Nathan Lane took home the top honor at the 79th Annual Drama League Awards, winning the Drama League Distinguished Performance Award for his performance as a veteran burlesque performer in Douglas Carter Beane's The Nance. The two-time Tony winner bested 59 other nominees for the coveted prize, which was handed out at a starry ceremony at the Marriot Marquis Times Square on May 17. Lane wasn’t the only winner, though, as a number of shows also took home honors at the Debra Messing and David Hyde Pierce-hosted reception. Here’s the complete list of winners:
Distinguished Production of a Play
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Distinguished Production of a Musical
Kinky Boots
Distinguished Revival of a Play
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Distinguished Revival of a Musical
Pippin
Distinguished Performance Award
Nathan Lane for The Nance
The 2013 Drama League Awards also honored Broadway vet Bernadette Peters and Kinky Boots director Jerry Mitchell, as well as Madison Square Garden Entertainment & the Rockettes. The co-chairs of this year’s awards included Lane, Bobby Cannavale, Alan Cumming, Edie Falco, Judith Ivey, Judith Light, Patina Miller, Donna Murphy, Holland Taylor, Cicely Tyson and Michael Urie.
Past winners of the Distinguished Performance Award include Audra McDonald, Liam Neeson, Hugh Jackman, Patti LuPone, Glenn Close, Liev Schreiber, Harvey Fierstein, Cherry Jones, James Earl Jones, Julie Harris, Mary-Louise Parker, Ian McKellen and Christopher Plummer.