Jonathan Groff, Cheyenne Jackson and More Join SRT's Benefit Honoring Julie Taymor at 92YTribeca Tonight, 11/12

Sonnet Repertory Theatre presents their Eleventh Annual Benefit and Cabaret tonight, November 12, at 92YTribeca to honor award-winning director, Julie Taymor. Celebrating Taymor's visionary career, this evening will feature some of Broadway's greatest talents and legends.

Taymor is a proponent of Sonnet Rep's mission: classic theatre for the modern planet. All proceeds from the event will go towards Sonnet Repertory Theatre's 2013 key initiatives, including producing exciting, accessible classic theater, and enriching their ever-growing educational initiatives, designed to nurture arts and classical language appreciation among New York City's school children. As a non-profit organization, SRT seeks to promote classic theatre to a contemporary audience by producing insightful and relevant interpretations, while also providing diverse and challenging creative opportunities.

Sonnet Repertory Theatre's Eleventh Annual Benefit & Cabaret will take place tonight, November 12, at 92YTribeca (200 Hudson Street, corner of Hudson, ground floor). Doors open at 6:00pm with an exclusive raffle, and performances are scheduled to begin at 7:00pm. General Admission tickets are $100 (includes a complimentary glass of wine from 6-7pm; General Admission seating is first come, first served; cash bar, no food), or $800 for a Reserved Table for Four (includes premier, reserved seating, light refreshments and a bottle of wine). To purchase tickets, visit sonnetrep.brownpapertickets.com.

In 1998, Julie Taymor became the first woman to win the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical, and won a Tony for Best Costumes, for her production of The Lion King. The musical recently achieved two milestones: becoming Broadway's all-time highest grossing show and the fifth longest-running show in Broadway history. For her latest Broadway production, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Taymor served as director and co-book writer. Her 1996 Broadway debut, Juan Darién: A Carnival Mass, earned five Tony nominations. Other theatre credits include The Green Bird, Titus Andronicus, The Tempest, The Taming of the Shrew, The Transposed Heads, and Liberty's Taken. Taymor's feature films include Titus, starring Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange and Alan Cumming; the biographical film Frida, starring Salma Hayek and Alfred Molina, which earned six Academy Award nominations, winning two; the Beatles-inspired Across the Universe, nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy; and her Helen Mirren- starring adaptation of The Tempest, which had its North American premiere at the New York Film Festival following a world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival. Beyond the theatre and screen, Taymor has directed five operas internationally, including Oedipus Rex with Jessye Norman, for which she earned the International Classical Music Award for Best Opera Production and an Emmy for a subsequent film version; as well as Salomé, The Flying Dutchman, Die Zauberflöte (in repertory at The Met), The Magic Flute (the abridgEd English version, which inaugurated a PBS series entitled "Great Performances at The Met") and Elliot Goldenthal's Grendel. Taymor is a 1991 recipient of the MacArthur "genius" Fellowship.

The evening will be hosted by Patrick Page. Page is currently in Broadway's Cyrano de Bergerac. His other Broadway work includes: The Green Goblin in Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark, Scar in The Lion King, Decius Brutus in Julius Caesar (with Denzel Washington), Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast, Scrooge (standby) in A Christmas Carol, and The Kentucky Cycle. Off-Broadway he played the title role in Rex, and Richard II (directed by Steven Berkoff). Some of Page's regional work includes: Macbeth and Iago at The Shakespeare Theatre Company (with director Michael Kahn), Sergius at Long Wharf, Cyrano and Richard III at Pioneer Theatre Company, plus leading roles at Seattle, Indiana & Missouri Reps, ACT, Cincinnati Playhouse, Arizona Theatre Company, Oregon, Utah, Alabama Shakespeare Festivals, and more.

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