The award, given annually by the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, will be presented on March 26 at a cocktail reception in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse at Lincoln Center.

Sullivan — one of New York's most prolific directors — is currently at work on a revival of Craig Lucas' Prelude to a Kiss for the Roundabout Theatre Company at the American Airlines Theatre, opening March 8. Next season he will serve as acting artistic director of Manhattan Theatre Club when Lynne Meadow — a past Abbott Award winner — goes on sabbatical.

A favored director of such playwrights as Donald Margulies and the late Wendy Wasserstein, Sullivan has been nominated for six Tony Awards for Direction of a Play, and won for David Auburn's Proof in 2001. His other Broadway credits include Rabbit Hole, Julius Caesar (with Denzel Washignton), Brooklyn Boy, Sight Unseen, The Retreat From Moscow, Morning’s at Seven, Major Barbara, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Ah, Wilderness!, An American Daughter, The Sisters Rosensweig, Conversations With My Father, The Heidi Chronicles and I’m Not Rappaport.

His recent Off-Broadway projects include Stuff Happens, Third, Intimate Apparel, Ten Unknowns and Dinner With Friends.

Sullivan is known for his development of new plays. From 1984-1997 he was the artistic director of the Seattle Repertory Theater, where he directed more than 60 productions. Past recipients of the award — named after the legendary director George Abbott — have included Harold Prince, Jack O'Brien, Lloyd Richards, Rob and Kathleen Marshall and Susan Stroman.

Pamela Berlin, the president of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, said in a release that at the selection meeting, "Everyone said Dan Sullivan at the same time. It was totally unanimous."

Admission to the award ceremony is by invitation only, with a suggested contribution of $100 to the SDCF in honor of Sullivan.

For more information, visit www.ssdc.org.