The 92nd annual Drama League Awards will include special awards for Tony Award-winning director David Cromer, Tony-nominated director Scott Ellis, Apollo Theater executive director Kamilah Forbes and actor Caissie Levy, in recognition of their “outstanding lifetime contributions to the theater industry and to popular culture,” reads a statement from the League.
Cromer, who won a Tony in 2018 for his direction of “The Band’s Visit,” will receive the Founders Award for Excellence in Directing. Cromer is represented in the 2025-2026 Broadway season by the current staging of “Bug” and the upcoming production of “The Fear of 13.” His Off-Broadway contributions this season include “Meet the Cartozians,” “Caroline” and “I’m Almost There.”
In recognition of his leadership as Roundabout Theatre Company’s interim artistic director and his contributions to the theater, director Scott Ellis will be presented with the Gratitude Award. This season Ellis directed “Art” and will helm Roundabout’s upcoming revival of “Fallen Angels.”
For her “visionary excellence and transformative artistic achievements in American theater,” producer/director Kamilah Forbes will be presented with the Contribution to the Theater Award. Since 2016, Forbes has served as executive director of the Apollo Theater.
Caissie Levy, who currently appears as Mother in the Lincoln Center Theater production of “Ragtime,” will be honored with the Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater Award. Over the last 20 years Levy has appeared on Broadway in the musicals “Hairspray,” “Wicked,” “Hair,” “Ghost,” “Les Misérables,” “Frozen” and “Caroline, or Change,” as well as a number of plays.
Founded in 1916, the Drama League stands as one of the longest-running arts service organizations in the United States. Each year its membership, which includes industry professionals, artists and audience members, recognizes work on Broadway and Off-Broadway in categories including distinguished performance, 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 and outstanding direction of a musical.
Nominees for the 2025-2026 season will be announced on April 20 at 11 a.m. at Lincoln Center’s New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
The Drama League Awards ceremony will take place on May 15 at 11 a.m. at the Ziegfeld Ballroom. Frank DiLella, Emmy-winning host of Spectrum News NY1’s “On Stage,” will serve as host.
