The 20th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway, hosted by zaftig Bruce Vilanch and svelte character actress Julie Halston, both of Broadway's Hairspray, will take place 7 PM May 2 at Dodger Stages in midtown Manhattan.

The annual awards bash administered by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers will include performances from nominated shows Altar Boyz, Junie B. Jones, Lone Star Love and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee .

In honor of The Lortel Awards' 20th anniversary, the ceremony will include premieres of new short works from Lortel Award-winning writers Charles Busch, Mark Hollmann & Greg Kotis and Anna Deavere Smith.

Another highlight will be a special performance by the cast of Forbidden Broadway .

The late writer-performer-director Charles Ludlam is to be inducted onto Playwrights Sidewalk, located in front of the Lucille Lortel Theatre in Greenwich Village, considered by many to be the epicenter of the Off-Broadway movement. The Lortel Awards were created in 1985 by resolution of The League of Off-Broadway Theatres & Producers, to recognize outstanding achievement on Off-Broadway stages. They are named for the late actress-producer and arts advocate who embraced new and foreign voices in the mid-20th century (and into the 1990s).

Dodger Stages is at 340 W. 50th Street. A late night supper will follow at Ruth's Chris Steak House at 148 W. 51st Street.

A limited number of tickets, for the ceremony only, are on sale to the public at $65 each through the Dodger Stages box office and Telecharge.com at (212) 239-6200).

For more information, Visit www.LortelAwards.com.

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As previously reported, Doubt, Hurlyburly and Intimate Apparel top the list of shows with multiple nominations, receiving five each; Altar Boyz and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee follow with four nominations each; Hedda Gabler, Nine Parts of Desire and Shockheaded Peter each received three.

The 2005 Lucille Lortel Awards nominating/voting committee is appointed by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres & Producers, the Lucille Lortel Foundation, Actors' Equity Association, Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers, and also includes journalists, educators, and other artistic contributors to Off-Broadway.

Two special awards will also be presented at the ceremony. The Edith Oliver Award for Sustained Excellence will go to Frances Sternhagen, and the award for Outstanding Body of Work will go to The Irish Repertory Theatre.

The 2005 Lucille Lortel nominees are:

Outstanding Play:
After Ashley
Doubt
Going to St. Ives
Intimate Apparel
Orson's Shadow

Outstanding Musical
Altar Boyz
Junie B. Jones
Lone Star Love
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Outstanding Solo Show
Nine Parts of Desire
The Two and Only

Outstanding Revival
Counsellor-At-Law
Engaged
Finian's Rainbow
Hedda Gabler
Hurlyburly

Outstanding Director
Jo Bonney, Fat Pig
Scott Elliott, Hurlyburly
Doug Hughes, Doubt
James Lapine, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Daniel Sullivan, Intimate Apparel

Outstanding Choreographer
Christopher Gattelli, Altar Boyz
Devanand Janki, Junie B. Jones
Dan Knechtges, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Barry McNabb, Finian's Rainbow
Randy Skinner, Lone Star Love

Outstanding Lead Actor
Larry Bryggman, Romance
Ethan Hawke, Hurlyburly
Brían F. O‚Byrne, Doubt
John Rubinstein, Counsellor-At-Law
Jeffrey Wright, This Is How It Goes

Outstanding Lead Actress
Ashlie Atkinson, Fat Pig
Viola Davis, Intimate Apparel
Cherry Jones, Doubt
Judy Kaye, Souvenir
Elizabeth Marvel, Hedda Gabler

Outstanding Featured Actor
Kevin Cahoon, The Foreigner
Dan Fogler, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Josh Hamilton, Hurlyburly
Logan Marshall-Green, The Distance From Here
Tyler Maynard, Altar Boyz

Outstanding Featured Actress
Jenn Harris, Modern Orthodox
Adriane Lenox, Doubt
Alison Pill, On the Mountain
Parker Posey, Hurlyburly
Jennifer Simard, Forbidden Broadway: SVU

Outstanding Scenic Design
Julian Crouch & Graeme Gilmour, Shockheaded Peter
Antje Ellermann, Nine Parts of Desire
Derek McLane, Intimate Apparel
Neil Patel, Between Us
Jan Versweyved, Hedda Gabler

Outstanding Costume Design
Alvin Colt, Forbidden Broadway: SVU
Anna Hannikainen, Slava's Snowshow
Kevin Pollard, Shockheaded Peter
Anita Yavich, Svejk
Catherine Zuber, Intimate Apparel

Outstanding Lighting Design
Christopher Akerlind, Belle Epoque
Jules Fisher & Peggy Eisenhauer, Dessa Rose
Jon Linstrum, Shockheaded Peter
James Vermeulen, Mr. Fox: A Rumination
David Weiner, Rodney's Wife

Outstanding Sound Design
Obadiah Eaves, Nine Parts of Desire
Scott Lehrer, Dessa Rose
Simon Matthews, Altar Boyz
Darron L. West, Hot 'n' Throbbing
Darron L. West, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot

Multiple nominations:
Five nominations
Doubt
Hurlyburly
Intimate Apparel

Four nominations:
Altar Boyz
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Three nominations:
Hedda Gabler
Nine Parts of Desire
Shockheaded Peter

Two nominations:
Counsellor-At-Law
Dessa Rose
Fat Pig
Finian's Rainbow
Forbidden Broadway: SVU
Junie B. Jones
Lone Star Love
Darron L. West