Benanti, Urie, Rose et al. Honor Patti LuPone at Drama League's 'A Musical Celebration of Broadway,' 2/7

On Monday, February 7, 2011, The Drama League will present its 27th annual all-star gala, "A MUSICAL CELEBRATION OF BROADWAY." This year's black-tie event, to be held in the Grand Ballroom at The Pierre New York (2 East 61st Street at 5th Avenue), will honor two-time Tony Award winner and celebrated Broadway actress-singer Patti LuPone.

Co-directed by Roger T. Danforth and Tony Award winner Cady Huffman, "A MUSICAL CELEBRATION OF BROADWAY" features performances from Laura Benanti, Liz Callaway, Howard McGillin, Donna Murphy, Anika Noni Rose, Michael Urie and many more. Additional stars will be announced in the coming weeks.

"Patti LuPone is one the most talented, versatile, dedicated and passionate actors working in the theater today," said Drama League Board Member Donna Murphy. "She is a true force of nature; a fierce survivor who has willed things to happen in her life and career when things didn't easily fall into place. Personally, she inspired me early on with her undeniable soaring talent; and still inspires me on that level, but that is now compounded by my coming to know her incredible strength of character. Her unending commitment and love for the theatre has made her a legend in her own time, and the Drama League is excited to celebrate her remarkable career."

Currently starring on Broadway in the musical Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and the author of the New York Times best-selling autobiography, Patti LuPone: A Memoir, Patti LuPone swept the 2008 theatre awards winning the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Actress in a Musical and the Drama League's Distinguished Performance Award for her performance as Rose in the critically-acclaimed revival of Gypsy, directed by Arthur Laurents.

Her recent stage credits include her debut with the Los Angeles Opera in Weill-Brecht's Mahagonny, the world premiere of Jake Heggie's new opera To Hell and Back with San Francisco's Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Mrs. Lovett in John Doyle's award-winning Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for Best Actress in a Musical; Drama League Award for Unique Contribution to Musical Theatre), the title role in Marc Blitzstein's Regina, a musical version of Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes at the Kennedy Center, a critically acclaimed performance as Fosca in a concert version of Stephen Sondheim's Passion, which was also broadcast on PBS' "Live From Lincoln Center," and a multi-city tour of her theatrical concert Matters of the Heart.

LuPone's other notable New York stage appearances include performances as La Mome Pistache in the Encores! production of Cole Porter's musical Can-Can at New York's City Center, as The Old Lady in the New York Philharmonic's concert production of Leonard Bernstein's Candide, and performances on Broadway in the hit revival of Michael Frayn's Noises Off, in David Mamet's The Old Neighborhood, Terrence McNally's Master Class and in her own concert Patti LuPone On Broadway, for which she won an Outer Critics Circle Award.

Other memorable performances on the New York musical stage include Vera Simpson in the Encores! production of Pal Joey, Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, (1988 Drama Desk Award and Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Musical), The Cradle Will Rock, Nancy in Oliver!, Evita (1980 Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Actress in a Musical), Working and Rosamund in The Robber Bridegroom (1976 Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations for Best Featured Actress in a Musical).

In London, she created the role of Fantine in the RSC production of Les Miserables, a role she subsequently played on the West End. For that performance, as well as the reprise of her performance in the London production of The Cradle Will Rock, she won an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Ms. LuPone created the role of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard (1994 Olivier nomination for Best Actress in a Musical), and recreated her Broadway performance of Maria Callas in the West End production of Master Class.

Each year, The Drama League's one-night-only gala concert boasts an incredible roster of Broadway's biggest and brightest stars, performing favorite songs from Broadway seasons past and present. This year, the show will include performances highlighting Ms. LuPone's unequalled stage career.

The musical revue is the highlight of The Drama League's annual benefit gala at The Pierre New York. The festive evening will begin at 7 p.m. with a cocktail reception and silent auction/raffle in the Cotillion Room, followed by an elegant seated dinner at 8 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom, followed by the performance.

All proceeds from "A MUSICAL CELEBRATION OF BROADWAY" support The Drama League Directors Project. Now entering its 27th year, this innovative program is the nation's premier training program for theatre directors, with more than 237 active alumni working around the world.

Tickets for "A MUSICAL CELEBRATION OF BROADWAY" are $750 - $1,995. Tables of ten are available from $7,500 - $18,000.

To reserve seats or receive any additional information about The Drama League, please call Special Events Manager Roger Calderon at (212) 244-9494, ext. 5. For more information, please visit www.dramaleague.org.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos