Drama League's Annual Gala

The Drama League's 2013 Musical Celebration of Broadway was held on Monday February 11, 2013 at The Pierre Hotel Ballroom. This year's honoree was five time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald. The Drama League’s annual Benefit Gala is easily one of the most exciting events of the season. Exclusive and elegant, the annual black-tie soiree — featuring a cocktail reception, a dazzling silent auction, and a specially-crafted three-course meal – is a night where the greatest stars of Broadway and Hollywood come together in a unique, one-night-only musical revue celebrating the career of the year’s Gala Honoree.

The Benefit Gala raises much-needed funds for the vital education programs of The Drama League Directors Project. Since 1984,
the Benefit Gala has honored exceptional artists whose talent and passion have served as a benchmark for others. Each year, an enthusiastic audience of 500 theatre lovers – comprised of recognizable names from the professional theatre community and society pages, as well as Drama League members and supporters – come out to support the Drama League Directors Project.

The evening was all about Audra with heartfelt tributes from her friends and colleagues on Broadway and tv but the Drama League also made a special presentation. The leads of Priscilla Queen on the Desert, Tony Sheldon, Will Swenson and Nick Adams announced the new Drama League Theater Center, a new, state-of-the-art facility that will bring world-class theater artists, emerging talents, and New York theatergoers together under one roof. The Center, located on the lobby level of the historic former AT&T Building at 32 Avenue of the Americas, in the heart of TriBeCa’s arts district, is scheduled to open in April 2013 and will be named in honor of Tony Award Winning producers, Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley.

Among the evening's guests and performers and were: Zoe Caldwell, Patti Lupone, Taye Diggs, Phylicia Rashad, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Tyne Daly, Victor Garber, Norm Lewis, Mary Testa, Anthony Crivello, Seth Rudetsky, Tony Sheldon, Bonnie Comley, Stewart Lane, Judith Light, Julie White, and Senator Tom Duane, Bonnie Comley, Stewart Lane, Judith Light, Julie White and Senator Tom Duane.