Marla Mindelle Will Host 70th Annual Drama Desk Awards
The ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 17, 2026, at 7:30 PM at The Town Hall in New York City .
Writer and performer, and star of Titanique on Broadway, Marla Mindelle, will host the 70th Annual Drama Desk Awards. The milestone-anniversary ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 17, 2026, at 7:30 PM at The Town Hall in New York City — marking the return of the awards to the venue for the first time since the 2020 theater shutdown.
Mindelle is the 2023 Drama Desk-nominated co-creator and star of the Olivier Award-winning hit Titanique, now playing a limited Broadway engagement at the St. James Theatre.
“I’m so honored, as a proud 70-year-old woman, to be hosting the 70th Annual Drama Desk Awards,” said Marla Mindelle. “At the Drama Desk Awards, scrappy basement musicals can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the biggest shows on Broadway. That’s the room I always want to be in, girlfriend. I promise to behave — mostly.”
Directed by Asmeret Ghebremichael (Two Strangers…, The Notebook) and written by Kevin Zak (Ginger Twinsies; Clinton the Musical, Silence The Musical), the creative team for this year’s Awards has also been announced, and includes: production design, lighting design, and scenic design by Nicholas Pollock & Steel Blue Designs (Brigadoon, Little Women, How to Succeed…), and sound design by Ellen Fitton (Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert on NBC).
The 70th Annual Drama Desk Awards will recognize the New York theater of the 2025–2026 season and will honor Tom Schumacher, former President of Disney Theatrical Productions, with the Harold S. Prince Award for lifetime achievement. Nominations will be announced on Wednesday, April 29, 2026 by Raúl Esparza and Helen J Shen.
“Marla is one of the great theatrical inventions of this generation — a writer, performer, and host with the wit, warmth, and timing this anniversary deserves,” said David Barbour and Charles Wright, Co-Presidents of the Drama Desk organization. “For 70 years, the Drama Desks have been a broad tent, recognizing excellence on every scale and in every form. Marla embodies that spirit. We can’t wait to see her in front of a Town Hall full of the artists she loves.”
About Marla Mindelle
Marla Mindelle co-wrote and starred in the Off-Broadway musical Titanique, for which she won the 2023 Lucille Lortel Award and Obie Award for Best Performer in a Musical for her portrayal of Céline Dion; the production also won the Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical and the 2025 Olivier Award for Best Entertainment. She also co-wrote and starred as Stacey in the Lortel-winning Off-Broadway musical The Big Gay Jamboree. Broadway credits include the original casts of Sister Act (Sister Mary Robert) and Cinderella (Stepsister Gabrielle), as well as South Pacific, and national tour credits include The Drowsy Chaperone (Kitty). On screen, she appears as resident bitch Olivia in the Emmy-nominated Netflix series Special and is in the upcoming movie, I Play Rocky.
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