2025 Drama League Awards nominations: 51 actors up for Distinguished Performance, ‘The Hills of California’ snubbed

Nominations for the 2025 Drama League Awards were announced Tuesday by current Broadway stars Sarah Hyland (The Great Gatsby) and Orville Peck (Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club). Winners will be announced May 19 at a ceremony at the Ziegfeld Ballroom.

The Drama League Awards honor both Broadway and off-Broadway productions and stand out for their catch-all acting category, the Distinguished Performance Award. An actor can only win it once in their career. After they have won, they can never be nominated again. This year, 51 performers are nominated. There is no crossover between members who vote on the Drama League Awards and the Tonys, but the nominations can nevertheless be revealing as to which performances and productions break through, or not, with this group’s expanded categories.

One of the most shocking results of the nominations is the complete omission of The Hills of California. The Jez Butterworth play is one of the best reviewed productions of the Broadway season. Its towering leading lady Laura Donnelly was shut out of the Distinguished Performance race and it missed the Best Play category despite an expanded field of 13 nominees.

The Broadway revival of Our Town woke up to similar bad news. Out of this season’s seven Broadway play revivals, it was the only one to be snubbed by the Drama League. Star Jim Parsons failed to register an acting nomination, but featured player Ephraim Sykes was a surprise inclusion.

In other cases, these nominations may cloud the judgement of Tony prognosticators when it comes to competing co-stars. Jessica Hecht sits in a comfortable second place in Gold Derby’s odds for Featured Actress in a Play. But the Drama League chose to nominate her cast mate Amber Gray instead. Conversely, voters bestowed nominations to both Tala Ashe and Marjan Neshat from English. These women have been hovering just outside of the top five in our combined featured actress odds, but perhaps their chances are stronger than users are predicting.

Here's the full list of 2025 Drama League Awards nominations:

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF A PLAY

The Antiquities
Becoming Eve
English
Good Bones
Good Night, and Good Luck
Here There Are Blueberries
John Proctor Is the Villain
Liberation
Oh, Mary!
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Purpose
Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Walden

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A PLAY

The Cherry Orchard
Eureka Day
Ghosts
Glengarry Glen Ross
Home
Othello
Romeo + Juliet
A Streetcar Named Desire
Vanya
Wine in the Wilderness
Yellow Face

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL

Boop! The Musical
Buena Vista Social Club
Dead Outlaw
Death Becomes Her
Drag: The Musical
Just in Time
Macbeth in Stride
Maybe Happy Ending
Operation Mincemeat
Real Women Have Curves
Smash
Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL

Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Floyd Collins
Gypsy
The Last Five Years
Once Upon a Mattress
The Marriage of Figaro
Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Sunset Boulevard
Urinetown

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A PLAY

Knud Adams, English
Saheem Ali, Good Bones
David Cromer, Good Night, And Good Luck
Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary!
Tyne Rafaeli, Becoming Eve
Anna D. Shapiro, Eureka Day
Danya Taymor, John Proctor Is The Villain
Whitney White, Liberation
Kip Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Sam Yates, Vanya

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL

Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending
Saheem Ali, Buena Vista Social Club
Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her
Robert Hastie, Operation Mincemeat
Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Jamie Lloyd, Sunset Boulevard
Jerry Mitchell, Boop! The Musical
Susan Stroman, Smash
Alex Timbers, Just in Time
Annie Tippe, Three Houses
Sergio Trujillo, Real Women Have Curves
George C. Wolfe, Gypsy

DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE AWARD

Tala Ashe, English
Brooks Ashmanskas, Smash
Stori Ayers, Home
Natalie Venetia Belcon, Buena Vista Social Club
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck
Kit Connor, Romeo + Juliet
Tatianna Córdoba, Real Women Have Curves
Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending
Kieran Culkin, Glengarry Glen Ross
André De Shields, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Tommy Dorfman, Becoming Eve
Robert Downey Jr., McNeal
Adam Driver, Hold on to Me Darling
Andrew Durand, Dead Outlaw
Cole Escola, Oh, Mary!
Mia Farrow, The Roommate
Tom Francis, Sunset Boulevard
Amber Gray, Eureka Day
David Greenspan, I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan
Jonathan Groff, Just in Time
Jake Gyllenhaal, Othello
Ryan J. Haddad, Hold Me in the Water
Megan Hilty, Death Becomes Her
Robyn Hurder, Smash
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Purpose
Nick Jonas, The Last Five Years
Ramin Karimloo, Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Gracie Lawrence, Just in Time
Beth Leavel, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends
Justina Machado, Real Women Have Curves
Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat
Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Idina Menzel, Redwood
Paul Mescal, A Streetcar Named Desire
Jinkx Monsoon, Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Marjan Neshat, English
Sandra Oh, The Welkin
Lily Rabe, Ghosts
Jasmine Amy Rogers, Boop! The Musical
Lea Salonga, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends
Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Boulevard
Andrew Scott, Vanya
Helen J. Shen, Maybe Happy Ending
Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her
Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Ephraim Sykes, Our Town
Alaska Thunderfuck, Drag: The Musical
Adrienne Warren, The Last Five Years
Denzel Washington, Othello
Joy Woods, Gypsy
Kara Young, Purpose and Table 17

The Drama League also wishes to acknowledge the previous recipients of the Distinguished Performance Award who appeared in Broadway or Off-Broadway productions this season. As the Award can only be won once in a performer’s lifetime, they are ineligible to be nominated; however, their exemplary work is recognized and applauded.

Annaleigh Ashford, All In
Danny Burstein, Gypsy
Norbert Leo Butz, Vladimir
Sutton Foster, Once Upon a Mattress
Neil Patrick Harris, Shit. Meet. Fan.
Patti LuPone, The Roommate
Audra McDonald, Gypsy
Lin-Manuel Miranda, All In
Bernadette Peters, Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends

SPECIAL RECOGNITIONS (previously announced)

Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater – Lea Salonga
Founders Award for Excellence in Directing – Whitney White
Contribution to the Theater – Kate Navin and Audible Theater
Gratitude Award – Bob Greenblatt and Neil Meron

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