Theatre Communications Group
50th Anniversary Gala
Monday, April 23, 2012
New York City
honoring
Kenny Leon
Judith O. Rubin
The Shubert Foundation
co-chairs
Ralph Bryan
and Heather Randall
honorary gala chairs
Angela Bassett Courtney B. Vance
Louise Kerz Hirschfeld
emcees
Sally Struthers
and Jennifer Cody
New York,
NY – On Monday, April 23, 2012, Theatre Communications Group
(TCG) will celebrate its 50th anniversary at a
gala honoring Kenny Leon, Judith O. Rubin, and The
Shubert Foundation, at Espace (635 West 42nd
Street between 11th and 12th avenues).
“Not only
will we be celebrating all that TCG has accomplished over
the last 50 years, we are thrilled to be honoring a group of
people who have made a notable difference in the world of
American theatre. They have shared their passion for the
theatre with TCG and our members, and we are delighted to be
sharing the evening with them,” said Teresa Eyring,
executive director of TCG.
The event
will feature a “who’s who” of American Theatre, featuring
Sally Struthers and Jennifer Cody as the evening’s
emcees. The Gala Co-Chairs are Ralph Bryan and
Heather Randall – and the Honorary Gala Chairs are
Angela Basset, Courtney B. Vance, and Louise Kerz
Hirschfeld.
The
Honorary Gala Committee includes: F. Murray Abraham,
Douglas Carter Beane, Beau Bridges, James Bundy, Kate
Burton, Charles Busch, Michael Cerveris, Rick Elice, Philip
Himberg, Rachel Kraft, Patti LuPone, David Hyde Pierce,
Phylicia Rashad, Roger Rees, Tim Robbins, Olga Sanchez,
Roche Schulfer, Stephen Sondheim, Ben Vereen and Doug
Wright.
The
evening’s entertainment will include excerpts of important
new theatrical works by TCG Member Theatres from around the
nation including La Jolla Playhouse’s Hands on a
Hardbody, the Dallas Theater Center, Public
Theater and Signature Theatre’s co-production of Giant,
and the new musical Super Fly.
“It’s my great honor to showcase several
great works from our Member Theatres,” said Eyring.
“Audiences fell in love with Giant when it played at
Signature and Dallas Theatre Center. La Jolla Playhouse is
working diligently on Hands on a Hardbody and we are
thrilled to offer our gala attendees a sneak preview of the
new musical Super Fly, directed and choreographed by
Bill T. Jones. These and other works emerging from
theatres of all sizes across the U.S., demonstrate the
strength and vitality of our national theatre community.”
The evening will begin with cocktails at 6:00 followed by
dinner and performances at 7:00. Guests are asked to wear
festive attire. Limited tickets are still available. Visit
www.tcg.org/events/gala for more information.
About THE speciaL
performances from TCG
Member Theatres:
Hands On A Hardbody: The La Jolla Playhouse
world premiere boasts a book by Doug Wright, lyrics by
Amanda Green, and music by Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green.
Based on the acclaimed documentary, this La Jolla Playhouse
commissioned musical follows ten strangers who enter an
endurance contest to win a brand new truck—the key to their
own individual American dream.
Giant: A sprawling, epic love story with
larger-than-life characters and Texas-size musical numbers.
Co-produced by Dallas Theater Center and The Public Theater
with a 2009 World Premiere at Signature Theatre in
Arlington, Virginia, this classic tale of ambition and
romance comes to the stage with book by Sybille Pearson and
song after memorable song by Michael John LaChiusa.
Super Fly: This new musical inspired by the
1972 film takes a look at one man's attempt to escape from
the gritty, over-the-top drug subculture of 1970's Harlem.
A book by Seth Zvi Rosenfield & Rick Elice, with music by
Curtis Mayfield and his contemporaries; Directed and
choreographed by Bill T. Jones. Coming to a TCG theatre
later this year!
Performers will include: Kate Rockwell (Hands On A
Hardbody), Darren Ritchie (Hands On A Hardbody),
Curtiss Cook (Super Fly), Katie Thompson
(Giant) and the following ensemble: Sara Jayne
Blackmore, Charl Brown, Holly Butler,
Liz Byrne, Dionne Figgins and
Stephen Mark Lukas. The creative team includes:
Holly-Anne Ruggiero (Director), James Lynn Abott
(Musical Director) Chris Fenwick (Musical Director,
Giant), and Annastasia Victory (Associate
Musical Director, Super Fly).
About The Honorees:
KENNY LEON
(Director). Tony nominated director and Julia Hansen Award
winner, Kenny Leon is one of the most acclaimed directors in
contemporary American theatre. He is the first
African-American director to have two shows on Broadway
simultaneously: The Mountaintop starring Samuel L.
Jackson and Angela Bassett and Stick Fly produced by
Alicia Keys. In 2010, his Broadway production of Fences
garnered 10 Tony Nominations including Best Director and won
the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play, Best Actor and
Best Actress. Past Broadway credits include Radio Golf,
Gem of the Ocean and the Tony-winning revival of A
Raisin in the Sun. Mr. Leon was nominated for Best
Director by the Directors Guild of America for the
television film of A Raisin in the Sun which also
received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations and won 3 NAACP
Image Awards and was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of
Fame. Prior to founding Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre
Company, he served 11 years as Artistic Director of the
Alliance Theatre. Other directorial credits include Toni
Morrison’s opera Margaret Garner, the world premiere
of Flashdance: The Musical, Alicia Keys’ As I Am
worldwide tour and the August Wilson Century Cycle at the
Kennedy Center, for which he was Artistic Director. His
television directorial credits include Private Practice
and Ghost Whisperer. Currently he’s directing an
all-black adaptation of Steel Magnolias for
Lifetime.
Judith O. Rubin:
Ms. Rubin is chairman of the board of Playwrights
Horizons. She was a member of the board of TCG for six
years, and is now on its executive committee. For eight
years she served on the NEA's National Council on the Arts.
She has been a member of the New York State Council on the
Arts since 1989, is currently on the Tony Awards
Administration Committee, the Cultural Affairs Advisory
Commission of the New York City Department of Cultural
Affairs, and the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)
Board of Overseers. She is a trustee of the Laurents/Hatcher
Foundation that awards a major annual prize to a play by an
emerging playwright. She is on the board of Mount Sinai
Medical Center and of the New York Community Trust, and is a
former director of Public Radio International. She served as
president of the 92nd Y from 1984 to 1988, was a member of
the Board of Regents of New York State, representing
Manhattan, and was Commissioner for Protocol during the
administration of New York City Mayor David Dinkins.
The Shubert
Foundation:
Established in 1945 by Lee and J.J. Shubert in memory of
their brother Sam, it is also the sole shareholder of The
Shubert Organization, Inc., which owns and operates 17
Broadway theatres and an Off-Broadway theatre, as well as
the Shubert Theatre in Boston and the Forrest Theatre in
Philadelphia. The Organization also manages the National
Theatre in Washington, DC. The mission of The Shubert
Foundation is to sustain and advance the live performing
arts, in particular the American theatre, by supporting
not-for-profit, producing theatre companies, as well as
dance companies and other arts-related institutions
that assist in the development of the theatre. The Shubert
Foundation is the largest private foundation providing
general operating support to America’s not-for-profit
theatre and dance companies. In 2011 it supported 315
theatres and 68 dance companies. The Foundation’s steadily
increasing allocation total hit a new high in 2011, with 449
organizations sharing grants of over $19 million. Grantees
are large and small, urban and rural, with repertories
ranging from classical to contemporary. Located in every
region of the country, each plays a role in the evolution of
the art form, the pursuit of artistic excellence and the
encouragement of theatergoing.
About Theatre
Communications Group (TCG):
For 50 years, Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the
national organization for the American theatre, has existed
to strengthen, nurture and promote the professional not-for-
profit American theatre. TCG’s constituency has grown from a
handful of groundbreaking theatres to nearly 700 member
theatres and affiliate organizations and more than 12,000
individuals nationwide. TCG offers its members networking
and knowledge-building opportunities through conferences,
events, research and communications; awards grants,
approximately $2 million per year, to theatre companies and
individual artists; advocates on the federal level; and
serves as the U.S. Center of the International Theatre
Institute, connecting its constituents to the global theatre
community. TCG is North America’s largest independent
publisher of dramatic literature, with 11 Pulitzer Prizes
for Best Play on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the
award-winning AMERICAN THEATRE magazine and ARTSEARCH®, the
essential source for a career in the arts. In all of its
endeavors, TCG seeks to increase the organizational
efficiency of its member theatres, cultivate and celebrate
the artistic talent and achievements of the field and
promote a larger public understanding of, and appreciation
for, the theatre.
www.tcg.org
TCG Board of Directors, includes: Douglas R. Brown, Ralph
Bryan, James Bundy, Dawn Chiang, Mark Cuddy, Lydia Diamond,
Cynthia Fuhrman, Joseph Haj, Andrew Hamingson, Aimée Hayes,
Michelle Hensley, Ed Herendeen, Philip Himberg, Robert Hupp,
Morgan Jenness, Chris Jennings, Tim Jennings, Marshall Jones
III, Rachel Kraft, Martha Lavey, Marc Masterson, Kevin
Moriarty, Jonathan Moscone, Lynn Nottage, Ralph Peña, Diane
Rodriguez, Olga Sanchez, Sean San Jose, Roche Schulfer, Mark
Shugoll, Mark Valdez, Clyde Valentin, Megan Wanlass, Kate
Warner, and Angel Ysaguirre. Executive Director:
Teresa Eyring.
|