The League of Professional Theatre Women kicked off its 30th-anniversary celebration with a Sept. 28 event in Times Square hosted by SiriusXM Radio's Julie James and NEWSical the Musical star Christine Pedi, who also performed. At the "Turning 30" event, League officers spoke about the accomplishments of female theater artists and showed off a proclamation from the City Council honoring the League on its milestone. Pedi—soon to take over the title role in Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating, & Marriage—sang "There Is Nothin' Like a Dame," interspersed with her impersonations of famous movie lines from the likes of Bette Davis, Scarlett O'Hara, Mommie Dearest and Jessica Rabbit. Judy Gold, currently appearing off-Broadway in The Judy Show: My Life as a Sitcom, also took the stage. Cast members of Mamma Mia! closed out the event with a performance of "Dancing Queen."
Over the next 15 months, the League of Professional Theatre Women will commemorate its 30th anniversary with a variety of special projects, including an oral history and photograph exhibition, "Celebrating Our Legacy," that opens in March at Lincoln Center's New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. BWW's Adrienne Onofri and Michael Stever were on hand at "Turning 30" and interviewed Pedi, Gold, the League's presidents and actors Angelica Page and Anna Nugent. To see the interviews and highlights from the 30th-anniversary kickoff event, watch this video!
Video filmed and edited by Michael Stever.
