The 56th Annual Drama Desk Awards announced a series of major changes designed to enhance the visibility and outreach of the Drama Desk Awards nationwide while, at the same time, creating a large national footprint for all segments of New York theater. The changes include a television broadcast deal with Ovation; moving the awards ceremony from a concert hall to a prestigious ballroom in Midtown Manhattan; presenting the awards at a gala sit-down dinner in an elegant setting, hosted by a major Broadway star; adding musical numbers from nominated New York stage productions; changing the day of the annual Drama Desk Awards from its traditional Sunday time-slot to a Monday night when most Broadway and Off Broadway shows are dark; and adding major media partners. The changes were announced at a news conference held today (Thursday, February 24, 2011) at Inc Lounge in the Time Hotel, 224 West 49th Street, by Robert R. Blume, who has been Executive Producer of the annual Drama Desk Awards since 1999.
Mr. Blume said that the 56th Annual Drama Desk Awards, one of the most prestigious awards in the theater industry, will be held on Monday, May 23, 2011, at 8 PM at a gala sit-down dinner in the spacious Hammerstein Ballroom at the Manhattan Center located at 34th Street and 8th Avenue, a departure from its usual Sunday night celebration held annually since 1999 at the LaGuardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center. There will be a gala sit-down dinner, prepared by celebrity chefs, during which the awards will be presented to outstanding productions and creative talent for the 2010/2011 season.
The Drama Desk Awards Ceremony will be filmed in HD for a television special that will be given two primetime airings plus four additional national broadcasts on Ovation between June 2 and June 15, 2011.
Harvey Fierstein, co-starring currently in La Cage Aux Folles at the Longacre Theater, will be the host of the awards ceremony and the TV special. The television deal was structured by Mark Stroman, former Senior Vice President, National Promotions, Fox Broadcasting Company, who negotiated on behalf of the Drama Desk Awards. The TV special will be produced by the multi award-winning independent production company Heflin Filmworks (America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back, Manhunters). Lance Heflin will be the producer of the TV special and Mark Stroman will serve as the TV Executive Producer. Terry Rohnke (Saturday Night Live) will be the television director. Marilyn Munder is the Talent Consultant. Step Forward Entertainment Group Ltd. (Talent Management and Production) is the executive producing company for the Awards; Mr. Blume is managing partner, Princess Rivera serves as Associate Producer for Television Projects and Allison H. Cohen is Staff Administrator.
"This is the most exciting announcement I have made since becoming Executive Producer of the Annual Drama Desk Awards in 1999," said Robert R. Blume. "In the 13 years since, my team and I have diligently worked to enhance the visibility and importance of the Drama Desk Awards. We have made giant strides in that direction but none bigger than the ones we are announcing here today. We are delighted to welcome television marketing executive Mark Stroman and Lance Heflin of Heflin Filmworks to our team, and we are excited that the Drama Desk Awards will be seen nationally on Ovation."
Isa Goldberg, the recently elected President of the Drama Desk, said, "We are thrilled to have the honor of celebrating this season with our awards ceremony at the Hammerstein Ballroom, especially with the incomparable Harvey Fierstein as our host. With our media partners, TheaterMania and The Broadway Channel, and the broadcast of our awards on Ovation, we will achieve our aim of furthering the dialogue about theater in New York to audiences all over the nation."
Kris Slava, SVP, Programming, Ovation, noted, "The Drama Desk Awards has always been a great hidden gem, but this year they have kicked the show into overdrive and it's going to surprise a lot of people. It's the perfect show for the Ovation audience and we are thrilled the Drama Desk has chosen us as its exclusive television media partner."
Mark Stroman, Senior VP at McGee Entertainment, who structured and negotiated the contract between the Drama Desk Awards and Ovation, said, "The Drama Desk Awards/Ovation deal equals Partnership in Success. This deal affords growth and success focused on the brilliance of what the storied history of the Drama Desk Awards affords New York Theater's biggest, brightest and most creative artists. Celebrating theater's contributions to today's culture is a priority for Ovation as the only network dedicated to arts culture in America and this partnership allows them to do just that. The Drama Desk Awards is in line with Ovation's brand strategy of allowing everyone in America access to the best of the arts."
Matthew Hege, Vice President, The Broadway Channel, said, "The Broadway Channel is excited to be a part of this year's Drama Desk Awards. We will have our very own Maribel Aber host her What's Hot on Broadway show from the Red Carpet at the Hammerstein Ballroom, showcasing all the stars and all the awards glamour. The Broadway Channel will also provide extensive promotional coverage of the Drama Desk Awards and Ovation television special prior to the events.
Christopher Raphael, veteran Broadway Event Planner, has been retained as Gala Event Producer to oversee the production of special events for the 56th Annual Drama Desk Awards. He will also serve as coordinator between the Drama Desk Awards and Mark Stroman and Heflin Filmworks, creating special events and activities promoting the awards ceremony, seeking branding opportunities for the Drama Desk Awards, and assemble a Gift Giveaway Lounge at the awards ceremony and gala dinner.
Jeff Kalpak, who has directed the awards ceremony for the past 15 seasons, will serve in the same capacity this year for the live event. Lauren Class Schneider, who has produced the Drama Desk Awards for the past 14 years, will return as Consulting Producer. Harvey Fierstein, who, in addition to writing the script for Broadway's hit musical La Cage aux Folles recently joined the cast of La Cage, which won the Drama Desk Award as "Outstanding Musical Revival" last season, will host the awards ceremony for the fifth time. He previously hosted in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2009. Veteran theater general manager Manny Kladitis will be the general manager of this year's Drama Desk Awards event.
It was also announced that the Drama Desk Awards has engaged Pitbull Interactive.com, an innovative company headed by David Risley, to create two new interactive websites for the Drama Desk Awards - www.DramaDeskAwards.com and www.DramaDeskAwardsGala.com. The home page on both sites will feature prominent links to the official site for the Drama Desk organization - www.dramadesk.com/org. The new sites will be activated shortly. Pitbull Interactive will also place Drama Desk Awards pages on Facebook, YouTube, FourSquare, Twitter and other viral media outlets.
Mr. Blume also identified other key members of his 2011 team: Les Schecter, who has been associated with Mr. Blume on the Drama Desk Awards since 1999, will continue as an Associate Producer as well as Director of Public Relations and Marketing of the live event. His company, LS Communications, will be responsible for publicizing and marketing the television highlight special on Ovation.
Red Carpet Productions and its principal Renee McCurry join the Drama Desk Awards team as an Associate Producer, along with Joseph Callari, a partner with Mr. Blume and Frank Firorucci in Global Arts, a project of Eightonal Coalition, Inc., the 501(c)3 not-for-profit entity for the Drama Desk Awards.
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