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 t h e a t r e

"Thank you. I'm astonished. I haven't been here on Broadway for 28 years, and this is like a halucination! But if this is what it appears to be, I really do have to thank a wonderful company, which happens to include my son. My three very astute agents Boaty, Ros and Sam. My three very astute producers Julian Schlossberg, Ben Sprecher and Roy Furman for backing Ivan Turgenev's 150-year-old play, his second play. And I think they've commissioned the third! He wrote two wonderful parts, and my part would be nothing without the great Frank Langella as my counterpart. Thank you. Thank you all."

Benedick Bates, Alan Bates, and just a fraction of
Ben's wife, Claudia, at the 2002 Tony Awards.
Photo by Bruce Glikas for broadway.com

"Thank you. I started in this profession 40 years ago, and if I've learned anything, it's that the good and the bad moments in an actor's career pass. The trick is to stay at the table, play the cards we're dealt, and hope for a winning hand. I got such a winning hand with Fortune's Fool. It helped that the other players were Julian Schlossberg, Arthur Penn, and Mike Poulton. The wild card was Ivan Turgenev. And the great Alan Bates, a consumate actor and a consumate friend. I've spent millions and millions of extraordinary moments standing on a stage acting for you. I'm very grateful to each and every Tony voter who gave me this for this work, and this wonderful moment, which I know is about to pass."

The Drama Desk Awards are among the most coveted and prestigious awards in the world of the American Theatre.
Nominations are made by the Nominating Committee of the Drama Desk organization, which is comprised solely of critics, journalists and columnists covering the New York Theatre for various print and electronic media.
The 47th Annual Drama Desk Awards Show took place at The Concert Hall, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts, 100 Amsterdam Avenue, NYC, on Sunday, 19 May 2002.

Announcing its awards for New York's 2001-02 theater season, the Outer Critics Circle, made up of New York theater critics for out-of-town newspapers, national publications and other media, have honored Alan Bates and Frank Langella (see list of nominees in each category, below). The awards ceremony was held on May 23 at Sardi's Restaurant.

Since 1916, The Drama League has been a second home for those who love American theatre. Founded as an association of theatre professionals and patrons dedicated to encouraging the finest in professional theatre, The Drama League soon found another role -- as a service organization for theatre lovers interested in enhancing their understanding and experience of live theatre.
The Awards Luncheon took place on May 10 in the Grand Ballroom of the New York Grand Hyatt.

The Drama League would like to honor the following past recipients of the Distinguished Performance Award for their work this season. Although they are ineligible to win the award a second time, we deeply appreciate their superior work.