Award Winning Drama League Directors
Our alumni have brought these award-winning Broadway shows to life and been recognized with wins and nominations for Best Director at the Tony Awards, Emmys, Obie Awards and more!
A Home for Directors for Over 100 Years
With over 108 years of history, The Drama League remains one of the nation’s oldest continuously-operating, not-for-profit arts service organizations.
From our Alumni...
“I’m a former Drama League resident. It’s a rare space in the city where directors are cultivated, which I think is super important to the vitality of the theater. I think we have a very playwright-driven theater, and as a playwright and director, it’s super important to me that we have a space for directors to be recognized as generative artists.” – Shayok Misha Chowdhury, 2014 Next Stage Resident Director, Obie winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist for Public Obscenities
“The Drama League was right beside me as I grew as a director. Through them, I navigated my Broadway and off Broadway debut surrounded by guidance and mentorship, a rare experience for a director. This truly was a life changing experience.” –Ibi Owolabi 2023 Drama League Stage Directing Fellow
“I mean The Drama League is probably the most meaningful, both financial and career juncture support for early- and mid-career directors that I know of. I was a Drama League Directing Fellow in 2004 at the Hangar Theatre with Lear deBessonet and Steve Fried and Shana Cooper as my colleagues, and A) the four of us were so close as a support group and have remained so til today, and there was money. It was a living wage. It was the first real fee I ever got, and it led to my first professional gig I ever got back at the Hangar several years later in 2007, so The Drama League really is this incredibly vital ramp for directors into the profession, and then as we continue to navigate it.” – Rachel Chavkin, 2004 and 2013 Fellow; Tony Award-winning director
On working with program mentor Tony Phelan:
“He’s being a mentor in the truest sense, opening up his process, sharing anecdotes, and lots of one-on-one insider time on the weekends talking very frankly about the biz. I was honestly expecting to just be a fly on the wall for this whole thing, but was super integrated into the team from day 1. I feel like Tony is actively helping me transition to TV in actionable and practical ways– talking about getting into writer’s rooms, the path to showrunning, how to put together a reel, etc.– he truly invested in the theatre director crossover path.” – Desdemona Chiang, 2021 TV/Film Fellow
“There is no other space like it for directors, and The Drama League has been a thread through my entire career. Rachel [Chavkin] and I met as Drama League directors. We were in the same cohort of four when we were 23 years old, and you know, I think so much of a director’s work is unseen and sort of unrecognized. A lot of people I think don’t quite know what directors do, and The Drama League comes in at this early moment in directors’ careers and gives them real work, like paid work as a director, which is unbelievable.” – Lear deBessonet, 2004 Fellow and Tony nominee
“Having a program like the Irene Gandy Assistantship means that I can take it to the next level.”
– Vanessa Ogbuehi, 2023 Irene Gandy Directing Assistant
“The Residency offered me a fantastic opportunity to truly cultivate my original work with an ensemble that I was able to build over the course of the year. To me, the process is the most important part of collective storytelling. My collaborators and I had the luxury of time at our disposal, which is something most developmental processes do not offer.”
– Ran Xia, 2021 Beatrice Terry Resident
“We, as people who support directors, have a responsibility to cultivate the future of theater.”
–Nicole A. Watson, 2013 Fellow and Producing Artistic Director, Playwrights’ Center
“The West is a very writer-centered area, and so to have someplace where we can start to learn how to collaborate, to build spaces, to tell stories in New York and in other hubs in America, is really important, and The Drama League is making all of those leaps so that it’s not just that we’re working in New York City; we’re working regionally; we’re starting to work internationally, which is really fantastic.” – NJ Agwuna, 2022 TV and Film Fellow
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Give to the Drama League with a planned gift. The Legacy Circle recognizes the individuals who support the Drama League through their long-term financial plans. By joining the Legacy Circle, you can achieve your own personal financial goals and leave a legacy of support for your community with a planned gift to the Drama League of New York. For more information and to begin planning, please contact [email protected].
Become a Member
Joining The Drama League as a member is one of the best ways to contribute to artists as well as enjoy the arts they create! Learn more about membership.
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Supporters
The Drama League is proud to thank the following institutions and individuals for their generous support and leadership, which allows us to sustain and expand our efforts to contribute to the vitality of the American theater.
Howard Gilman Foundation
Hyde and Watson Foundation
Sylvia W. and Randle M. Kauders Foundation
Jolene McCaw Family Foundation
Shubert Foundation
Leo Shull Charitable Fund for the Arts
Trust for Mutual Understanding
and Drama League Members, Corporations, Sponsors, and Individuals Nationwide
Drama League programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
DEEPEST THANKS TO OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS
United States Senator Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand
United States Congressman Daniel S. Goldman
New York State Governor Kathy Hochul
New York State Senator Brian P. Kavanagh
New York State Assemblymember Deborah Glick
New York City Mayor Eric Adams
New York City Council Speaker Adrienne E. Adams
New York City Council Member Christopher Marte
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine
