Hargitay and Martin Host Our Time Gala; Lipton Honored

Our Time Theatre Company, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing an artistic home for young people who stutter, will hold its Fifth Annual Our Time Benefit Gala entitled, "Express Yourself," continuing its tradition of honoring a person who has been an inspiration to those that stutter. This year's Our Time Award will be presented to Peggy Lipton, the star of TV's "Mod Squad" and "Twin Peaks."

This year's star-studded evening will be co-hosted by "Law & Order" stsars Mariska Hargitay and Jesse L. Martin.  This year's benefit will take place on Monday, April 23, 2007, with an all-star performance at the Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at 7PM . Celebrities will perform original work written by and with the young people of the Our Time Theatre Company. 
 
Performing with the members of the Our Time Theatre Company are Rory Albanese, Lewis Black, Michael Cerveris, Nadia Dajani, Adriane Lenox, Tiffany McElroy, Rob Morrow, Kelli O'Hara, Ron Rifkin, Sherie Rene Scott, Ramon Rodriguez, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Paul Rudd, Grant Shaud, Mary Testa, Callie Thorne, the cast of STOMP , and from "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," Dan Bakkedahl, John Oliver, and Rob Riggle. 
 
"Our Time Theatre Company provides an environment free from ridicule where young people who stutter discover the joy of creating and performing original theatre. Based in New York City, Our Time consists of pre-teens and teenagers who study acting, singing, playwriting, drumming, and dance with professional artists. Exercising these skills, they create original plays that are performed in New York City and around the world. Our Time serves its members free of charge and there are no prerequisites to join.  Now in its fifth year, the Our Time Award is presented to one exceptional individual who has improved the quality of life and been an inspiration to people who stutter," state press notes.

Lipton is most closely associated with two television roles, that of society drop-out-turned-undercover cop Julie Barnes in the police drama "Mod Squad" (1968-1973) and Norma Jennings in David Lynch's groundbreaking drama series "Twin Peaks" (1990-1991).  She most recently performed on stage in The Guys and The Vagina Monologues in New York City, and on television in recurring roles on the WB's "Popular" and "Alias."  In 2004, she wrote her autobiography Breathing Out, which went to number twenty-five on The New York Times bestseller list.
 
The  Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts is located at New York University, 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South.
Dinner at Chinatown Brasserie will follow the performance. For tickets and information, please call (212) 414-9696 Tickets for performance only are $100.  Individual Tickets for dinner and performance are $300/$1,000. Tables for dinner (which include the performance) are $10,000/$25,000.  Visit www.ourtimetheatre.org for more information.

Photo - Peggy Lipton