Playwrights Horizons Sets HEROINES Gala for 5/6

Acclaimed Off-Broadway theater company Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) will hold its annual Spring Gala on Monday evening, May 6 at the event space 583 Park Avenue.

Titled "HEROINES", the evening will celebrate the many distinguished Women Writers that have been produced in the company's 42 years. The theater company's distinguished track record of producing the work of female writers, composers and librettists grows out of a commitment to present the best new American writing. In the past decade, the theater company has been a national leader in supporting women's plays. In recent seasons, 50-65% of the plays produced annually have been written by women. (In the current 2012/2013 Season, 4 of the 6 productions are written by women.) This accomplishment is substantially higher than the average, as less than 20% of the work seen on New York nonprofit stages is written by women.

The evening will also celebrate Leslie Marcus on her 20th Anniversary as the company's Managing Director. During her tenure, the annual budget has grown from $4.4 to $10 Million. Among Leslie's many achievements is overseeing a $35M capital campaign and the construction of the building the organization calls home.

The evening will consist of performances by such Playwrights Horizons/PH alumni as Tony Award winner LaChanze (The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, Inked Baby and Once on This Island at PH; Tony for The Color Purple), Tony Award winner Shuler Hensley (The Whale at PH; Tony for Oklahoma!) and Tony Award nominee Kerry Butler (currently in The Call at PH; Tony nomination for Xanadu), plus the reunion of Original Cast Members from the Tony-nominated Best Musical Once on This Island and the Obie Award-winning musical The Bubbly Black Girl....

The evening will also feature the participation of the following PH alumni: actress Amy Brenneman (Rapture, Blister, Burn at PH), lyricist and book writer Lynn Ahrens (Lucky Stiff and Once on This Island at PH; Tony for Ragtime), composer, lyricist and book writer Kirsten Childs (The Bubbly Black Girl...), playwright Gina Gionfriddo (Rapture, Blister Burn at PH), playwright Amy Herzog (After the Revolution and The Great God Pan at PH); playwright Lynn Nottage (Mud, River, Stone and Fabulation at PH; Pulitzer Prize for Ruined); and composer Jeanine Tesori (Violet at PH). Additional participating artists will be announced in the coming weeks.

Stefanie Kane, Partner at PriceWaterhouse Coopers will serve as Board Gala Chair and Dana M. Seshens, Partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP and Mark Birkhead, Senior Vice President at Citi Retail Services will serve as Generation PH Gala Co-Chairs. Patron Chairs are Alyson K. Adler and William H. Green.

Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit organization, and almost 40% of its annual budget is supported by donations from individuals and institutions. The Spring Gala is the organization's largest fundraising event of the year, with donations earmarked to support six annual productions, the development of new plays and musicals, ticket subsidies and programs for students and early-career professionals. These programs cultivate the next generation of artists, arts managers and theatergoers.

Cocktails and a Silent Auction will begin at 6PM, followed by dinner at 7:30PM and the evening's entertainment. In addition to the Silent Auction, which is exclusive to those attending the Gala, an advance online auction will run March 29 through April 15 and is administered through Bidding For Good. Past items have included Boardwalk Empire premiere and party; VIP seats at a Jay Z concert and backstage tour of the Barclay Center; house seats to Broadway shows and lunches with the stars; and a trip to London with airfare from American Airlines, housing and theater tickets.

Ticket prices for the Gala start at $1,000 and can be reserved by calling Michelle Kiefel at 212-564-1235 extension 3143.

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