| Lea Salonga, Whitney White, Robert Greenblatt, Neil Meron, and Kate Navin and Audible Theater to be Honored at The 91st Annual Drama League Awards | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 01:13 pm EST 01/23/25 | |
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| LEA SALONGA, WHITNEY WHITE, ROBERT GREENBLATT, NEIL MERON, AND KATE NAVIN AND AUDIBLE THEATER TO BE HONORED AT THE 91ST ANNUAL DRAMA LEAGUE AWARDS HOSTED BY EMMY AWARD WINNER FRANK DILELLA THE AWARDS LUNCHEON CEREMONY WILL BE HELD FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2025, AT 12:00PM AT THE ZIEGFELD BALLROOM IN NYC NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2024-25 BROADWAY AND OFF-BROADWAY SEASON WILL BE ANNOUNCED TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 2025 AT 10AM AT THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS (NEW YORK, NY) The Drama League (Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, Artistic Director; Bevin Ross, Executive Director) announced the 2025 Special Recognition Honorees of the 91st Annual Drama League Awards, who will be celebrated for their outstanding lifetime contributions to the theater industry and to popular culture. Tony and Olivier Award winner Lea Salonga will receive the Award for Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater for her outstanding work on stage as part of the musical theater community. Ms. Salonga, a two-time Grammy Award nominee, will be seen this spring in Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends on Broadway. Director Whitney White will be honored with the Founders Award for Excellence in Directing for her groundbreaking work, which this season in New York includes Walden at Second Stage, Liberation at Roundabout Theater Company, Macbeth in Stride at BAM, and The Last Five Years on Broadway. The Gratitude Award will be presented to lead producers of this season's new Broadway musical Smash Robert Greenblatt and Neil Meron, in recognition of their vibrant creative achievements, leadership, and commitment to the American theater. Audible Theater and Kate Navin will be honored with the Contribution to the Theater Award, for their unwavering commitment to furthering the art of the American theater, including the premiere of Dead Outlaw, which moves to Broadway this spring. These awards will be presented during the famed luncheon ceremony at The Ziegfeld Ballroom (141 W 54th St, NYC) on Friday, May 16, 2025, at 12:00PM. The event will be hosted by Emmy Award winner Frank DiLella (NY1 "On Stage"; PBS Great Performances "Reopening: The Broadway Revival"). Nominations for the 2024-25 Broadway and Off-Broadway season will be announced on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 10:00am, at Lincoln Center's New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (111 Amsterdam Avenue at 64th Street). Honoring the outstanding accomplishments of the theatrical community, The Drama League Awards will be bestowed in the following categories: •Distinguished Performance Award •Outstanding Production of a Play •Outstanding Production of a Musical •Outstanding Revival of a Play •Outstanding Revival of a Musical •Outstanding Direction of a Play •Outstanding Direction of a Musical •Founders Award for Excellence in Directing •Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater •Contribution to the Theater Award •The Gratitude Award Broadway and Off-Broadway productions must have started previews between April 21, 2024 – April 20, 2025 to be eligible for this season's Drama League Awards. First presented in 1922 and formalized in 1935, the Drama League Awards are a core service to the theater community of The Drama League, an arts organization that has provided vital support to the field and its artists for over a century. The organization's mission provides the nation's only full-time, lifelong creative home for stage directors and the audiences that enjoy their work around the world. Last year's dynamic 2024 Awards Ceremony brought out the industry's best and brightest with Daniel Radcliffe, Jessica Lange, Jonathan Groff, Rachel McAdams, Eddie Redmayne & more, dazzling the audience of more than 500 people. Appropriate star Sarah Paulson took home the 2024 Distinguished Performance Award, which artists can only win once in their career, and Hell's Kitchen and Stereophonic won Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical and Play, respectively. The 2024 Drama League Awards also saw the third year of new categories for Outstanding Direction of a Play (recipient Daniel Aukin for Stereophonic and Outstanding Direction of a Musical (recipient Maria Friedman for Merrily We Roll Along), which honor the vital mission of The Drama League. For a complete list of productions and performers that have won Drama League Awards in the event's history, as well as all past honorees, click here. Drama League members have voting privileges in the competitive award categories. Drama League memberships are open to industry professionals, artists, and audience members. They are tax-deductible and support The Drama League's programs that provide vital career support for directors. Members enjoy access to exclusive members-only events, house seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, and more. Members must be in good standing by April 15, 2025, in order to vote on this year's Awards. To become a voting member, visit dramaleague.org/membership or call (212) 244-9494, ext. 101. The Drama League is grateful for support from its generous donors and current Drama League Awards Sponsors. More information on sponsoring the luncheon can be found at dramaleague.org/2025awards. About The Drama League The Drama League is the preeminent creative development home for directors, offering access and opportunity to them, their collaborators, and the audiences they inspire across the world. Founded in 1916, we are one of the longest-running arts service organizations in the country. We enable directors to make the most powerful, impactful work possible across multiple mediums reaching ever wider audiences, and build sustainable careers. Uplifting directors of all economic classes, races, abilities, genders and identities is a cornerstone of this mission. We provide support to directors throughout their artistic life, and our work in education offers both continued learning to professionals and introduces the skills of directing to young people. Underpinning our work is the support of our Members, a community of ardent theater fans and industry professionals whose commitment to advancing the art form helps develop the careers of the talented directors we champion. More information about The Drama League's programs, alumni, and the Awards history can be found at www.dramaleague.org. About Lea Salonga Lea Salonga is best known for her Tony Award Winning role in Miss Saigon. In addition to Tony, she has won the Olivier, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Theater World Awards, Time100 Impact Award from Time Magazine, and the Gold Legend Award from Gold House. Most recently, Lea starred in the West End production of Old Friends, and as Aurora in Here Lies Love on Broadway, which she also produced. Lea was also the first Asian to play Eponine in the musical Les Misérables on Broadway and returned to the show as Fantine in the 2006 revival. Fans of all ages recognize Lea as the singing voice of Princess Jasmine from Aladdin and Fa Mulan for Mulan and Mulan II. For her portrayal of the beloved princesses, the Walt Disney Company bestowed her with the honor of "Disney Legend." She has released 14 albums - including her latest recording, Sounding Joy- and toured all over the globe, performing sold-out concerts in landmark venues. Salonga's talents extend to the screen, where she can be seen on MAX's Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin and Sony's Yellow Rose and heard on Netflix's Centaurworld and FX's Little Demon. About Whitney White Whitney White is a Tony Award Award nominee and an Obie and Lily Award winning writer and musician originally from Chicago. She was a staff writer on Boots Riley's I'M A VIRGO and is a believer in multi-disciplinary work and collaborative processes. Recent directing: Jaja's African Hair Braiding (Broadway), Liberation (Roundabout), Jordans (The Public Theatre), The Secret Life of Bees (The Almeida, UK), Soft (New York Times Critic's Pick, MCC), On Sugarland (New York Theatre Workshop), Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (New York Times Critic's Pick), What to Send Up When it Goes Down (New York Times Critic's Pick), The Amen Corner (Shakespeare Theatre DC), An Iliad (Long Wharf), Canyon (LA Times Critic's Choice, IAMA), Jump (National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, PlayMakers Rep). The Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington (Steppenwolf Theatre). Original works include: Semblance (NYTW), Definition (Bushwick Starr), and Macbeth in Stride for which she won an Elliot Norton Award for Best Musical Performance (American Repertory Theatre, Under the Radar Festival at The Public Theatre). Her four-part cycle, All is But Fantasy, deconstructing Shakespeare's women is currently in development with American Repertory Theater (Boston, MA) and the Royal Shakespeare Company (UK). Her musical discipline is rooted in electro-rock, industrial, and soul. Whitney has developed work with: Sundance, The Vineyard, The New Group, Page 73, Playwrights Realm, Juilliard, Trinity Rep, NYU TISCH, Luna Stage, SUNY Purchase, Princeton University, Atlantic Theater Company Acting School, The Drama League, South Oxford, Jack, The Tank, New York Musical Festival, The Lark, and others. Whitney is a part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, is a recent recipient of the Susan Stroman Directing Award, Herb Alpert Award and the Jerome Fellowship. Past residencies and fellowships: Colt Coeur, The Drama League, the Roundabout and the 2050 Fellowship at the New York Theatre Workshop. MFA Acting: Brown University/Trinity Rep, BA: Northwestern University. About Robert Greenblatt Robert Greenblatt is a trailblazing television executive and award-winning producer. He ran three networks to record results and is currently executive producer of HBO's The Gilded Age. As Chairman of WarnerMedia, he oversaw HBO and the creation of HBO Max which debuted in 2020 and has amassed over 100 million subscribers. From 2011-2018 he was Chairman of NBC which was #1 for six consecutive seasons with monumental hits such as The Voice, This Is Us, The Good Place, The Blacklist, and Dick Wolf's Chicago trilogy, plus six blockbuster live musicals that began with The Sound of Music Live! (seen by 22 million people) and culminated in the Emmy-winning Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert! As President of Showtime, Greenblatt transformed the network with global successes like Dexter, Shameless, Weeds, Nurse Jackie, Californication, Ira Glass' This American Life, and more. He began his career at Fox Broadcasting delivering seminal drama series such as Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, The X-Files, Ally McBeal and the pilot for The Sopranos. His partnership with Dolly Parton led him to produce the Tony-nominated 9 To 5 The Musical and present two highly-rated Coat of Many Colors movies on NBC. Greenblatt also executive produced Annie Live! (NBC). His many awards include Golden Globe, Peabody, GLAAD, and Producers Guild awards for executive producing Six Feet Under (HBO), four Tony awards, and two Oliviers. He is the proud recipient of GLAAD's Stephen F. Kolzak award and he is a member of Broadcasting & Television's Hall of Fame. This spring he will bring Smash to Broadway with partners Neil Meron and Steven Spielberg. About Neil Meron Neil Meron has produced film, television, and theatre in partnership with the late Craig Zadan that have earned a total of six Academy Awards, five Golden Globes, 22 Emmy Awards, two Peabody Awards, two Grammy Awards, six GLAAD Awards, four NAACP Image Awards and six Tony Awards. Meron's Broadway productions include revivals of Promises, Promises, How to Succeed in Business…, and the Tony-winning Some Like it Hot. He executive produced all of the acclaimed NBC live musicals including The Sound of Music Live!, Peter Pan Live!, The Wiz Live!, Hairspray Live!, Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert! (for which he won the Emmy), and Annie Live! His motion pictures include Best Picture Oscar-winner Chicago, Hairspray, The Bucket List, Footloose (remake). His many television projects have accrued 149 Emmy nominations, and they include Gypsy (Bette Midler), Cinderella (Whitney Houston, Brandy), Annie (Kathy Bates), Life With Judy Garland (Judy Davis), Serving In Silence (Glenn Close, Judy Davis), Steel Magnolias(Queen Latifah), A Raisin In The Sun (Audra McDonald, Phylicia Rashad), Flint(Queen Latifah), Patsy And Loretta (Megan Hilty and Jessie Mueller), the Golden Globe-nominated TV series, Smash. He also produced The Oscars for three consecutive years (85th, hosted by Seth MacFarlane; 86th, Ellen DeGeneres; 88th, Neil Patrick Harris). He currently serves as the North American consultant to Andrew Lloyd Webber and his Really Useful Group. This spring he will bring Smash to Broadway with partners Robert Greenblatt and Steven Spielberg. About Kate Navin: As Head of Creative Development for North America at Audible, Kate Navin shapes the vision and voice of the company's original content, developing and implementing innovative audio-first strategies with a range of talent and collaborators. Kate joined Audible in 2017 as Artistic Producer after more than a decade working as a representative for artists. Under her leadership, Audible began producing at Audible's Minetta Lane Theatre in 2018. Audible Theater has produced more than 120 titles and awarded over 50 Emerging Playwright Commissions. Kate has also been integral in creating high-profile scripted entertainment projects, serving as Executive Producer on projects such as The Big Lie (Jon Hamm), The Miranda Obsession (Rachel Brosnahan) and The Prophecy (Kerry Washington), as well as the audio adaptation of Colman Domingo's play Wild with Happy (Colman Domingo, Oprah Winfrey). About Audible Theater: Audible Theater makes outstanding performances and powerful storytelling available to live audiences in New York City and millions of people all over the world. Since founding in 2018, Audible Theater's dynamic mix of live and audio theater productions have been praised as "trailblazing" (Variety), "illuminating" (Forbes), and "an exemplary use of the medium" (The Observer). Audible Theater productions have garnered more than 60 nominations and 14 wins across the off-Broadway theater awards landscape. More than 120 audio theater titles have released on Audible. Four-time Tony-nominated Audible Theater has produced the multi-award-winning musical Dead Outlaw, with music & lyrics by David Yazbek & Erik Della Penna, book by Itamar Moses, conceived by David Yazbek, and directed by David Cromer; Swing State written by Rebecca Gilman and directed by Robert Falls; Sorry for Your Loss written by and starring Michael Cruz Kayne; Drinking in America starring Andre Royo; Girls & Boys starring Carey Mulligan; Harry Clarke starring Billy Crudup; Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares written by and starring Laura Benanti with original songs co-written by Benanti and Todd Almond; and many others at the Minetta Lane Theatre in New York City. Since June 2017, Audible has commissioned over 50 theater playwrights to receive support from its $5 million Emerging Playwrights Fund dedicated to developing innovative English-language works from around the globe. |
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