Lea DeLaria to Return as Host for 61st Annual Obie Awards!

The American Theatre Wing and The Village Voice have confirmed that the 61st Annual Obie Awards will be held on Monday, May 23, 2016 at Webster Hall (125 East 11th Street). Obie and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning actress Lea DeLaria will return as the host. Tickets to the 2016 Obie Awards will be announced at a later date.

"I am thrilled to be invited back to host the Obies. It's the best party of the year, plus off-Broadway actresses are totally hot... and desperate," said DeLaria.

Judges for the 61st Annual Obie Awards include Village Voice columnist and longtime Obie Judge's chairman Michael Feingold, Obie-winning actress Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Obie-winning director Oliver Butler, Obie-winning composer Ricky Ian Gordon, Obie-winning costume designer Clint Ramos, Obie-winning actress Juliet Rylance, and Variety senior critic Marilyn Stasio, to form the 2015-16 Obie Awards judging panel. Productions that wish to invite consideration from the judges should visit www.ObieAwards.com. Questions regarding invitations should be directed to ObieInvites@americantheatrewing.org

For more information, visit www.ObieAwards.com.

Lea DeLaria seems to have achieved overnight stardom with her SAG Award winning, stand-out role as 'Carrie 'Big Boo' Black' in the Netflix hit series "Orange is the New Black." However, DeLaria's multifaceted career as a comedian, actress and jazz musician, has in fact, spanned decades. Lea holds the distinction of being the first openly gay comic on television in America which led to countless Television and Film roles portraying Police Lieutenants, PE Teachers and the Lesbian who inappropriately hits on straight women. Selected TV credits: "Awkward," "Clarence," "Californication," "The Oblongs," "One Live to Live," "Law and Order: SVU," "Will and Grace," "The Oblongs," "Friends" & "Matlock." Selected Film credits: First Wives Club, Dear Dumb Diary, Edge of Seventeen. She's received Obie & Theater World Awards, and a Drama Desk nomination for her portrayal as 'Hildy' in the Public Theatre's revival of On The Town, an Ovation nomination for The Boys From Syracuse, and has played both Eddie & Dr. Scott in the gender-bending Broadway musical The Rocky Horror Show. Lea was the featured vocalist at the 50th Anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival, and has performed in some of the most prestigious houses in the world including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Chicago Symphony, Hollywood Bowl, The Royal Albert Hall and the Sydney Opera House. Lea has five records on the Warner Jazz and Classics label and her book "Lea's Book of Rules for the World" is in its third printing at Bantam Doubleday and Dell. Her sixth record, House Of David delaria+bowie=jazz, was released in the Summer of 2015 to critical acclaim.

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