Theater News

2016 Drama Desk Awards Dates Revealed

The prestigious honors will be presented by TheaterMania.

Kristin Chenoweth shows off her 2015 Drama Desk Award for On the Twentieth Century.
Kristin Chenoweth shows off her 2015 Drama Desk Award for On the Twentieth Century.
(© David Gordon)

The 61st Annual Drama Desk Awards, presented by TheaterMania, will be presented on Sunday, June 5. The ceremony will take place at 8pm at Town Hall. Joey Parnes Productions will produce and manage the show, which will be written by Bill Rosenfield and directed by Transport Group's Jack Cummings III.

Nominations for this year's Drama Desks will be announced at 10am on Thursday, April 28, at Feinstein's/54 Below, and will be streamed live on TheaterMania.com. This year's nominating committee is made up of Drama Desk chair David Barbour, Peter Filichia, David Finkle, Sandy MacDonald, Andy Propst, Diane Snyder, Douglas Strassler, and Drama Desk president Charles Wright.

"For almost 61 years, the Drama Desk has been honoring professional achievement at all levels of New York theater," said Wright. "Every spring, the Drama Desk Awards ceremony offers an occasion to celebrate outstanding work in what is unquestionably the most vibrant theater community in our country and perhaps the world."

TheaterMania is presenting the awards ceremony for the fifth consecutive year. TheaterMania CEO Gretchen Shugart serves as managing executive producer along with executive producers Robert R. Blume and David S. Stone, in association with Renee McCurry.

"TheaterMania is pleased to again present the prestigious Drama Desk Awards at Town Hall," Shugart said. "Audience members and webcast viewers around the globe are in for a treat as the awards show celebrates the diversity, creativity, and talent that New York City theater offers."

The Drama Desk Awards are the only major New York City theater honors for which productions on Broadway, off-Broadway, and off-off-Broadway compete in the same categories.