2024 Drama League Award winners announced: Sarah Paulson (‘Appropriate’) claims the Distinguished Performance Award [Full List]
The Drama League Awards unveiled their slate of winners at an in-person ceremony on Friday, May 17. The event was hosted by Frank DiLella at the Ziegfeld Ballroom, where attendees toasted the best of Broadway and Off-Bradway.
The biggest winner of the day was Sarah Paulson, who claimed the coveted Distinguished Performance Award for her fiery role in “Appropriate.” That play, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, also took home the League’s trophy for Best Revival of a Play.
The Distinguished Performance Award is unique in that a performer may only win the award once in their career. After prevailing, they are never eligible again. The category is also a massive catch-all race that includes actors of all genders, roles of all sizes, and both Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. This year, 54 thespians were included as nominees.
Winning this prize is quite an accomplishment. Paulson, who is currently leading Gold Derby’s combined Tony Awards odds for Lead Actress in a Play, edged out four of her Tony rivals for this award: Betsy Aidem (‘Prayer for the French Republic’), Jessica Lange (‘Mother Play’), and Rachel McAdams (‘Mary Jane’).
SEE Tony Talk: What will win Best Musical?
For the past two years, the Drama League winner has not continued on to a Tony Awards victory. In 2023, Annaleigh Ashford (“Sweeney Todd”) won the Drama League, but lost the Tony to Victoria Clark (“Kimberly Akimbo”). In 2022, Sutton Foster (‘The Music Man’) won the Drama League, but lost the Tony to Joaquina Kalukango (“Paradise Square”). But more often than not, the winner of the singular Drama League prize finds a path to a Tony Award victory. This was the case with recent winners Danny Burstein (“Moulin Rouge!”), Bryan Cranston (“Network”), Glenda Jackson (“Three Tall Women”), Ben Platt (“Dear Evan Hansen”), Neil Patrick Harris (“Hedwig and the Angry Inch”), Audra McDonald (“Porgy and Bess”), and Mark Rylance (“Jerusalem”).
Elsewhere at this ceremony, “Stereophonic” and “Merrily We Roll Along” continued their dominance of the award scene. The former picked up Best Play and Best Director of a Play for Daniel Aukin, while the latter scored Best Revival of a Musical and Best Director of a Musical for Maria Friedman.
Meanwhile, the Alica Keys jukebox musical “Hell’s Kitchen” won Best Musical in a stacked category which included all of its Tony competition. With “Suffs” prevailing in the corresponding category at the recent Outer Critics Circle Awards, and neither show nominated at the forthcoming Drama Desk ceremony, there will be no clear consensus on the Best Musical race as the Tony awards draw near.
Read the full list of Drama League Award nominees and winners below:
BEST PRODUCTION OF A PLAY
“The Comeuppance”
“Flex”
“Grief Hotel”
“The Hunt”
“Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”
“Mother Play”
“Oh, Mary!”
“Patriots”
“Prayer for the French Republic”
X – “Stereophonic”
“Wet Brain”
BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY
“An Enemy of the People”
X – “Appropriate”
“Danny and the Deep Blue Sea”
“Doubt”
“The Effect”
“Mary Jane”
“Our Class”
“Purlie Victorious”
“Uncle Vanya”
“The White Chip”
BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL
“Buena Vista Social Club”
“Dead Outlaw”
“Harmony”
“The Heart of Rock and Roll”
X – “Hell’s Kitchen”
“Illinoise”
“Lempicka”
“The Notebook”
“The Outsiders”
“Suffs”
“Teeth”
“Water for Elephants”
BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
“Cabaret”
“Gutenberg! The Musical”
“Here Lies Love”All Posts
“I Can Get it For You Wholesale”
X – “Merrily We Roll Along”
“Monty Python’s Spamalot”
“The Who’s Tommy”
“The Wiz”
BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY
Tara Ahmadinejad, “Grief Hotel”
X – Daniel Aukin, “Stereophonic”
Sam Gold, “An Enemy of The People”
Rupert Goold, “The Hunt”
Rupert Goold, “Patriots”
Jamie Lloyd, “The Effect”
Lila Neugebauer, “Appropriate”
Lila Neugebauer, “Uncle Vanya”
Sam Pinkleton, “Oh, Mary!”
Eric Ting, “The Comeuppance”
Whitney White, “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”
BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
Saheem Ali, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Sarah Benson, “Teeth”
David Cromer, “Dead Outlaw”
Rebecca Frecknall, “Cabaret”
X – Maria Friedman, “Merrily We Roll Along”
Des McAnuff, “The Who’s Tommy”
Leigh Silverman, “Suffs”
Alex Timbers, “Gutenberg! The Musical!”
Alex Timbers, “Here Lies Love”
DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE
Betsy Aidem, “Prayer for the French Republic”
Shoshana Bean, “Hell’s Kitchen”
Gabby Beans, “Jonah”
Joshua Boone, “The Outsiders”
Ali Louis Bourzgui, “The Who’s Tommy”
Steve Carell, “Uncle Vanya”
Jenn Colella, “Suffs”
Danny DeVito, “I Need That”
Caleb Eberhardt, “The Comeuppance” and “An Enemy of the People”
Alex Edelman, “Just for Us”
Cole Escola, “Oh, Mary!”
Eden Espinosa, “The Gardens of Anuncia” and “Lempicka”
Paapa Essiedu, “The Effect
Melissa Etheridge, “Melissa Etheridge: My Window”
Laurence Fishburne, “Like They Do in the Movies”
Josh Gad, “Gutenberg! The Musical!”
Eli Gelb, “Stereophonic”
Brody Grant, “The Outsiders”
Jonathan Groff, “Merrily We Roll Along”
Dorian Harewood, “The Notebook”
Willam Jackson Harper, “Primary Trust” and “Uncle Vanya”
Amber Iman, “Lempicka”
Eddie Izzard, “Hamlet”
Nikki M. James, “Suffs”
Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, “Spamalot”
Jessica Lange, “Mother Play”
Kecia Lewis, “Hell’s Kitchen”
Nichelle Lewis, “The Wiz”
Maribel Martinez, “Bees and Honey”
Rachel McAdams, “Mary Jane”
Lindsay Mendez, “Merrily We Roll Along”
Tobias Menzies, “The Hunt”
Cynthia Nixon, “The Seven Year Disappear”
Eva Noblezada, “The Great Gatsby”
Kelli O’Hara, “Days of Wine and Roses”
Leslie Odom, Jr., “Purlie Victorious”
Patrick Page, “All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented The Villain”
Nicole Ari Parker, “The Refuge Plays”
Jim Parsons, “Mother Play”
X – Sarah Paulson, “Appropriate”
Sarah Pidgeon, “Stereophonic”
Aubrey Plaza, “Danny and The Deep Blue Sea”
Maryann Plunkett, “The Notebook”
Daniel Radcliffe, “Merrily We Roll Along”
Gayle Rankin, “Cabaret”
Andrew Rannells, “Gutenberg! The Musical!”
Eddie Redmayne, “Cabaret”
Conrad Ricamora, “Here Lies Love” and “Oh, Mary!”
Corey Stoll, “Appropriate”
Michael Stuhlbarg, “Patriots”
Jeremy Strong, “An Enemy of the People”
Zenzi Williams, “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”
Kara Young, “Purlie Victorious”
Jehan O. Young, “The Cotillion”
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