2024 WP Theater Gala to feature Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy, Kara Lindsay, and more | |
Last Edit: Official_Press_Release 04:55 pm EDT 05/14/24 | |
Posted by: Official_Press_Release 04:55 pm EDT 05/14/24 | |
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THE 2024 WP THEATER GALA TO FEATURE PERFORMERS & PRESENTERS: JOSHUA HENRY, CAISSIE LEVY, SOMI KAKOMA, WHITNEY WHITE, LEIGH SILVERMAN, RACHEL WAX, HANNAH CRUZ, HAWLEY GOULD, A DISNEY ON BROADWAY PERFORMANCE WITH SONYA BALSARA, MANDY GONZALEZ, AISHA JACKSON, PEARL KHWEZI, AND KARA LINDSAY, AND MORE HONORING: SUTTON FOSTER, LACHANZE, and ANNE QUART HOSTED BY: EDEN ESPINOSA MONDAY, MAY 20, 2024 AT THE EDISON BALLROOM IN NYC TICKETS AVAILABLE VIA WPTHEATER.ORG/GALA-TICKETS (NEW YORK, NY – May 14, 2024) WP Theater (Producing Artistic Director Lisa McNulty, Managing Director Michael Sag) is thrilled to announce the presenters and performers for its 2024 Annual Gala, celebrating extraordinary achievement by Women+ artists and industry leaders. The gala will feature performances from comedy magician Rachel Wax, Joshua Henry, Hannah Cruz, Hawley Gould, Somi Kakoma, as well as a thrilling performance from leading women of Disney on Broadway - featuring Sonya Balsara, Mandy Gonzalez, Aisha Jackson, Pearl Khwezi, and Kara Lindsay. Presenters for this year's gala include Donnetta Lavinia Grays, Caissie Levy, Leigh Silverman, Rachel Sussman, Lisa Timmel, and Whitney White. As previously announced, this year's gala will honor Tony Award winners Sutton Foster (Sweeney Todd, The Music Man) and LaChanze (The Color Purple, Once on This Island), along with Disney Theatrical Group Executive Vice President Anne Quart. The ceremony will take place at The Edison Ballroom (240 W 47th St, NYC) on Monday, May 20, 2024. This year's Gala is especially anticipated, as it marks a celebration of the overwhelming amount of WP Lab and mainstage alumni representation on Broadway and at The Tony Awards this year. WP will proudly toast their Lab and mainstage artists nominated for Tony Awards this season - Bekah Brunstetter (The Notebook book writer; WP: Playwrights Lab Alum), Anne Kauffman (Mary Jane director; WP: Director's Lab Alum, director, Sundown, Yellow Moon), Lila Neugebauer (Appropriate director; WP Directors Lab Alum), Leigh Silverman (Suffs director; WP: director, Bright Half Life), Rachel Sussman (Suffs producer; WP: Producer's Lab Alum, WP Board Member), Danya Taymor (The Outsiders director; WP: Director's Lab Alum), Whitney White (Jaja's African Hair Braiding director; WP: Our Dear Dead Drug Lord). These artists are a testament to WP's role as a springboard for the finest Women+ talent working in the theater today. The evening will be hosted by actress, singer, recording and performing artist, and star of the powerful Broadway musical Lempicka, Eden Espinosa. Lotus Productions Executive Producer and V-Day Campaigns Director Tony Montenieri will serve as gala chairperson and Disney Theatrical Group, Thomas Schumacher & Matthew White, The Shubert Organization, and Lisa Timmel & David Markus will serve as the gala vice chairs. Each year, WP honors truly outstanding Women+ who have taken risks, pushed limits, and broken ground in a wide variety of fields, celebrating their unique accomplishments. Since its inception, the event has paid homage to luminaries such as Gloria Steinem, Whoopi Goldberg, Debra Messing, Audra McDonald, Vanessa Williams, Eve Ensler, Dame Judi Dench, Kerry Washington, Vanessa Redgrave, and Chita Rivera, to name just a few. WP Theater's Annual Gala delivers an inspiring, entertaining, star-studded night - featuring performances and special messages from the brightest Broadway & Off-Broadway talent - in celebration of the accomplishments of vital Women+ across many disciplines in New York and beyond. Sponsorship and support of WP's premier event supports WP Theater's unwavering commitment to putting Women+ voices center stage. For information regarding tickets to the GALA, visit https://wptheater.org/gala-2024. WP THEATER LEADERSHIP Lisa McNulty, Producing Artistic Director; Michael Sag, Managing Director Gala Chairperson: Tony Montenieri Gala Vice Chairs: Disney Theatrical Group, Thomas Schumacher & Matthew White, The Shubert Organization, and Lisa Timmel & David Markus. WP Theater Board of Directors: Lisa Timmel, Chairperson; Michelle S. Riley, Secretary; David Singleton, Treasurer; Sandy Ashendorf; Cody Cowan; Brandilyn Dumas, Esq.; Serra Eken; Donnetta Lavinia Grays; Jessica R. Jenen; Casey Kemper; Samantha Sullivan Kindler; Joseph Petito, Esq.; Rachel Sussman; Tamilla Woodard; Lisa McNulty; Michael Sag WP THEATER is the nation's oldest and largest theater company dedicated to developing, producing, and promoting the work of Women+ at every stage of their careers. WP's focus on Women+ supports people who are cis women, trans, non-binary or gender-nonconforming, and all gender identities systemically oppressed throughout history in the theater and beyond. For 46 years, WP has served as leaders of a global movement towards gender parity, and the example they set and the artists they have fostered have grown into a robust, thriving community in the theater field and beyond. WP empowers Women+ artists of all kinds to reach their full potential, challenging preconceptions about the kinds of plays they write and the stories they tell. To date, WP has produced more than 700 Mainstage productions and developmental projects and published 11 anthologies of plays by Women+ artists. WP Theater is proud of the ways in which they have made a difference in the artistic landscape of New York and beyond, and continues to forge forward by offering artists a platform to develop and present their stories. WP Theater received a 2018 Lucille Lortel Award and a 2019 Obie Award, both for Outstanding Body of Work, and a 2020 Special Drama Desk Award recognizing WP and the legacy of its founder, Julia Miles. As the premier launching pad for some of the most influential artists in theater, television, and film, WP's work has had a significant impact on the field. Nearly every notable female theater artist has been through its doors, including: 2021 Pulitzer Prize Winner Katori Hall; 2019 Tony Winner Rachel Chavkin; two-time Pulitzer Prize Winner Lynn Nottage; 2018 Pulitzer Prize Winner Martyna Majok; 2018 MacArthur "Genius" Grant Winner Dominique Morisseau; 2013 Tony Winner Pam MacKinnon; and 2013 Tony Winner Diane Paulus. At WP, these powerful women found an early artistic home and are a testament to our role as a driving cultural force. Women+: cis women, trans, non-binary, or gender-nonconforming people and all gender identities which have been systematically oppressed throughout history in the theater and beyond. |
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