Bebe Neuwirth, Valerie Harper, Hal Prince & More to Present at Astaire Awards, 6/2

The first set of presenters have been announced for the 32nd Annual Fred & Adele Astaire Awards which will be held on Monday, June 2 at 7:30pm at NYU's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. Set to present are Tony Award-winners Hal Prince & Bebe Neuwirth, Emmy Award-winner Valerie Harper, Scandal's Joe Morton, Dancing with the Stars' Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Sandy Duncan. Select tickets are available to the public priced at $425, $200 & $75; tickets can currently be purchased online at www.TheAstaireAwards.org.

This year's nominees are:

Outstanding Male Dancer in a Broadway Show: Julius Chisholm (After Midnight), Nick Cordero (Bullets Over Broadway), Virgil Gadson (After Midnight), Jared Grimes (After Midnight), Neil Patrick Harris (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), James Monroe Iglehart (Aladdin), Andy Karl (Rocky) & Desmond Richardson (After Midnight).

Outstanding Female Dancer in a Broadway Show: Krystal Joy Brown (Big Fish), Dormeshia Sumbry Edwards (After Midnight), Karine Plantadit (After Midnight), Gayle Rankin (Cabaret), Monique Smith (After Midnight), Heléne Yorke (Bullets Over Broadway) & Karen Ziemba (Bullets Over Broadway).

Outstanding Choreographer for a Broadway Show: Casey Nicholaw (Aladdin), Susan Stroman (Big Fish & Bullets Over Broadway), Warren Carlyle (After Midnight), Steven Hoggett and Kelly Devine (Rocky), Josh Prince (Beautiful), Peggy Hickey (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder) & Rob Marshall (Cabaret).

The Astaire Awards is the only awards show to honor excellence in dance and choreography on Broadway and in film and were first started in 1982 by the late Fred Astaire and the late Douglas Watt (a critic and writer for the NY Daily News and The New Yorker, his 100th birthday would be this year). This year will also honor 5-time Tony Award nominee and 2-time Emmy Award-winning veteran choreographer Pat Birch with its Douglas Watt Lifetime Achievement Award and legendary dancer and dance instructor Luigi with the Outstanding Achievement in the Preservation of Musical Theatre Award.

Each year The Astaire Awards are presented each year by Patricia Watt (the daughter of Douglas Watt).

The 32nd Annual Fred & Adele Astaire Awards will take place on Monday, June 2 at 7:30pm at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at New York University (566 LaGuardia Place). Select tickets are available to the public, priced at $425, $200 & $75 and can be purchased online at www.TheAstaireAwards.org.

NYU SKIRBALL CENTER: The Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts is the premier venue for the presentation of cultural and performing arts events for New York University and lower Manhattan. Led by executive producer Jay Oliva (President Emeritus, NYU) and senior director Michael Harrington, the programs of the Skirball Center reflect NYU's mission as an international center of scholarship, defined by excellence and innovation and shaped by an intellectually rich and diverse environment. A vital aspect of the Center's mission is to build young adult audiences for the future of live performance. www.nyuskirball.org.