Tickets Go on Sale Today for 2013 Obie Awards Ceremony

The Village Voice, the nation's largest alternative weekly newspaper, previously announced that tickets will go on sale today, April 10, 2013 for the 58th Annual Obie Awards on Monday, May 20, 2013, at Webster Hall in the East Village, 125 East 11th Street.

The Obies will be co-hosted by the distinguished actress Jessica Hecht, known for her many memorable performances on stage and television (most recently opposite Jim Parsons in Broadway's Harvey), and Jeremy Shamos, an Obie winner (and a Tony nominee for his performance in Clybourne Park). The two are currently starring together in the Broadway production of The Assembled Parties by Obie-winning playwright Richard Greenberg.

The 2013 Obies are honored to have as presenters the following notable actors whose performances have made a memorable impression on New York audiences: Bobby Cannavale, soon to be seen as Charlie Castle, the movie star with a dark secret, in Clifford Odets's Big Knife, (Roundabout Theater Company); Maggie Grace, who made her Broadway debut this season in Picnic, and is best known for her film and television roles in Taken, Twilight Breaking Dawn, Californication and Lost; Judith Light, award-winning stage actor, beloved television star; generous advocate and board member for numerous charities who can currently be seen on stage in The Assembled Parties (Manhattan Theatre Club); Aasif Mandvi, a correspondent for Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and a 1999 Obie winner for Sakina's Restaurant, seen on stage earlier this year in the critically acclaimed Disgraced (LCT3); Krysta Rodriguez, who appeared in the original cast of the Obie-winning musicals In the Heights and Spring Awakening, and subsequently as Wednesday in The Addams Family on Broadway, and on television in Smash and Gossip Girl; singer-composer Duncan Sheik, winner of two Tony Awards and a Grammy for the score of Spring Awakening, and whose new score for Bertolt Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle will be heard in May at Classic Stage Company; and Courtney B. Vance, a 1990 Obie winner for My Children! My Africa!, recipient of many honors for his work on stage, screen, and television, and who can currently be seen on Broadway starring opposite Tom Hanks in Nora Ephron's Lucky Guy.

The Village Voice's chief theater critic, two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Michael Feingold has chaired the panel of judges, from criticism and the theatrical profession, who will select this year's award winners and grant recipients. His colleagues on the panel include Voice drama critic Alexis Soloski, a post-doctoral lecturer in literature humanities at Columbia; playwright Erin Courtney, an OBIE award-winner for her work A Map of Virtue; Mia Katigbak, artistic producing director and co-founder of the National Asian American Theatre Company; Tom Sellar editor of Theater magazine, published by the Yale School of Drama, where he is also professor of dramaturgy and dramatic criticism; and Leigh Silverman, a two-time OBIE Award winning director for In The Wake and Go Back To Where You Are.

With great pleasure, the Village Voice Obie Awards panel of judges has selected two venerated actresses as joint recipients of this year's Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement. Obie Chairman, Michael Feingold said, "Like everyone else associated with the Obies, I am thrilled and delighted at the thought of honoring these two magnificent actresses together in this way. We are all longtime admirers of their work, not only Off-Broadway, but on Broadway and in film and television as well. Those of us on the judges' panel who have had the honor of working with one or both of these splendid artists, however briefly, did not need to contemplate the long resumes and lists of awards that each of them has accumulated in order to know how greatly they have enhanced our theatrical lives."

Both Ms. Sternhagen and Ms. Smith have previously received Obie Awards for individual performances, along with numerous other awards and honors; both are widely known and cherished members of New York's theater community. Together their joint careers represent some 120 years of creative contribution to our national culture. Each, this year, took on a major role in a brand-new play Off-Broadway, Ms. Smith in Sam Shepard's Heartless (Pershing Square Signature Center) and Ms. Sternhagen in Liz Flahive's The Madrid (Manhattan Theatre Club).

Meryl Streep will present the Lifetime Achievement Obies to Lois Smith and Frances Sternhagen. Ms. Streep's numerous Off-Broadway credits include her Obie Award-winning 1981 performance in The Public Theater production of Alice in Concert.

For the past 58 years, the Village Voice Obie Awards, founded by Jerry Tallmer in 1956, have honored the best of Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway. Structured with informal categories that change annually, the Village Voice Obie Awards recognize persons and productions of excellence. Unlike most theater awards, the Village Voice Obie Awards list no nominations publicly. In the conviction that creativity is not competitive, the judges may give several Obies in each category, and may even invent new categories to reward exceptional artistic merit.

Many of the most celebrated names in theater, film, and television say their Obie Award was the first major recognition of their professional career. Past winners include such well-known stars as Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, Felicity Huffman, Viola Davis, Kevin Kline, Nathan Lane, Tony Kushner, Kathy Bates, James Earl Jones, Edward Norton, and Sigourney Weaver, to name a few.

Because the Obies always strive to recognize artists of exceptional ability early in their careers, the award often serves to encourage, support, and in some sense nurture youthful talent. The Obies help shine an important light on theater artists who are breaking new ground, or just breaking through in their careers. In addition, the Obies honor those who have given years of service to the theater, with awards for Sustained Excellence and Lifetime Achievement.

Tickets for the Village Voice's 58th Annual Obie Awards are $ 25 general admission and will go on sale today, April 10 at obies.villagevoice.com. The ceremony begins at 8pm sharp and will be held at Webster Hall. For more information, visit obies.villagevoice.com.

The Obie Awards are presented by STELLA ARTOIS and benefiting A.R.T./ New York (Alliance of Residence Theaters).

The Village Voice has independently produced and created such celebrated events as the Choice Eats, Obies Awards, 4Knots Music Festival, Choice Streets, Web Awards, Brooklyn Pour, as well as the most anticipated issues and guides of the year including the annual Pazz and Jop music poll, Best of NYC, and its Spring, Summer, and Fall Preview guides. The Voice is New York's most influential must-read alternative newspaper in print and online. For more information on the Voice or its events, visit us online at www.villagevoice.com.