remarks, but Sunday in the Park with George star Daniel Evans woke everybody up when he stood and announced, "What better opportunity to ask Cheyenne Jackson to marry me!" Seated behind Evans, the Xanadu star took the proposal in stride, blowing him a kiss. When his turn to speak came, Jackson joked, "My answer is yes—but we were going to wait to announce that, Daniel! We are registered at Rochester Big & Tall for Men." Not to be outdone, Fierstein ad-libbed, "Daniel, Cheyenne, I was just thinking, can I watch? It's theater!"

Among the actors who shared amusing backstage stories were Bronx Tale star Chazz Palminteri, who recalled being a Broadway understudy and having to instruct his "wise guy" friends not to harm the leading man so that Palminteri could have a turn in the spotlight. Ritz leading lady Rosie Perez reminisced about her friends from Bushwick, Brooklyn, who instructed the rest of the audience to "Stand the f**k up!" for their pal during a performance of Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune.

S. Epatha Merkerson of Come Back, Little Sheba and Amy Morton of August: Osage County made hot flash jokes Merkerson said she got warm with nerves waiting for her turn to speak; Morton claimed that Tracy Letts wrote a hot flash into the August script to accommodate her. Merkerson also thanked Cynthia Nixon for starring in the Sex and the City movie, which opened up a Manhattan Theatre Club Broadway slot for Sheba. Speaking of movies, Country Girl star Frances McDormand revealed that she sneaks out to the AMC theater on 42nd Street between shows on Saturday to see flicks like Iron Man with her son.

But among the joking, several actors gave moving short speeches about how much the New York theater community means to them. "I feel like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz," declared A Catered Affair star Faith Prince. "Sometimes you have to go away, shake it up and come back to appreciate how great this community is." Gypsy star LuPone, who received her award from Christine Ebersole, said, "I am still a grateful student. Whenever I go to the theater, I am awed by what I see."