Casts of BRIDGES, BEAUTIFUL Among Performers for 59th Annual Drama Desk Awards; Christian Borle, Diane Paulus and More to Present!

Presenters and musical performances have been announced for the 59th Annual Drama Desk Awards, taking place Sunday, June 1st at The Town Hall. The 2014 Drama Desk Awards are hosted by Laura Benanti.

Presenters and performers for this year's Drama Desk Awards include: Christian Borle, Michael C. Hall, Toni Collette, Sutton Foster, Laura Osnes, Billy Porter, Julie Halston, Tracey Letts, Judy Kuhn, Marge Champion, Liz Larsen, Diane Paulus, John Cameron Mitchell, Stephen Trask, Jane Greenwood, David Korins, Marin Ireland, Sam Gold, Oliver Butler, Joe Masteroff, David Byrne, Leigh Silverman, Joshua Henry, Rachael Bay Jones, Sydney Lucas, Jessie Mueller, Steven Pasquale, and Kyle Riabko.

There will be musical numbers from the following shows: A Gentleman's Guide To Love & Murder, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, The Bridges of Madison County, Fun Home, Violet, and What's It All About? Bacharach Re-Imagined.

In keeping with Drama Desk's mission, nominators considered shows that opened on Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway during the 2013-2014 New York theater season in the same competitive categories.

TheaterMania.com presents the awards ceremony. Gretchen Shugart is Managing Executive Producer of the Drama Desk Awards. Joey Parnes Productions produced and managed the show. The Awards show is written by Bill Rosenfield anddirected by Jack Cummings III (co-founder and artistic director of Transport Group).

About Drama Desk: 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 and wolfentertainmentguide.com), Lauren Yarger (Manchester Journal-Inquirer and reflectionsinthelight.com).

About Joey Parnes Productions: Led by Joey Parnes, a veteran Broadway producer and general manager, Joey Parnes Productions produces, executive produces, and general manages plays and musicals for Broadway and the road in addition to working with non-profits on Broadway transfers. Currently represented on Broadway by A Gentleman's Guide To Love and Murder and A Raisin In The Sun, recent credits include Betrayal (2013), the Tony Award winning Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike, and the Tony Award winning revival of HAIR. Joey served as the Coordinating Producer of the Tony Awards from 2001 to 2008 and with his colleagues Sue Wagner and John Johnson produced the Drama Desk Awards in 2012 and 2013.

In addition to TheaterMania and Gretchen Shugart, Robert R. Blume and David S. Stone in association with Renee McCurry are Co-Executive Producers of Drama Desk Awards.

For more information, visit www.DramaDeskAwards.com.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride