Winners of the 88th Annual Drama League Awards were announced on Friday, May 20 2022 at a ceremony hosted by Emmy Award-winning journalist Frank DiLella at the Ziegfeld Ballroom. The Drama League Awards honor both Broadway and Off-Broadway productions from the 2021-2022 theater season.
Tony Awards frontrunners mostly dominated the production categories. Best Musical went to “A Strange Loop,” Best Play went to “The Lehman Trilogy,” and Best Revival of a Musical was handed to “Company.” The Second Stage Theater production of “Take Me Out” prevailed in the hotly competitive Best Revival of a Play category.
The winners of the Drama League’s inaugural categories for direction of a musical and play went to Marianne Elliott (“Company”) and Kate Whoriskey (“Clyde’s”), respectively. Elliott sits far out front in the corresponding Tony race, though Whoriskey’s triumph comes as a surprise. This frequent collaborator of Lynn Nottage failed to earn a Tony nomination, yet at the Drama League Awards she overcame Tony-nominated directors Camille A. Brown (“for colored girls”), Sam Mendes (“The Lehman Trilogy”), and Les Waters (“Dana H.”).
The Drama League’s most unique category is their Distinguished Performance Award, which encompasses lead and supporting actors, from both plays and musicals, and of any gender. This year’s Distinguished Performance prize went to Sutton Foster, who plays Marian in “The Music Man” opposite Hugh Jackman. A performer can only win this prize once in their career, so Foster won’t show up as a nominee here in for future theatrical outings.
Find the complete list of nominees and winners of the 2022 Drama League awards, below.
OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF A PLAY
“Clyde’s”
Written by Lynn Nottage
“Confederates”
Written by Dominique Morisseau
“Dana H.”
Written by Lucas Hnath; Adapted from Interviews with Dana Higginbotham; Interviews Conducted by Steve Cosson
“English”
Written by Sanaz Toossi
“Hangmen”
Written by Martin McDonagh
X – “The Lehman Trilogy”
Written by Stefano Massini; Adapted by Ben Power
“Merry Wives”
Written By William Shakespeare
“The Minutes”
Written by Tracy Letts
“POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive”
Written by Selina Fillinger
“Prayer for the French Republic”
Written by Joshua Harmon
“Selling Kabul”
Written by Sylvia Khoury
OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A PLAY
“American Buffalo”
“Cyrano De Bergerac”
“for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf”
“How I Learned to Drive”
“Long Day’s Journey Into Night”
“Skeleton Crew”
“The Skin of Our Teeth”
X – “Take Me Out”
“Trouble in Mind”
OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL
“David Byrne’s American Utopia”
Music by David Byrne
“The Hang”
Book & Lyrics by Taylor Mac
Music by Matt Ray
“Kimberly Akimbo”
Book & Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire
Music by Jeanine Tesori
“MJ: The Musical”
Book by Lynn Nottage
“Mr. Saturday Night”
Book by Billy Crystal, Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel
Music by Jason Robert Brown; Lyrics by Amanda Green
“Mrs. Doubtfire”
Book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell
Music by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick; Lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick
“Oratorio For Living Things”
Composed and created by Heather Christian
“SIX”
Book, Music, Lyrics by Toby Marlow & Lucy Moss
X – “A Strange Loop”
Book, Music, Lyrics by Michael R. Jackson
“SUFFS”
Book, Music, Lyrics by Shaina Taub
OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
“Assassins”
X – “Company”
“Caroline, or Change”
“Funny Girl”
“The Music Man”
OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A PLAY
Knud Adams, “English”
Atlantic Theater Company and Roundabout Theatre Company
Saheem Ali, “Merry Wives”
The Public Theater / New York Shakespeare Festival=
Stori Ayers, “Confederates”
Signature Theatre
Camille A. Brown, “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf”
Booth Theatre
Matthew Dunster, “Hangmen”
John Golden Theatre
Jamie Lloyd, Cyrano de Bergerac”
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Sam Mendes, “The Lehman Trilogy”
Nederlander Theatre
Tyne Rafaeli, “Selling Kabul”
Playwrights Horizons
Taylor Reynolds, “Tambo & Bones”
Playwrights Horizons
Les Waters, “Dana H.”
Lyceum Theatre
X – Kate Whoriskey, “Clyde’s”
Second Stage Theatre
OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
John Doyle, “Assassins”
Classic Stage Company
X – Marianne Elliott, “Company”
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
Lee Sunday Evans, Oratorio For Living Things”
Ars Nova
Michael Mayer, “Funny Girl”
August Wilson Theatre
Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage, “SIX”
Brooks Atkinson Theatre
Leigh Silverman, “Suffs”
The Public Theater
Niegel Smith, “The Hang”
HERE Arts Center
Christopher Wheeldon, “MJ: The Musical”
Neil Simon Theatre
Jerry Zaks, “The Music Man”
Winter Garden Theatre
NOMINEES FOR THE DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE AWARD
Uzo Aduba, “Clyde’s”
Simon Russell Beale, ‘The Lehman Trilogy”
Shoshana Bean, “Mr. Saturday Night”
Gabby Beans, “The Skin of Our Teeth”
Victoria Clark, “Kimberly Akimbo”
Sharon D. Clarke, “Caroline, or Change”
Billy Crystal, “Mr. Saturday Night”
Matt Doyle, “Company”
Rachel Dratch, “POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive”
Edie Falco, “Morning Sun”
Tyler Fauntleroy, “Tambo & Bones”
Beanie Feldstein, “Funny Girl”
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, “Take Me Out”
X – Sutton Foster, “The Music Man”
Myles Frost, “MJ: The Musical”
Adrianna Hicks, “SIX”
Marin Ireland, “Morning Sun”
Nikki M. James, “SUFFS”
Ron Cephas Jones, “Clyde’s”
Joaquina Kalukango, “Paradise Square”
LaChanze, “Trouble in Mind”
L Morgan Lee, “A Strange Loop”
Jane Lynch, “Funny Girl”
Taylor Mac, “The Hang”
Brittney Mack, SIX”
Ebony Marshall-Oliver, “7 Minutes”
Elizabeth Marvel, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”
James McAvoy, “Cyrano de Bergerac”
Rob McClure, “Mrs. Doubtfire”
Kenita R. Miller, “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf”
Bonnie Milligan, “Kimberly Akimbo”
David Morse, “How I Learned to Drive”
Deirdre O’Connell, “Dana H.”
Sarah Jessica Parker, “Plaza Suite”
Phylicia Rashad, “Skeleton Crew”
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, “Lackawanna Blues”
Arturo Luis Soria, “Ni Mi Madre”
Jaquel Spivey, “A Strange Loop”
Cecily Strong, “The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe”
Will Swenson, “Assassins”
Julie White, “POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive”
Jesse Williams, “Take Me Out”
Michelle Wilson, “Confederates”
SPECIAL RECOGNITIONS (previously announced)
Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre – Hugh Jackman
Founders Award for Excellence in Directing – Lileana Blain-Cruz
Contribution to the Theater – Billy Crystal
The Gratitude Award – Willette Murphy Klausner
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