Drama League Awards 2017 Journal

DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSICAL THEATER
BETTE
MIDLER
As one of the world’s most versatile entertainers, Bette Midler is a performer who continues to
defy categorization and to garner accolades across all facets of show business. She is a recording
artist who has sold more than 35 million albums and won four Grammy Awards. She is a
performer who has, year after year, sold out the largest venues around the world. She is a threetime
Emmy Award-winning, three-time Golden Globe-winning, and twice Academy Award-nominated
actress. She made her Broadway debut in 1967 in the original Broadway production of
Fiddler on the Roof, then went on to star in dozens of blockbuster films, creating some of the most
iconic screen performances in cinematic history. Her contributions to the musical form, on both
stage and screen, are immeasurable, and include her acclaimed turn as Mama Rose in Gypsy
and her award-winning performances in The Rose, Divine Madness, For The Boys, and Beaches,
and dozens of others.
In 2013, Midler returned to the Broadway stage, after a nearly 40-year absence, to star in the
one-woman play, I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers, playing the legendary Hollywood
agent, wowing critics, selling out performance after performance and breaking house records at
the Booth Theatre. This season, she is back on the Broadway stage (and once again breaking box
office records) starring in Hello, Dolly!, now in previews at the Shubert Theatre. In addition to
being one of the best-loved and instantly recognizable entertainers in the world, Midler is also one
of New York’s most generous and tireless citizens. In 1994, she started the New York Restoration
Project, a non-profit organization devoted to bringing abandoned and neglected parks, gardens
and open spaces in all five boroughs back to abundant life.
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