Academy Award® winners Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez(“Let It Go” from Frozen) and two-time Emmy® and Golden Globe® Nominee Fran Drescher (Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella; “The Nanny”) will announce the nominations for the 59th Annual Drama Desk Awards on Friday, April 25, 2014 at 11:00 AM at 54 Below (254 W. 54th Street), it was announced today byGretchen Shugart, CEO of TheaterMania.com and Isa Goldberg, Drama Desk President.
Robert Lopez is a Drama Desk and Tony Award® Winner for The Book of Mormon and Drama Desk nominee for Avenue Q and Kristen Anderson-Lopez is a Drama Desk nominee for In Transit. Robert Lopez is also the youngest EGOT (Emmy®, Grammy®, Oscar®, Tony®) recipient at age 39: E: Best Music Direction and Composition – “The Wonder Pets,” 2008 (Daytime Emmy); G: Best Musical Theater Album – The Book of Mormon, 2012; O: Best Original Song – “Let it Go” from Frozen, 2014; T: Best Original Score –Avenue Q, 2004.
Fran Drescher, now making her Broadway debut as the wicked stepmother in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, has performed on stage in Nora & Delia Ephron’s Love, Loss and What I Wore, LCT’s Camelot for PBS, Neil La Bute’s Some Girl(s) and The Exonerated. She is a New York Times Best Selling author for Enter Whining and Cancer Schmancer and is perhaps best known for her Emmy® and Golden Globe® nominated role of Fran Fine on “The Nanny.”
The 2013-2014 Drama Desk Nominating Committee is composed of: Barbara Siegel, Chairperson, (Author and Freelance Critic); Morgan Jenness (Dramaturg; Columbia & Pace University Professor); Samuel L. Leiter (Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Theatre, CUNY); Sandy MacDonald (freelance;TheaterNewsOnline.com); Chad McArver (Lighting and Set Designer; Professor, Fordham University); Martha Wade Steketee (Editor and Contributor, Chance Magazine; UrbanExcavations.com); and James Wilson(Theatre Professor, CUNY; Co-Editor of JADT).
“This year’s nominations will reflect the bold and dedicated spirit of our nominators,” remarked Drama Desk President Isa Goldberg. “We applaud their hard work and we are delighted to honor the broad and richly varied nominees that they will choose.”
The Nominations Announcement News Conference and the Awards show will be live-streamed on www.TheaterMania.com.
Laura Benanti will Host the Awards on May 1st at Town Hall. Tickets: www.dramadeskawards.com