Nominations for the annual ceremony will be announced April 28 at 9 AM ET at the Friars Club on East 55th Street. Nominees will receive their nomination certificate at a private ceremony May 1 at Art Café on West 73rd Street.

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 2007-2008 Drama Desk nominating committee comprises Barbara Siegel (TalkinBroadway.com, TheaterMania.com), chairperson; Dan Bacalzo (TheaterMania.com); Robert Cashill (New York Theater News and Live Design); Celia Ipiotis (Eye on the Arts); Tony Phillips (Edge New York); Gerard Raymond (Back Stage and The Advocate); and Richard Ridge (broadwaybeat.com).

In a statement William Wolf, the president of the Drama Desk, said, "In spite of the labor dispute that closed many Broadway shows for three weeks at the end of 2007, the new theatre season has already provided much quality both on and Off-Broadway. By the time our nominations are announced near the end of April, the Drama Desk Awards nominating committee will have evaluated more than 400 Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway productions."

Robert R. Blume is executive producer of the 53rd Annual Drama Desk Awards. The Drama Desk, organized in 1949, presented its first awards in 1955.