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The 54th Annual Drama Desk Awards were held tonight, Sunday, May 17, 2009 in the LaGuardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center. Drama Desk nominees received their official Nomination Certificates at a cocktail reception on Friday, May 1st at Il Bastardo restaurant, 191 Seventh Avenue (between 21st and 22nd Streets).
Multiple Drama Desk and Tony Award winning actor/writer Harvey Fierstein was host for the 54th Annual Drama Desk Awards ceremony.
The Drama Desk was founded in 1949 to explore key issues in the theater and to bring together critics and writers in an organization to support the ongoing development of theater in New York. The organization began presenting its awards in 1955, and it is the only critics organization to honor achievement in the theater with competition between Broadway, Off- Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions in the same categories.
The organization hosts panels throughout the year, to which the public is invited, to promote understanding and appreciation of the professional theater. In addition to honoring creative artists and stage productions in multiple categories, the Drama Desk annually presents scholarships to two worthy seniors in the Drama Department of the LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts who are planning careers in the theater.
DRAMA DESK AWARD WINNERS FOR THE 2008/2009 SEASON:
Outstanding Play
Lynn Nottage, Ruined
Outstanding Musical
Billy Elliot The Musical
Outstanding Revival of a Play
The Norman Conquests
Outstanding Revival of a Musical
HAIR
Outstanding Actor in a Play
Geoffrey Rush, Exit the King
Outstanding Actress in a Play
Janet McTeer, Mary Stuart
Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Brian d'Arcy James, Shrek The Musical
Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Allison Janney, 9 to 5
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Pablo Schreiber, reasons to be pretty (Off-Broadway)
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Angela Lansbury, Blithe Spirit
