Joel Grey, Mary Tyler Moore, et al. to Honor Bernadette Peters at New Dramatists Gala

New Dramatists today announced that two-time Tony Award winner Bernadette Peters will be honored with their 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award at its 63rd Annual Spring Luncheon tribute, to be held Thursday, May 24th at the New York Marriott Marquis. Among those on the program offering tributes will be Emmy Award-winner Mary Tyler Moore, Peters' Tony Award-winning A Little Night Music co-star Elaine Stritch, and New Dramatists Artistic Director Todd London. Tony and Academy Award-winner Joel Grey and Peters' Tony-nominated Gypsy co-star John Dossett will offer musical tributes.

Each year, New Dramatists salutes an individual who has made an outstanding artistic contribution to the American theatre. Having starred on Broadway in the acclaimed Kennedy Center production of Follies earlier this season, Bernadette Peters is the recipient of two Tony Awards, a Golden Globe, two Grammy Awards and three Emmy nominations. She received Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Song and Dance and a second Tony Award for Annie Get Your Gun. She received Tony nominations for Gypsy, The Goodbye Girl, Sunday in the Park With George, Mack & Mabel and On the Town. She also earned a Drama Desk nomination for her performance in Into the Woods. Her TV credits include, most recently, the Lifetime movie "Living Proof" and guest-starring roles on ABC-TV's "Grey's Anatomy" and "Ugly Betty." Among her 18 film credits are Pennies From Heaven (Golden Globe Award), The Jerk, The Longest Yard, Silent Movie, Annie, Pink Cadillac, Slaves of New York, Alice, Impromptu, It Runs in the Family and the soon-to-be-released Coming Up Roses. In addition to numerous original Broadway cast recordings, Ms. Peters has recorded six solo albums, including the Grammy-nominated Bernadette Peters Loves Rodgers & Hammerstein; Sondheim, Etc., Etc.; Sondheim Etc.; Bernadette Peters Live at Carnegie Hall; and I'll Be Your Baby Tonight. Ms. Peters devotes her time and talents to efforts that benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, and her "pet project" is Broadway Barks, an annual, star-studded dog adoption event she founded with friend Mary Tyler Moore, benefiting animal shelters throughout the New York City area. She added author and songwriter to her roster of achievements with her debut children's book, a New York Times best seller, Broadway Barks, and the just-released Stella Is a Star.

"Bernadette Peters is one of those rare performing artists with an original voice," says Todd London, Artistic Director, New Dramatists. "She has brought a new sound into the theatre and continues to do so, in surprising and miraculous ways. By some sleight of magic, her singularity always manages to bring out the best and richest in the work of her composers and writers. So, of course New Dramatists is thrilled to honor her. We celebrate and sustain the original voices of writers and cherish the artistry that makes their creations sing. It will be a thrill for our 50 resident playwrights to sing praises back at her."

Past luncheon honorees have included Roger Berlind, Julie Taymor, Horton Foote, Edward Albee, Harvey Fierstein, Chita Rivera, Meryl Streep, Angela Lansbury, Julie Andrews, Glenn Close, Stephen Sondheim, Arthur Miller, Neil Simon, Jerry Herman, Terrence McNally, Barbara Cook, John Kander & Fred Ebb, August Wilson, George C. Wolfe and Gwen Verdon.

The luncheon will be held at the New York Marriott Marquis (1535 Broadway, between 45th and 46th Streets) on Thursday, May 24th, beginning with a champagne reception at 11:15 AM and ending promptly at 2:30 PM. Tickets are $300 (a portion of which is tax-deductible). For tickets, call (212) 757-6960.