Drama Desk winner Michael Urie, who will return to Broadway this fall in the revival of Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song at the Hayes Theater, hosts the Drama Desk Awards for the third consecutive year June 3. The 63rd annual ceremony, which honors outstanding achievement by professional theatre artists on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off Broadway, begins at 8 PM at The Town Hall (123 W. 43rd Street).
Nominations were announced April 25 by Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt duo Jane Krakowski and Tituss Burgess. Leading the pack this year were three Broadway musicals—the revival of Carousel with 12 nominations, SpongeBob SquarePants with 11, and Mean Girls with 10.
Read: CAROUSEL, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, MEAN GIRLS LEAD 2018 DRAMA DESK AWARD NOMINATIONS
The evening will feature performances from a number of this year's nominees, including Ashley Park (nominated for KPOP and Mean Girls), Gizel Jiménez (nominated for Miss You Like Hell), and Lindsay Mendez and Alexander Gemignani (nominated for Carousel).
Jiménez will perform "Sundays" from Miss You Like Hell; Mendez and Gemignani will perform "When The Children Are Asleep" from Carousel; Park will perform "Bung Uh Ree Sae (Mute Bird)" from KPOP; Karen Ziemba will perform during the In Memoriam segment; and there will be a performance by Grey Henson and Barrett Wilbert Weed from Mean Girls.
Among the presenters are previous Drama Desk winners Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton), Jenn Colella (Come From Away), Jane Greenwood (The Little Foxes), Stephen McKinley Henderson (A Raisin In The Sun), Bill Irwin (The Iceman Cometh), Andy Karl (Groundhog Day), Mimi Lien (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812), Brian Stokes Mitchell (Shuffle Along), Orfeh (Pretty Woman), Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Jitney), Saycon Sengbloh (Eclipsed), and Mary Testa (The Government Inspector).
Joey Parnes Productions produces and manages the show, written by Bill Rosenfield (46 Beacon, True Fans, Sunshine and Shadow) and directed by Mark Waldrop (Not That Jewish, Howard Crabtree's When Pigs Fly, Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends).
