Whoopi Goldberg, Liza Minnelli, Susan Stroman To Receive Special Recognitions at Drama League Ceremony

Whoopi Goldberg will receive the Unique Contribution to the Theatre Award, Liza Minnelli will be honored with the Distinguished Acheivement in Musical Theatre Award and Susan Stroman will receive the Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing at the 77th Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon, to be held in the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott Marquis Hotel, on Friday, May 20 at Noon. As previously reported, the ceremony will be hosted by Kathleen Turner.

The special awards will be presented along with the organization’s five competitive production and performance awards: the Distinguished Performance Award, Distinguished Production of a Play, Distinguished Production of a Musical, Distinguished Revival of a Play and Distinguished Revival of a Musical. Nominations for these five awards will be announced on Monday, April 25.

Goldberg is one of the producers of the Broadway production of Sister Act the Musical, as well as the Broadway-aimed musical White Noise. She received a Drama Desk and Theatre World Award for her 1985 Broadway solo show Whoopi Goldberg, and has also starred on Broadway in Xanadu, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and another solo show, Whoopi. She also appeared in the London production of Sister Act. She has won numerous awards during her career including the Grammy, Golden Globe, as well as the Academy Award for Ghost, and hosted both the Tony Awards and the Academy Awards.

Minnelli’s most recent Broadway show, Liza’s at the Palace, won a 2009 Tony for Best Special Theatrical Event, and Minnelli has also won Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Musical for Flora the Red Menace and The Act. She also won a special Tony Award in 1974 “for adding lustre to the Broadway season.” She was Tony- nominated for The Rink and additional Broadway credits include Victor/Victoria and Chicago. She won the Academy Award for Cabaret and the Emmy Award for Liza With a “Z”.

Stroman won Tony Awards for her direction and choreography of The Producers and for her choreography of Contact, Show Boat, and Crazy for You. Among her other credits are Oklahoma!, Young Frankenstein, The Music Man, and Steel Pier. She has most recently been represented on Broadway with The Scottsboro Boys.

All proceeds from the awards ceremony and luncheon support The Drama League Directors Project, the nation’s premier training program for theater directors.

Tickets begin at $175, and can be purchased by calling 212-244-9494. For more information, click here.