* Broadway ticket sales soar.
* GMA profiles Broadway hot spot Tony's Di Napoli.
* Chase & Espinosa return to Rent.
* Drama Desk Award nominations announced.

Read more at BroadwayBulletin.com

LongBytes

Last season there were 12.3 million tickets sold to Broadway shows. 65% of those tickets were purchased by Tourists, many of them from outside the United States. In other ticket stats, online ticket sales have grown an astonishing 368% in 7 seasons!

Good Morning America will be doing a profile on the theatre district's friendliest eatery, Tony's Di Napoli. The restaurant, known for it's lovely servers who double as talented actors, singers and dancers, will be featured on GMA tomorrow morning, May 8th.

Rent will be ending its run at the Nederlander Theatre on September 7th. However, before the final bow, Rent alumni Will Chase and Eden Espinosa will return to the ensemble cast. Chase will reprise his role as Roger beginning May 5th, while Espinosa will play the part of Maureen starting May 30th.

The 53rd Drama Desk Award nominations have been announced and A Catered Affair, a musical about family relationships, leads the pack with 12 nominations. Other notables include the Adding Machine, which gathered 9 nominations, and South Pacific and Young Frankenstein, which both secured 8 nods.

The Drama Desk will also hand out special ensemble awards to the cast of the off-Broadway show The Dining Room and Harold Pinter's The Homecoming. The Drama Desk will also present Edward Albee and James Earl Jones with lifetime achievement awards. The awards will be handed out on May 18th.

Read more at BroadwayBulletin.com