Lucielle Lortel Awards Themed 'Off-Broadway Comes Home' to be Presented 5/2/2010

The annual Lucille Lortel awards, celebrating the year's Off-Broadway productions and performances will be presented May 2nd, 2010, with nominees announcements coming April 1st. This will be the 25th Anniversary of the awards and will be centered around the theme "Off-Broadway Comes Home."

The event will feature many Broadway stars, as well as many TV and film stars who began their careers Off-Broadway. The awards will take place at Terminal 5 in Gotham. Nominees will be honored with a cocktail reception on April 19th. The ceremony will benefit the Actors Fund.

The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers by special arrangement with the Lucille Lortel Foundation, with additional support from the Theatre Development Fund. The awards presented are Outstanding Play, Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Solo Show, Outstanding Revival, Outstanding Director, Outstanding Choreographer, Outstanding Lead Actor, Outstanding Lead Actress, Outstanding Featured Actor, Outstanding Featured Actress, Outstanding Scenic Design, Outstanding Costume Design, Outstanding Lighting Design and Outstanding Sound Design.

The Actors Fund is a nonprofit umbrella charitable organization that assists entertainment and performing arts professionals through a broad spectrum of programs, including comprehensive social services, health services, supportive and affordable housing, employment and training services, and skilled nursing and assisted living care, with a current annual budget of $21,000,000. The Fund was founded by Albert Marshman Palmer on June 8, 1882, largely due to the efforts of former New York University student Harrison Grey Fiske, editor of the New York Dramatic Mirror, who was aware of the many problems faced by those in the profession. Funds raised at the 1892 Fair, held at Madison Square Garden, enabled the charity to begin providing individuals and families with assistance, including burial plots in a Brooklyn cemetery and accommodations in the Actors' Fund home. Throughout the next several decades, benefit performances held throughout the country raised significant amounts of revenue to subsidize the Fund's many projects. When the AIDS crisis hit the industry in the 1980s, it was there to help thousands of individuals who were affected.

For more information, visit www.lortel.org.