59th Annual Drama Desk Awards Set for June 1 at The Town Hall; Nominations to be Announced in April

The 59th Annual Drama Desk Awards will take place on Sunday, June 1, 2014 at 8:00 PM at The Town Hall (123 W. 43rd Street), it was announced today. Gretchen Shugart is the Managing Executive Producer of the Drama Desk Awards. Joey Parnes Productions will produce and manage the show.

The Nominations Announcement News Conference will take place on Friday, April 25, 2014 at 11 AM at 54 Below.

The Awards show will be written by Bill Rosenfield and directed by Jack Cummings III (co-founder and artistic director of Transport Group).

The Drama Desk Awards, which are presented annually, honor outstanding achievement by professional theater artists on Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway. What sets Drama Desk Awards apart is that they are voted on and bestowed by theater critics, journalists, editors and publishers covering theater, without any vested interest in the results. For this reason, Drama Desk Awards reflect both enthusiasm for all aspects of New York's professional theater and a level of erudition and theatrical experience unparalleled in our industry's other prize-giving organizations.

The 2013-2014 Drama Desk Nominating Committee is composed of: Barbara Siegel, Chairperson, (Author and Freelance Critic); Morgan Jenness (Dramaturg; Columbia & Fordham University Professor); Samuel L. Leiter (Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Theatre, CUNY); Sandy MacDonald; Chad McArver (Lighting and Set Designer; Professor, Fordham University); Martha Wade Steketee (Editor and Contributor, Chance Magazine; UrbanExcavations.com); James Wilson (Theatre Professor, CUNY; Co-Editor of JADT).

Isa Goldberg, president of the Drama Desk, added, "In the expanding landscape of New York theater, Drama Desk members continue to illuminate the vitality and diversity of productions throughout our city. The Drama Desk proudly acknowledges this season's nominators, each of whom brings an extraordinary breadth of knowledge and experience to our awards."

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.

The 2013-2014 Board of Directors of the Drama Desk is composed of: Isa Goldberg (The Broadway Channel), Leslie (Hoban) Blake (City Arts; Two on the Aisle), Charles Wright (A+E Networks),Richard Ridge (Broadway World), Arlene Epstein (South Shore Record & Herald Community Newspapers), Elysa Gardner (USA Today), Randy Gener (USA Editor, Critical Stages; Contributor,NPR), John Istel (Freelance), Ed Karam (offoffonline.com), David Kaufman (Author & Freelance),William Wolf (Adjunct Professor, NYU & wolfentertainmentguide.com), Lauren Yarger (Manchester Journal-Inquirer & reflectionsinthelight.com).

Robert R. Blume and David S. Stone, in association with Renee McCurry, are Executive Producers of the Drama Desk Awards.