Photo Coverage: 54th Annual Drama Desk Awards Cocktail Reception

Drama Desk nominees received their official nomination certificates at a cocktail reception on May 1st at IL Bastardo Restaurant and BroadwayWorld.com was there! To see even more Drama Desk party photos click here!

The 54th Annual Drama Desk Awards will be held Sunday, May 17, 2009 in the LaGuardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center.

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 between Broadway, Off- Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions in the same categories.

The organization hosts panels throughout the year, to which the public is invited, to promote understanding and appreciation of the professional theater. In addition to honoring creative artists and stage productions in multiple categories, the Drama Desk annually presents scholarships to two worthy seniors in the Drama Department of the LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts who are planning careers in the theater.

The Drama Desk Awards invites personal sketches from this year's nominated performers and creative talent for its Art*Kive program, started nine years ago by Art*Kive creator Sarah Galvin. This annual program--unique to the Drama Desk Awards--invites the nominees to render a sketch that is relevant to the role or stage production that helped them achieve their nomination. The sketches will be displayed at the awards ceremony. To find out more about the organization and this year's awards show, visit www.dramadesk.com.

The Executive Board of the Drama Desk is composed of: William Wolf, President; Leslie (Hoban) Blake, Vice President; Charles Wright, Treasurer and 2nd Vice President; Richard Ridge, Secretary; Robert Cashill; Isa Goldberg, David Kaufman; Ellis Nassour; Sam Norkin; and Barbara Siegel.

Photos by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.