Dancy, Urie, Washington et al. Set to Present at 2010 Lortel Awards 5/2; Ceremony Details Announced

The Lucille Lortel Awards announced today the details for the 25th Anniversary Lortel Awards Reception & Ceremony. The Awards Reception will be held on May 2, 2010 at 6 PM EST with the Ceremony beginning at 8 PM EST at Terminal 5, 610 West 56th Street, between 11th & 12th Avenues. Members of the industry may purchase tickets through the Off-Broadway League while members of the public wishing to watch the show can purchase tickets at ticketcentral.com or via phone 212-279-4200.

The theme of the ceremony is "Off-Broadway Comes Home" and the show, directed by Michael Heitzman with musical direction by David Holcenberg, will feature performances highlighting the best of Off-Broadway in the last 25 years; in addition, special curated exhibition spanning these years will be on display. The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League by special arrangement with the Lucille Lortel Foundation. The Lortel Awards are a benefit for The Actors Fund. Additional support provided by Theatre Development Fund. Support also provided by Inside Park at St. Bart's, Ferrari and MontGras.

This year's Co-Hosts are the hilarious duo, Bebe Neuwirth and Bryan Batt. They will be joined on stage by notable presenters from the entertainment industry, including Kerry Washington, Anthony Mackie, Saffron Burrows, Justin Bartha, Hugh Dancy, Jennifer Morrison, Michael Urie, Laurie Metcalf, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Anthony LaPaglia, Zoe Kazan, Tamara Tunie, Stephanie March, Ally Sheedy, Lily Rabe, Rosie Perez, Patrick Heusinger, Keith Carradine, Aasif Mandvi, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Julie Halston, Charles Busch, Tom Jones, Michael Esper among other luminaries of stage, screen and film. Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Daryl Roth and Outstanding Body of Work recipient Lincoln Center Theater will be honored during the ceremony for their contribution to Off-Broadway.

In addition to montages of the five nominated musicals this season, the show will include performances from some Off-Broadway's luminaries, and from important shows of seasons past, including:

· Alan Menken performing a medley from his Off-Broadway hit, Little Shop of Horrors. Alan Menken has won more Academy Awards than any other living individual, including 4 Oscars for Best Score and 4 Oscars for Best Song. In addition, he has been nominated 18 times. He has won 10 Grammy Awards (including Song of the Year for "A Whole New World"), 7 Golden Globes, London's Evening Standard Award, the Olivier Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award.

· LaChanze, singing "Waiting for Life" from Once On This Island, the song that made her famous. LaChanze was recently seen in her Tony-winning performance on Broadway in Oprah Winfrey's The Color Purple.

· Seth Rudetsky doing a deconstruction of Off-Broadway, and "The Music, The Mirror, The Mishap," where Seth will tell some inside, hilarious stories about one of the most famous Off-Broadway musicals..."A Chorus Line."

· STOMP, the sixteen-year Off-Broadway juggernaut, performing a segment from their award-winning international sensation. STOMP has become a permanent fixture of New York's theatre landscape and has received rave reviews, numerous awards, and made appearances on TV shows ranging from "The Academy Awards" to "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." STOMP plays at Off-Broadway's Orpheum Theatre.

· "Try to Remember" from the legendary Off-Broadway show, The Fantasticks, which celebrates 50 years in 2010.. In honor of this achievement, author Tom Jones will be handing out the Outstanding Musical Award on May 2nd.

Theatre industry vets, along with agents, producers, nominees and notable presenters will enjoy the VIP Reception from 6 - 8 PM that includes a tantalizing menu by Certé, paired with a Sparkling White, Ferrari Brut from Italy, and MontGras Carmenère from Chile.

In honor of the 25th anniversary milestone, the Lucille Lortel Awards has put together an intimate salon-style exhibit at Terminal 5 to showcase past winning companies and their productions. Showcasing a selection of posters, photographs, costumes, and other ephemera, curated by Tiffany Nixon, June Reich and Ryan Anthony Donaldson, attention is drawn to the significance of, and need for preserving materials designed and created for Off-Broadway theatres. These materials enhance the understanding of Off-Broadway's incredible contribution to New York's ever-growing theatre history.

The Archivists:

Ryan Anthony Donaldson is currently the Archivist with The Durst Organization, a fourth-generation
family real estate firm. Before living in New York City, Ryan earned an M.A. in History Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program.

Tiffany Nixon is the Archivist for Roundabout Theatre Company. Previous projects include the Library for the Performing Arts (NYPL), The Kitchen, Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Ford Foundation, and the Pacific Film Archive. Tiffany holds an M.L.I.S. (archives focus) and an M.A. in English Literature/Creative Writing.

June Reich currently works for two fabulous non-profit arts organizations: the Brooklyn Academy Of Music, where she is managing the archives' digitization project, and Sesame Workshop, where she recently curated the Sesame Street 40th anniversary exhibition at the Brooklyn Public Library (the exhibit is going on the road: next stop Los Angeles Public Library this fall). June has a MLS with a concentration in archives, and master's degrees in Performance Studies and English.

We thank the following individuals and companies for material loans on display:
Michael Bottari and Ronald Case (costumes from Die Mommie Die!; Shanghai Moon), Jess Goldstein (costume sketches from The Mineola Twins), Luke McDonough/The Public Theater (costumes from The Petrified Prince), Atlantic Theater Company, Brooklyn Academy Of Music, Classic Stage Company, Classical Theatre Of Harlem, Lark Play Development Center, Lucille Lortel Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York Public Library/ Library for the Performing Arts, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Roundabout Theatre Company, Second Stage Theatre, Tectonic Theatre Project, Vineyard Theatre

The Co-Hosts:

Bebe Neuwirth is currently appearing as Morticia Addams in The Addams Family on Broadway.

Bryan Batt recently appeared as Sal Romano in "Mad Men" and as Spencer Cannon in "Ugly Betty." His book, She Ain't Heavy, She's My Mother: A Memoir hits shelves nation-wide on May 4th, 2010.

Director Michael Heitzman:

Michael Heitzman is one of the Grammy-nominated songwriters of "Throw That Girl Around" from the Broadway musical Swing! His first musical Vices: A Love Story just ended a critically acclaimed run at the Caldwell Theater in Boca Raton, FL where it was nominated for eight 2010 Carbonell Awards including Best New Work and Best Musical. His musical Bingo (the winning musical) had a successful Off-Broadway run and has had numerous productions nationally and internationally. It was honored with the 2007 Bay Area Critics Association Award for Best Musical. He and longtime writing partner Ilene Reid were selected for the 2008-2009 Dramatist Guild Fellowship. They are currently developing a new Broadway musical Genius based on the book by PatRick Dennis. He is also directing the world premier of Everett Bradley's new work Evolution slated for production in the Spring of 2011. In addition to having several TV and film scripts in development, he and Ms. Reid wrote for the NBC series "Just Deal" and their sitcom "Scott Free," developed with Barbra Streisand's Production Company Barwood Films and Kelsey Grammer's Production Company Grammnet, was purchased by Paramount Pictures. Michael Heitzman is a member of The Dramatists Guild, BMI and the Writer's Guild of America, East.

Musical Director David Holcenberg:

Broadway: Bye Bye Birdie, The Story of My Life, Mamma Mia!, Good Vibrations , Seussical, Titanic, Showboat. David also music directed the US premiere of Ragtime (Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award: Distinguished Achievement in Music Direction) as well as Dessa Rose and The Glorious Ones at Lincoln Center Theater and the Toronto production of The Phantom of the Opera. David is conductor for Irish Tenor Ciaran Sheehan (Carnegie Hall, PBS recordings). His show Bingo, written with Michael Heitzman and Ilene Reid is playing nationally and internationally. David is currently the Associate Music Supervisor for Mamma Mia! North and South America.

Ferrari Brut:

Ferrari was born over a century ago in 1902 through the efforts of Giulio Ferrari. After his studies in France, Ferrari returned to Trentino, Italy and planted Chardonnay, which no one had done before. Ferrari was convinced that through the combination of Trentino terroir, the innovative use of Chardonnay and the use of the traditional "metodo classico," he could make world-class sparkling wines. By 1906, the awards started to roll in and Ferrari was well on its way to producing what would shortly become the most famous sparkling wine in all of Italy.

MontGras Carmenère:

Viña MontGras, in Chile's Colchagua Valley, was established in 1992 by brothers Hernán and Eduardo Gras, together with their partner Cristián Hartwig. The fruit of a mission to produce estate-grown wines of exceptional quality and originality, the MontGras estate today encompasses over 495 acres planted to vine in the heart of Chile's wine-producing region. Since the first harvest in the early 1990's, MontGras have earned over 200 medals and awards worldwide.

For more information, visit www.bestcarmenere.com

Lucille Lortel Foundation was created by Lucille Lortel to foster excellence and diversity in the theatre, as well as to faithfully preserve the rich history and support the continued prosperity of Off-Broadway. The Foundation has several major programs, including its general operating support program that has provided millions of dollars to small to mid-size theatres in New York City, universities, and theatre service organizations. The Foundation created and maintains the Internet Off-Broadway Data Base (www.lOBDB.com <http://www.lOBDB.com> ). For a listing of all of the Foundation's programs, previous Lortel Award nominees and recipients, information on the Lucille Lortel Theatre and Playwrights' Sidewalk, and much more, please visit www.lortel.org.

Theatre Development Fund (TDF) has played a unique role in strengthening live theatre and dance in New York City for the past 40 years. This not-for-profit service organization's programs have filled 72 million seats at discount prices (with theatre lovers who would normally not be able to attend live performance) and returned over 1.6 billion dollars in revenue to thousands of theatre, dance and music productions. Best known for its TKTS Discount Booths, TDF's membership, voucher, access and education programs as well as its Costume Collection, help to make the unique experience of theatre available to everyone. For more information, go to: www.tdf.org.

The Actors Fund is a national human services organization that helps all professionals in performing arts and entertainment. The Fund - which provides programs and services for those on stage and on screen and everyone behind the scenes in theatre, film, TV, music, dance, radio and opera - is a safety net, providing social services and emergency assistance, health services and health insurance information, employment and training programs and housing support for those who are in need, crisis or transition. Learn more about what The Actors Fund does in helping over 10,000 people every year at www.actorsfund.org.

Located at one of New York City's most treasured landmarks, Inside Park at St. Bart's welcomes diners to a warm, relaxing and unique space in which to "escape", break bread and share a fine dining experience. The contemporary American menus reflect Executive Chef Matthew Weingarten's longtime allegiance to a respect for responsibly sourced ingredients, seasonality, sustainable practices and lost culinary arts. Since opening in 2008, Inside Park has garnered acclaim for "some of the city's finest Greenmarket cooking" from Time Out New York and food that is "thoughtful, well executed" from New York Magazine, served in an elegant dining room with a distinct old-world-meets-new-world feel.

For more information, please visit online at www.insideparknyc.com

The Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway were created in 1985 by the Off-Broadway League. The Lortel Awards recognize excellence Off-Broadway by honoring the invaluable contribution of artists to the theatre community.

Representatives of the Off-Broadway League, Actors' Equity Association, Stage Directors & Choreographers Society, the Lucille Lortel Foundation in addition to theatre journalists and academics and other Off-Broadway professionals serve on the Voting Committee.

The awards are given in the following categories: Play, Musical, Solo Show, Revival, Alternative Theatrical Experience, Director, Choreographer, Lead Actor and Actress, Featured Actor and Actress, Scenic, Costume, Lighting and Sound Design. The following honorary awards may also be given: Lifetime Achievement, Body of Work (awarded to an institution), the Edith Oliver Award for Sustained Excellence and induction onto the Playwrights' Sidewalk in front of the historic Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York City.

The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League by special arrangement with the Lucille Lortel Foundation. Additional support provided by Theatre Development Fund. Support also provided by Inside Park, Ferrari Sparkling Wine and MontGras Carmenere.

For more information, visit www.LortelAward.com.