WAKE UP with BWW 5/7/14 - Drama Desk Reception, Encores! IRMA LA DOUCE & More!

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: the 2014 Drama Desk Award nominees reception is today, plus Encores! IRMA LA DOUCE opens tonight at the City Center!

TODAY'S TOP ITEMS:

• The 2014 Drama Desk nominees reception takes place this morning, so be sure to check back later for our coverage of the event. You can revisit the full list of nominations here!
• Encores! IRMA LA DOUCE opens tonight at New York City Center, featuring Jennifer Bowles, Rob McClure, and Malcolm Gets!
• THE TESTAMENT OF MARY, which played on Broadway last year starring Fiona Shaw, opens at the Barbican in London tonight.
• MAMA AND HER BOYS closes Off-Broadway tonight, and original cast members Ethan Paulini, Christopher Sidoli and Wendy Watson will appear in the roles they originated.

WHAT YOU MISSED YESTERDAY:

• Nick Cordero, Bryan Cranston, Mary Bridget Davies, Ramin Karimloo, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Christopher Plummer and more are among the 2014 Theatre World Award winners!
• In other awards season news (there's always more!), Whitney Bashor and Steven Boyer took this year's Clarence Derwent Award, with the 2014 Richard Seff Award going to Peter Maloney and Mare Winningham. Both honors come from the Actors' Equity Foundation.
• Calling all aspiring playwrights! Lincoln Center is offering a contest in honor of Moss Hart and in conjunction with Broadway's ACT ONE.
• New York Theatre Workshop's 2014 spring gala will honor the founding partners of Dodger Properties: Des McAnuff & Michael David...
• FUERZA BRUTA is making its off-Broadway return this June with WAYRA!
• We got a first look at the new stars of the First National Tour of WICKED - Nick Adams, Emma Hunton and Gina Beck.
• Plus, check out highlights from FORBIDDEN BROADWAY COMES OUT SWINGING and Lincoln Center Theater's THE CITY OF CONVERSATION off-Broadway (here)!
• BWW also shared our exclusive coverage of Kristin Chenoweth in EVOLUTION OF A SOPRANO at Carnegie Hall over the weekend.
• MOTOWN's Valisia LeKae -- an ovarian cancer survivor -- is now appearing in a PSA for the Mount Sinai Ovarian Cancer Risk Assessment program. It's on view in Times Square through May 15.
• PIPPIN has released a new promo for 2014. Watch it here!
• Clint Eastwood's JERSEY BOYS will be the closing feature of the 2014 L.A. Film Festival.
• And over in Eastern Europe, Vladimir Putin has signed a Russian law banning "foul" language in movies, TV and theatre. Cherish your creative freedom, everyone! We'll see if Broadway has a response to this latest move by the president to institute a more conservative Russia...

Broadway Weather Forecast: Well, the sun came out yesterday, today, and hopefully will again tomorrow! Sunny, high of 66 degrees. No complaints here.

Quote of the Day: Why not?

'You see things; and you say 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?'"
-- George Bernard Shaw (via BrainyQuote)

What we're watching: The 1950 classic film adaptation of HARVEY, starring James Stewart, now out on Blu-ray. It is spring, after all -- what better time for a six-foot tall rabbit and elaborate delusions?