Laura Benanti and Javier Muñoz to Announce 2017 Drama Desk Award Nominations

Laura Benanti (She Loves Me, Gypsy) and Javier Muñoz (Hamilton, In the Heights) will announce the nominations for the 62nd Annual Drama Desk Awards on Thursday, April 27, 2017 at 10:00 AM at Feinstein's/54 Below (254 W. 54th Street), it was announced today by Charles Wright, Drama Desk President and Gretchen Shugart, CEO of TheaterMania.com.

"It is an honor to have Laura Benanti and Javier Muñoz announce this year's Drama Desk Nominations," said Gretchen Shugart. "Unique, gifted, and gracious... these creative individuals are excellent representatives of the New York Theater community. "

The 62nd Annual Drama Desk Awards, hosted by Michael Urie, will be held at The Town Hall (123 W. 43rd Street) on Sunday, June 4th.

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 the Drama Desk Awards apart is that they are voted on and bestowed by theater critics, journalists, editors, publishers, and broadcasters covering theater.

The 2016-2017 Drama Desk Nominating Committee is composed of: David Barbour (Lighting&Sound America), Chair; Linda Buchwald (freelance, American Theatre, Playbill, TDF Stages, Theatre is Easy, JTA); Peter Filichia (Broadway Select, author, most recently, of The Great Parade: The Remarkable 1963-64 Broadway Season); David Finkle (Blogger, Huffington Post; Clyde Fitch Report); Sandy MacDonald (freelance, Time Out New York, TheaterNewsOnline.com); Douglas Strassler (Garden State Journal); Zachary Stewart (TheaterMania); Charles Wright (President, Drama Desk), ex officio.

For the sixth consecutive year, TheaterMania will present the awards ceremony and Joey Parnes Productions will produce and manage the show. Shugart is the Managing Executive Producer of the Drama Desk Awards. The Awards show will be written by Bill Rosenfield anddirected by Mark Waldrop (Not That Jewish, Howard Crabtree's When Pigs Fly, Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends).

Tickets to the 62nd Annual Drama Desk Awards are available to the general public at www.dramadeskawards.com.

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 2016-2017 Board of Directors of the Drama Desk is composed of: Charles Wright (A+E Networks), President; Richard Ridge (BroadwayWorld.com), 1st Vice President; Lauren Yarger (reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com), 2nd Vice President; Andy Lefkowitz (Broadway.com), Secretary; Edward Karam (offoffonline.com), Treasurer; David Barbour (Lighting&Sound America), Chair, Awards Nominating Committee; Leslie (Hoban) Blake (Two on the Aisle/MNN/YouTube/Daily Motion), Historian; Arlene Epstein (Richner Communications/South Shore Record & Nassau Herald); Elysa Gardner (freelance critic/arts writer); Isa Goldberg (freelance writer, East Hampton Independent, Southampton Press); John Istel (Managing editor, DramaDesk.org; freelance arts editor and journalist); David Kaufman (author and freelance); William Wolf (WolfEntertainmentGuide.com, adjunct professor, NYU).

In addition to Gretchen Shugart as Managing Executive Producer, Robert R. Blume and David S. Stone are Executive Producers of the Drama Desk Awards.