Jackman, Broderick, Martin & More Nominated for Astaire Awards, NEWSIES Leads with 7 Noms.

Nominations for the 30th Fred & Adele Astaire Awards taking place on Monday, June 4th have been announced. The nominations are as follows:

Outstanding Female Dancer in a Broadway Musical:

Elena Roger (Evita)
Ashley Amber (Evita)
Bahiyah Hibah (Evita)
Jan Maxwell (Follies)
Krystal Joy Brown (Leap of Faith)
Patti Murin (Lysistrata Jones)
Kara Lindsay (Newsies)
Kelli O’Hara (Nice Work if You Can Get It)
Lisa Nicole Wilkerson (Porgy & Bess)

Outstanding Male Dancer in a Broadway Musical:

Hugh Jackman (Back on Broadway)
Ricky Martin (Evita)
Danny Burstein (Follies)
Leslie Odom, Jr. (Leap of Faith)
Jason Tam (Lysistrata Jones)
Jeremy Jordan, (Newsies)
Ryan Breslin (Newsies)
Thayne Jasperson (Newsies)
Ryan Steele (Newsies)
Ephraim Sykes (Newsies)
Matthew Broderick (Nice Work if You Can Get It)
Robert Hartwell (Nice Work if You Can Get It)

Outstanding Choreographer for a Broadway Musical:

Rob Ashford (Evita)
Sergio Trujillo (Leap of Faith)
Christopher Gattelli (Newsies)
Kathleen Marshall (Nice Work If You Can Get It)
Steve Hoggett (Once)
Ron Brown (Porgy & Bess)

Outstanding Feature Film (Fictional):

The Artist
Damsels in Distress
Footloose
Musical Chairs
Passione
W.E.

Outstanding Dance Documentary:

Check Your Body at the Door
First Position
Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance
Never Stand Still and Pina.

On June 4th at 7:30pm at New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, the 30th Annual Fred & Adele Astaire Awards will also honor Liza Minnelli with its Douglas Watt Lifetime Achievement Award. The Astaire Awards will also begin a new tradition, paying tribute to the career and work of a choreographer and dancer during the awards. This year they will be remembering Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon, and a few signature Bob Fosse numbers featuring current Broadway performers will be a part of the show on June 4th. Bob Fosse directed Ms. Minnelli in the film version of Cabaret for which she won the Oscar for Best Leading Actress. This year’s awards ceremony will also be dedicated to Tony and Oscar-winning producer Marty Richards, a longtime friend of the awards.

The Astaire Awards are 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). They are presented each year by Ava Astaire(Fred Astaire’s daughter) and Patricia Watt (the daughter of Douglas Watt). The awards will also feature direction from Joe Lanteri, who is the Executive Director of the New York City Dance Alliance and also a teacher at the Juilliard School.

Each year The Astaire Awards also gives a special ‘Adele Astaire Scholarship’ to a young up and coming dancer, and this year they will also honor three-time Tony Award-nominated Producer Kathleen Raittwith a special award in recognition of her helping to start The Astaire Awards 30 years ago. Ms. Raitt (a former Broadway dancer and actress) is an Honorary Chair for the awards and is also currently the Director of Corporate Relations at the Nederlander Producing Company of America. The Honorary Chairs Emeritus for The Astaire Awards are Jacques Azoulay, Countess Luann deLesseps and Wendy Federman. The Gala Chairs are Carolyn Kendall Buchter and Alix Michel, and the Benefit Chair is Sara Johnson Kaplan.

The 30th Annual Fred & Adele Astaire Awards will take place on Monday, June 4th at 7:30pm at theSkirball Center for the Performing Arts at New York University (566 LaGuardia Place). Select tickets are available to the public priced at $425, $175 and $75 and can currently be purchased online atwww.TheAstaireAwards.org.

For more information on The Astaire Awards, visit www.TheAstaireAwards.org.