Anderson, Osborne, & Vega Perform Together for International Women's Day

Laurie Anderson, Joan Osborne and Suzanne Vega will unite to perform a one-night-only benefit concert for the Women's Project, the 32-year-old theater company dedicated to producing the work of female theater artists, on International Women's Day, Monday, March 8, at 6:30pm at the Women's Project's home, the 199-seat Julia Miles Theater, 424West 55th Street.

The three icons of New York City and the world of music will be receiving the 2010 Women's Project Women of Achievement Award, which pays tribute to the remarkable accomplishments of women in a variety of disciplines. Following the concert and awards presentation, the celebration will continue with feasting and dancing, with food prepared by six of the City's top female chefs.

"Laurie Anderson, Joan Osborne and Suzanne Vega are legends in the music world," said Julie Crosby, the Producing Artistic Director of Women's Project. "I'd be first in line to hear these three gobsmackingly talented artists perform together anywhere. But that these three women -- with their world-wide reputations, gigantic fan base, and busy global touring schedules -- have found the time to come together on my stage to create an evening of music for the benefit of Women's Project is beyond imagining."

Laurie Anderson, who originally trained as a sculptor, is known throughout the world as the experimental performance artist and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. She has 11 albums to her credit. www.laurieanderson.com

Joan Osborne has ten albums on her resume. She is best known for her song One of Us, and for her work with members of The Grateful Dead. www.joanosborne.com

Suzanne Vega is a songwriter and singer known for her highly literate lyrics and eclectic folk-inspired music. She has seven albums to her name. www.suzannevega.com

25th Anniversary of Women of Achievement Award
This year's Women of Achievement Award, co-chaired by Arlene Scanlan and Cassandra Del Viscio, marks the 25th anniversary of the award. Past recipients include Estelle Parsons, Toni Morrison, Beverly Sills, Diane Sawyer, Gloria Steinem, Donna Karan, Susan Sarandon, Barbara Walters, Rosie O'Donnell, Katie Couric, Lauren Bacall, Maya Angelou, Dame Judy Dench, Joan Didion, Eveyln Lauder, Whoopi Goldberg, Twyla Tharp, Susan Lucci, Eve Ensler and Kerry Washington, among many others. In 1999, the late Gerald Schoenfeld of The Shubert Organization became the first and only male recipient of the award.

The 2009-2010 three-play season of Women's Project boasts of the widely-acclaimed Or, by Liz Duffy Adams; the upcoming Smudge by Emmy-winner Rachel Axler, directed by Pam Mackinnon; and Lascivious Something by Sheila Callaghan, directed by Daniella Topol.

32 Years of Presenting Women Theater Artists
Founded in 1978 by Julia Miles, and now under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Julie Crosby, Women's Project provides a stage for women playwrights and directors, who even today receive fewer than 20% of professional production opportunities nationwide.

Women's Project (WP) produces theater created by women, providing a forum for women's perspectives on political, social, and cultural topics. During its 32 years, countless artists have achieved significant recognition through WP productions, including Anne Bogart, Eve Ensler, Maria Irene Fornes, Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks, Leigh Silverman, and Anna Deavere Smith, among the many. WP has produced staged over 600 mainstage productions and developmental projects, and published ten anthologies of plays by women. In 1998, WP purchased a historic off-Broadway venue on Manhattan's West 55th Street, making WP the first and only women's theater company to hold the keys to its own stage.

The National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, D.C. is no longer funding Women's Project's development of female playwrights and directors, perhaps figuring that Women's Project, coming off its most successful seasons in recent history (Freshwater, Aliens with Extraordinary Skills, crooked, Sand) and this year's hit, extended by popular demand, Or, by Liz Duffy Adams, can create great theater by women without Federal support or stimulation. (Women's Project was also rejected for NEA stimulus money and therefore no woman's job was saved by the Federal government.) Have no doubt, Women's Project will present women theater artists no matter how the winds blow in Washington.

Tickets for the Women of Achievement Benefit Concert begin at $550. For details, contact Women's Project at 212.765.1706 or click www.womensproject.org.