Saturday, May 17, 2008

Awards Watch: Drama League 2008

It may have failed to get a Tony Award nomination for Best Musical, but A Catered Affair was just fine for the Drama League. The new tuner, based on the classic Bette Davis movie The Catered Affair, was named Distinguished Production of a Musical by the group, an association of theatre professionals and patrons dedicated to "encouraging the finest in professional theatre".

Winners, which also included August: Osage County, South Pacific, Macbeth and Gypsy's Patti LuPone (named the winner of the Distinguished Performance Award out of 70 (!) nominees), were announced at a luncheon yesterday, hosted by Affair's co-star/librettist Harvey Fierstein. Broadway.com has a report from the scene, which included an unexpected marriage proposal for one Cheyenne Jackson.

Cheyenne (and his Xanadu - which just announced its first national tour) are also among the nominees for the 9th Annual Broadway.com Audience Awards. Nominations have been announced for "the only theatrical award that honors the best of the season as chosen by regular theatergoers" and voting is currently underway. Other screen-to-stage favorites among the nominees (see the comments section below for a quick look) include A Bronx Tale, A Catered Affair, Grease, Hairspray, The Little Mermaid, Monty Python's Spamalot, Rent, The Ritz, The 39 Steps, Wicked and Young Frankenstein, which leads the pack with 10 nods.

1 comment:

Kirby Holt said...

A complete list of this year's nominees:

Favorite New Broadway Musical
A Catered Affair
In the Heights
The Little Mermaid
Xanadu
Young Frankenstein

Favorite New Broadway Play
August: Osage County
Is He Dead?
November
Rock 'n' Roll
The 39 Steps

Favorite Broadway Musical Revival
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Grease
Gypsy
South Pacific
Sunday in the Park with George

Favorite Broadway Play Revival
Boeing-Boeing
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cyrano de Bergerac
Macbeth
The Ritz

Favorite New Off-Broadway Musical
Adding Machine
Frankenstein
Make Me a Song
Next to Normal
Walmartopia
Favorite New Off-Broadway Play
Dead Man's Cell Phone
My First Time
The Receptionist
Secrets of a Soccer Mom
Speech & Debate

Favorite Leading Actor in a Broadway Musical
Roger Bart, Young Frankenstein
Daniel Evans, Sunday in the Park with George
Cheyenne Jackson, Xanadu
Lin-Manuel Miranda, In the Heights
Tom Wopat, A Catered Affair

Favorite Leading Actress in a Broadway Musical
Sierra Boggess, The Little Mermaid
Kerry Butler, Xanadu
Patti LuPone, Gypsy
Kelli O'Hara, South Pacific
Jenna Russell, Sunday in the Park with George

Favorite Featured Actor in a Broadway Musical
Tituss Burgess, The Little Mermaid
Robin De Jesus, In the Heights
Harvey Fierstein, A Catered Affair
Christopher Fitzgerald, Young Frankenstein
Boyd Gaines, Gypsy

Favorite Featured Actress in a Broadway Musical
Laura Benanti, Gypsy
Sutton Foster, Young Frankenstein
Andrea Martin, Young Frankenstein
Megan Mullally, Young Frankenstein
Sherie Rene Scott, The Little Mermaid

Favorite Leading Actor in a Broadway Play
Norbert Leo Butz, Is He Dead?
James Earl Jones, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Kevin Kline, Cyrano de Bergerac
Nathan Lane, November
Patrick Stewart, Macbeth

Favorite Leading Actress in a Broadway Play
Claire Danes, Pygmalion
Deanna Dunagan, August: Osage County
Jennifer Garner, Cyrano de Bergerac
Laura Linney, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Anika Noni Rose, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Favorite Featured Actor in a Broadway Play
F. Murray Abraham, Mauritius
Brooks Ashmanskas, The Ritz
Raul Esparza, The Homecoming
David Morse, The Seafarer
Seth Rudetsky, The Ritz

Favorite Featured Actress in a Broadway Play
Christine Baranski, Boeing-Boeing
Laurie Metcalf, November
Rosie Perez, The Ritz
Phylicia Rashad, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Marisa Tomei, Top Girls

Favorite Solo Performance
Laurence Fishburne, Thurgood
Stephen Lang, Beyond Glory
Jackie Mason, The Ultimate Jew
Chazz Palminteri, A Bronx Tale
April Yvette Thompson, Liberty City

Favorite Diva Performance
Laura Benanti, Gypsy
Norbert Leo Butz, Is He Dead?
Patti LuPone, Gypsy
Megan Mullally, Young Frankenstein
Sherie Rene Scott, The Little Mermaid

Favorite Ensemble Cast
August: Osage County
Grease
Is He Dead?
In the Heights
The 39 Steps

Favorite Breakthrough Performance (Male)
Clay Aiken, Spamalot
Max Crumm, Grease
Daniel Evans, Sunday in the Park with George
Lin-Manuel Miranda, In the Heights
Paulo Szot, South Pacific

Favorite Breakthough Performance (Female)
Sierra Boggess, The Little Mermaid
Claire Danes, Pygmalion
Jennifer Garner, Cyrano de Bergerac
Laura Osnes, Grease
Jenna Russell, Sunday in the Park with George

Favorite Onstage Pair
Roger Bart & Sutton Foster, Young Frankenstein
Laura Benanti & Patti LuPone, Gypsy
Kerry Butler & Cheyenne Jackson, Xanadu
Max Crumm & Laura Osnes, Grease
Jackie Hoffman & Mary Testa, Xanadu

Favorite Replacement (Male)
Clay Aiken, Spamalot
Blake Bashoff, Spring Awakening
Matt Doyle, Spring Awakening
Mario Lopez, A Chorus Line
Bob Saget, The Drowsy Chaperone

Favorite Replacement (Female)
Annaleigh Ashford, Wicked
Stephanie J. Block, Wicked
Tamyra Gray, Rent
Judy Kuhn, Les Miserables
Hannah Waddingham, Spamalot

Favorite Long-Running Broadway Show
Hairspray
Rent
Spamalot
Spring Awakening
Wicked

Favorite Long-Running Off-Broadway Show
Altar Boyz
Blue Man Group
Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening
I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change
Stomp

Favorite New Broadway Song
"If Only" - The Little Mermaid
"In the Heights" - In the Heights
"Please Don't Touch Me" - Young Frankenstein
"Roll in the Hay" - Young Frankenstein
"She's In Love" - The Little Mermaid