Donna Murphy and Brian d�'Arcy James Announce Drama Desk Nominations Today

Nominations for the 57th Annual Drama Desk Awards will be announced at a news conference today, April 27, 2011, at 9:30 AM at Feinstein's at the Loews Regency, 540 Park Avenue at 61st Street, in Manhattan. Drama Desk winners Donna Murphy and Brian d'Arcy James will announce the nominations in the various categories. Tune in to dramadeskawards.com to watch a live stream of the announcement!

In addition, there will be remarks by Drama Desk President Isa Goldberg, Drama Desk Awards Executive Producer Robert R. Blume and new Drama Desk Awards Executive Producer Gretchen Shugart, Nominating Committee Chairperson Barbara Siegel and Randie Levine-Miller, Drama Desk Director of Special Events, who annually produces this event.

Donna Murphy, a stage, film and television actress and singer, has won three Drama Desk Awards (LoveMusik, Passion and Wonderful Town) and two Tony Awards (Passion and the King and I) in her distinguished career. The only other actresses to win three Drama Desks are Angela Lansbury and Patti LuPone. One of Broadway's most celebrated actresses, she has also appeared on screens big and small in such feature films as Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Tangled (2010). She has also lent her talents to a host of TV series, among them Law & Order and The Practice. A versatile singer, she has performed on a number of recordings, including "Leonard Bernstein's New York," "Hello Again," "The King and I" and the Grammy Award-winning "Passion."

Brian d'Arcy James, currently co-starring in the NBC/Dreamworks Studio's hit series Smash, won the Drama Desk Award for Shrek and has been nominated for four other Drama Desks. Most recently he received rave reviews for his performance in the Broadway play, Time Stands Still, opposite Laura Linney, Christina Ricci and Eric Bogosian. Another recent highlight includes singing for President Obama and the First Family in the East Room for A Broadway Celebration: In Performance at the White House. Brian originated the role of 'Dan Goodman' in the Pulitzer Prize winning play Next To Normal Off Broadway and returned to it on Broadway in the summer of 2010.

The 2011-2012 Drama Desk Nominating Committee is composed of: Barbara Siegel, Chairperson (TalkinBroadway.com, TheaterMania.com); Suzanna Bowling (Times Square Chronicles); Lawrence Harbison (Smith and Kraus, Inc.); Mark Peikert (Back Stage); Richard Ridge (Broadway Beat TV) and Frank Verlizzo (Fraver Design).

The Drama Desk nominees will receive their Nomination Certificates at a gala Cocktail Reception at a midtown venue, date and location to be announced.

The 2011-2012 Board of Directors of the Drama Desk is composed of: Isa Goldberg , President; Leslie (Hoban) Blake, Vice President; Charles Wright, Treasurer & 2nd Vice President; Richard Ridge, Secretary; Arlene Epstein; Elysa Gardner; Randy Gener; John Istel; David Kaufman; William Wolf and Lauren Yarger.

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 among Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions in the same categories.