Lopez is a Drama Desk and Tony Award winner for The Book of Mormon and Drama Desk nominee for Avenue Q, and Anderson-Lopez is a Drama Desk nominee for In Transit. The duo won this year's Academy Award for "Let It Go" from the Disney animated film "Frozen."
Drescher, currently making her Broadway debut in Cinderella, has performed on stage in Nora and Delia Ephron's Love, Loss and What I Wore, LCT's Camelot for PBS, Neil La Bute's Some Girl(s) and The Exonerated. She is best known for her Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated role of Fran Fine on "The Nanny."
The 2013-14 Drama Desk nominating committee is composed of Barbara Siegel, chairperson (author and freelance critic); Morgan Jenness (dramaturg; Columbia and Pace University professor); Samuel L. Leiter (distinguished professor emeritus of theatre, CUNY); Sandy MacDonald (freelance; TheaterNewsOnline.com); Chad McArver (lighting and set designer; professor, Fordham University); Martha Wade Steketee (editor and contributor, Chance Magazine; UrbanExcavations.com); and James Wilson (theatre professor, CUNY; co-editor of JADT).
"This year's nominations will reflect the bold and dedicated spirit of our nominators," said Drama Desk president Isa Goldberg in an earlier statemet. "We applaud their hard work and we are delighted to honor the broad and richly varied nominees that they will choose." "It is an honor to have Robert Lopez, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Fran Drescher announce this year's Drama Desk nominations," added Gretchen Shugart. "Robert and Kristen both have roots in the theatre and are fresh off their Oscar win for Best Song. We are delighted that they will 'let it go' with us. Fran is a beloved television idol from her years on 'The Nanny' and has worked extensively in the theatre, currently wowing crowds nightly in Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella."
The Drama Desk Awards, which are presented annually, honor "outstanding achievement by professional theatre artists on Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway."
The 59th Annual Drama Desk Awards, hosted by Laura Benanti, will be held at The Town Hall (123 W. 43rd Street) June 1. The awards show will be written by Bill Rosenfield and directed by Jack Cummings III (co-founder and artistic director of Transport Group).
For more information and tickets, visit DramaDeskAwards.com.
