Mint Theater to Honor George Morfogen at Annual Gala, 6/24

Mint Theater (Jonathan Bank, Artistic Director) today announced their Annual Gala Benefit, which will celebrate past productions and honor George Morfogen, long time Mint actor. The benefit, Playing Favorites, will take place Monday evening, June 24th at the Cosmopolitan Club (122 East 66th Street).

Join the Mint to celebrate its history and honor one of their most significant artistic contributors-George Morfogen-currently starring in A Picture of Autumn by N.C. Hunter. Fourteen years ago, George helped put the Mint on the map with his performance in Harley Granville-Barker's The Voysey Inheritance ("A generous, cheerful, guiltless thief trusted by everyone" - New York Times.) He has since appeared in Mint's productions of A Farewell to the Theatre, The Lonely Way, and The Madras House for which The New York Times cited his "sternly effective performance." George's most recent credits include Golden Age (Manhattan Theatre Club), A Man for All Seasons (Roundabout),Ivanov, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters (Classic Stage Company), and Freud's Last Session (New World Stages). He is a 2000 recipient of the Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship and the 2006 recipient of Equity's annual St. Clair Bayfield Award-honoring the best performance by an actor in a Shakespearean play in the New York metropolitan area-for his portrayal of the Duke of York in the Classic Stage Company production of Shakespeare's Richard II. He is best remembered by TV viewers for his recurring role of Bob Rebadow on all six seasons of the HBO series, Oz.

Drama Desk and Obie Award winning actor, Roberta Maxwell who shared the stage with George in The Madras House, will headline the evening's presenters-possibly performing one of the play's most memorable scenes with Morfogen. "George Morfogen's Constantine Madras is something of a scoundrel by virtue of seducing House of Madras' employees and abandoning his wife and son-returning to London only for the sale of the business," wrote CurtainUp of The Madras House. "Morfogen plays this over-aged black sheep with his usual understated panache. Roberta Maxwell, a newcomer to the Mint but not to the stage, embodies both the bitterness and desperate yearning of the wronged wife, Amelia." Maxwell has also shared the stage with George in Classic Stage Company's productions of Ivanov and Three Sisters. Her Broadway credits include Equus(opposite Anthony Hopkins), Our Town, and Summer and Smoke. She also appeared as the mother of Jake Gyllenhaal's Jack Twist in the 2005 Academy Award winning film,Brokeback Mountain.

In celebration of the launch of their new online Production Archives, the 2013 Gala will also feature scenes from past Mint productions, chosen by Mint Theater fans! Fans can browse through the new online Production Archives and vote for the plays they'd like to see represented. Click on the Playing Favorites button on the right of Archives home page which will direct you to an online survey where you can vote for up to five plays. You do NOT need to buy tickets to the Gala to vote. Winning scenes will be presented at the Gala on June 24th.

Proceeds from the 2013 Benefit will go towards establishing Mint's Legacy Fund. The Legacy Fund will support Mint's Archival activities, including online Production Archives, video-taping of productions, and preservation of historically important materials.

Mint's Playing Favorites benefit will begin at 6:30pm with a reception in The Cosmopolitan Club Library. At 7:30 pm, dinner will be served and selected scenes will be performed in the Ballroom. The evening will close with dessert with the cast. For tickets or more information, call 212-315-0231 or click here, or go to the Mint website. Tickets begin at $500. Your gift will help to ensure that the lost plays the Mint has discovered will continue to be remembered.

"The Mint does for forgotten drama what the Encores! series does for musicals, on far more modest means" (The New York Times). The Mint was awarded an OBIE for "combining the excitement of discovery with the richness of tradition," and a special Drama Desk Award for "unearthing, presenting and preserving forgotten plays of merit." Ben Brantley, in The New York Times Arts & Leisure (August 21st, 2011) hailed the Mint as the "resurrectionist extraordinaire of forgotten plays."