City University of New York graduates, Jimmy Smits and CUNY Chancellor Matthew GoldSTEIN will be honored at a gala to benefit BEAT (Bridging Education and Theatre), a TDF/ CUNY partnership helping to make New York City theatre, music and dance accessible to the CUNY community. The gala will be held on Thursday, December 1 at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY @ 34th Street. For tickets and table information call MK Event Studio at 203.298.4722 or email: events@tdf.org.
For the evening of the gala, there will be a 6:30pm cocktail reception and silent action, followed by dinner, a ceremony and entertainment at 7:30pm. The program will include performances by Eden Espinosa and Billy Porter with special appearances by Julie Halston and Priscilla Lopez (who starred with Jimmy Smits on Broadway in Anna in the Tropics), and is being produced by Tony Spinosa. Tickets for the benefit range from $600 for Supporter tickets to $1200 for Premiere tickets.
“We’re thrilled to be celebrating this new partnership by honoring these two incredible CUNY graduates, said Victoria Bailey, TDF’s Executive Director. “Chancellor Goldstein, a graduate of City College, has been leading CUNY’s 23 schools for over 12 years and has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of the millions of students who have passed through their doors. Jimmy Smits, a graduate of Brooklyn College, is an immensely talented actor whose vast accomplishments attest to the high level of excellence at that school’s Theatre Department,” said Victoria Bailey, TDF’s executive director.”
"All of us at CUNY are delighted that in this second year of BEAT the number of campuses involved doubled, and that TDF is honoring our Chancellor, Matthew Goldstein, as well as Jimmy Smits, at a gala to support BEAT," said Alexandra W. Logue, CUNY's Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost. "The CUNY-TDF collaboration is exciting because it enhances our students' understanding of the contributions of the arts to education and civic life. BEAT is a win-win for everyone involved: The CUNY community benefits from the educational, cultural, and professional opportunities that TDF provides, and CUNY contributes to the growth of new audiences for the performing arts in our fantastic city."
BEAT (Bridging Education and Theatre) is a program designed to introduce the CUNY community to New York City’s performing arts through a range of programs designed by TDF and tailored to the needs of the CUNY community. Since 80 percent of CUNY students remain in New York City after graduation, this partnership will help them become lifelong theatre goers, able to enjoy and participate in a vital and vibrant part of the cultural life of New York City.
BEAT (Bridging Education and Theatre), which was piloted during the 2010-11 school year has just doubled in scope for its second year. The program was originally piloted on four CUNY Campuses: Baruch College, Brooklyn College, LaGuardia Community College and Lehman College. For this second year the program continues on those four campuses, along with Hunter College, John Jay College New York City College of Technology, Queensboro Community College to bring the total number of colleges served to eight. The program looks to expand each year, eventually to all 23 CUNY campuses.
BEAT has already launched four programs at the campuses involved in the initiative:
Production Process – a theatre enrichment program in which theatre professionals from different performing arts disciplines participate in moderated discussions on various aspects of theatre production for an audience of CUNY students;
Mentoring – a credited program in which a theatre professional mentors a group of CUNY students in a specific discipline;
Internships – CUNY students participate in for-credit internships in their specific field of study at TDF and throughout the theatre industry; and,
Ticketing – each school will have a group participate in TDF’s “New Audiences of New York,” a program which introduces theatre, through attendance and education, to underserved groups across the five boroughs. Students from each campus will attend theatre performances and participate in pre- and post-performance discussions. TDF is also offering discounted annual TDF memberships for students, faculty and staff at the eight campuses participating in CUNY/TDF BEAT.
