Nominations for the 55th Annual Drama Desk Awards will be announced May 3 at 9:30 AM ET at the New York Friars Club in Manhattan.
The Drama Desk is an organization of theatre critics, writers and editors that honors excellence in all areas of New York theatre: Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway and not-for-profit.
The 2009-10 Nominating Committee includes chairperson Barbara Siegel, TalkinBroadway.com, Theatermania.com; Christopher Byrne, Gay City News; Patrick Christiano, Dan's Papers, Theaterlife.com; David Kaufman, freelance author; Gerard Raymond, Backstage, The Advocate; Richard Ridge, Broadway Beat TV; and Paulanne Simmons, CurtainUp.com and NYTheatre-wire.com.
The Drama Desk, organized in 1949, presented its first awards in 1955. William Wolf is president of the Drama Desk; Leslie (Hoban) Blake is vice president.
For her performance as Rose in the recent revival of Gypsy at the St. James Theatre, Patti LuPone won the Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Drama League's Distinguished Performance Award. A Tony Award winner for her work in Evita, LuPone also earned an Olivier Award for her performances in the West End productions of Les Misérables and The Cradle Will Rock. Her other theatrical credits include Sunset Boulevard, Anything Goes, Oliver!, Working, The Old Neighborhood, Master Class and Pal Joey. LuPone also headlined two solo Broadway concerts, Patti LuPone On Broadway and Matters of the Heart, and received glowing notices for her performance as Mrs. Lovett in the Lincoln Center concert version of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and a Tony nomination for her performance in the recent revival of that Sondheim work. She was seen in the Kennedy Center's staging of Marc Blitzstein's Regina and joined Audra McDonald for Los Angeles Opera's production of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. She was also seen as Rose in a Ravinia Festival concert run of Gypsy. Her screen and recording credits are numerous. LuPone won Drama Desk Awards for her work in Evita, Anything Goes and Gypsy.
For more information visit www.dramadesk.com.
