Drama Desk Award

Drama Desk Award

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Drama Desk Award

The Drama Desk Award, created in 1955, is an award recognizing shows produced off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, and for legitimate not-for-profit theaters, in addition to Broadway productions. Previously there had been only the Tony Awards, which focused solely on Broadway shows, ignoring the hundreds of other productions mounted in New York City each year.

Background
Categories

Play
Musical
Play and musical

See also
References
External links

Background

Originally the Vernon Rice Awards in honor of theater critic Vernon Rice of the New York Post, the name was changed in 1963. In its earliest years, a minimal number of prizes were awarded, but there now are as many categories as there are for the Tonys. The Drama Desk is composed of theatre critics, writers and editors; chairperson of the current Nominating Committee is Barbara Siegel (TalkinBroadway.com, TheaterMania.com).

The Drama Desk Awards have proven to be the first step towards stardom for numerous theatrical luminaries, including Edward Albee, Wendy Wasserstein, George C. Scott, Stacy Keach, Sada Thompson, Jose Quintero, and Dustin Hoffman. Off-Broadway productions such as Driving Miss Daisy, Steel Magnolias, and The Boys in the Band were propelled to international recognition based on their wins.

The Drama Desk Awards ceremony is held annually at LaGuardia Concert Hall of the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in Lincoln Center. The nominations for 2007-08 were announced on April 28, 2008 and the ceremony was held on May 18, 2008.^[1]