Butler, Sieber, And More To Perform At Theatreworks USA Gala Benefit 1/31

The Board of Directors, Gala Committee, and staff (Barbara Pasternack, Artistic Director, and Ken Arthur, Producing Director) of Theatreworks USA, America's largest not-for-profit touring theatre company for young and family audiences, announces details for the company's Annual Gala, to be held on Monday, January 31 at the Hotel Pierre, 2 East 61st Street at Fifth Avenue.

Proceeds from the Gala support the annual Free Summer Theatre event in New York City, as well as other programs and productions of Theatreworks USA, a not-for-profit educational and artistic
corporation serving over 3 million children nationwide and nearly 200,000 young people in the metro New York area.

The Gala, to be hosted by WNBC News Anchor and Reporter DeMarco Morgan will include cocktails and a silent auction at 6pm, with dinner at 7 accompanied by entertainment, a live auction, and presentation of the Lee Salk "GoodWorks" Award to Mike Perry, President & CEO of Crayola,
which has inspired artistic creativity in children in over 80 countries since the Crayola brand was launched with its iconic crayons in 1903. (award presented by Josette Barenholz, Independent Marketing Consultant), and Tracy Anderson, Creator of the Tracy Anderson Method, a fitness and lifestyle regimen for women (award presented by Sally Pressman, star of TV's "Army Wives").

The entertainment portion of the evening, which will also begin at 7, will feature special performances by an array of Broadway performers including Kerry Butler (Tony Award nominee for Xanadu), Alexander Gemignani (Drama Desk nominee: Sweeney Todd) Christiane Noll (Tony
Award nominee for Ragtime) Andréa Burns (Drama Desk Award-winner for In the Heights), Christopher Sieber (Tony nominee: Shrek: The Musical), as well as Alex Brightman, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Courtney Reed, Gabrielle Ruiz, and Grace Wall.

The evening will feature songs by some of Theatreworks USA's current and alumni writers including Sam Davis, Mindi Dickstein, Jaime Lozano, Tommy Newman, Ryan Scott Oliver and Mark Waldrop, including a sneak peek at Theatreworks' 2011 Free Summer Theatre presentation, The Yellow Brick Road, a Latin-American take on the classic story The Wizard of Oz.

The Gala Committee of Theatreworks USA is chaired by Lindsay McCann, and includes Julie Halpin Anderson, Marsha Askins, Josette Barenholtz, Maria G. Brito-Souza, Sonia Segoda Dressner, Jill Ellis, Michelle Eden Humphrey, Elsie McAdoo, Wendy Nelson, Barbara Pasternack, Lindsay Stavros, Maureen Early Vlak, Vince Weiner, and Richard W. Wheeless.

Theatreworks USA's Board of Directors includes Julie Halpin Anderson, Chair, and Ken Arthur, Maria G. Brito-Souza, Sonia Segoda Dressner, Cameron R. Foster, Charles Hull, Michelle Eden Humphrey, Lindsay McCann, Michael J. Passarella, Barbara Pasternack, Lisa Prager, Mindy Propper, Jonathan P. Rosen, Lindsay Stavros, Alisa C. Thorne MD, Maureen Early Vlak, and Richard W. Wheeless.

Tickets to the event (starting at $500 for cocktails, dinner and the show/awards ceremony) may be purchased by calling Theatreworks USA Development Manager Mona Lipson at 212.647.1100 x126. For more information, e-mail events@twusa.org or visit www.twusa.org.

ABOUT THE HONOREES:

TRACY ANDERSON is the Creator of The Tracy Anderson Method, a popular fitness and lifestyle regimen for women which keeps the balance between weight loss and a healthy body. Tracy has designed several fitness systems, including the Hybrid Body Reformer, an apparatus that uses a fusion of aerobic and dance movements, to re-engineer the muscular structure. In order to share her technique with people around the world, Tracy has released three top-selling fitness DVDs and dance cardio programs available on her website, as well as her book,Tracy Anderson's 30-Day Method: The Weight-Loss Kick-Start that Makes Perfection Possible, coming soon to Amazon.com. Tracy's list of celebrity clients includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Shakira, Courteney Cox and Kristin Davis. She is constantly developing new moves, routines, and techniques to ensure that her method stays fresh. Tracy has studios in Los Angeles and New York City.

MIKE PERRY is the president and chief executive officer of Crayola, LLC, a Hallmark subsidiary based in Easton, Pa. Crayola was founded in 1903 on the belief that unleashing the wonder and adventure in every child begins with color. Whether it's providing tools to put a purple octopus on the moon, or enabling teachers to bring arts-infused learning into the classroom, Crayola is passionate about helping parents and educators raise creative and inspired children, who will one day grow up to inspire the world. Mike believes that Crayola has a responsibility to help unleash the creative originality that exists in every child with colorful, innovative tools that transform the wonder of the imagination into visible form.

ABOUT THE HOST

DeMARCO MORGAN joined WNBC in November 2008 from WTVJ in Miami. Morgan is no stranger to New York City: he began his broadcasting career in the Big Apple while working on his Master's Degree at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Morgan has been honored with several Associated Press and broadcasting awards. Morgan has volunteered with Big Brothers Big Sisters, the American Cancer Society, NAACP, served on the board of managers for the YMCA, and is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. He was named one of Ebony Magazine's Top 30 Future Young Leaders of America in 2006, and was recently presented with the 2009 Thurgood Marshall Prestige Award for his community service here in New York and across the country.

ABOUT THEATREWORKS USA

THEATREWORKS USA, founded in 1961, is America's foremost professional theatre for young and family audiences. Its mission is to create imaginative and thought-provoking shows that are educational, entertaining and thought-provoking.

Past productions in New York City include We the People: America Rocks! (2010 Calloway nomination); Click, Clack, Moo (2010 Lortel and Drama Desk nominations); Seussical (1998 Lortel and Drama League nominations); Junie B. Jones (2005 Lortel nomination); and Cam Jansen (2005 Drama Desk nomination). Their 2010-2011 touring repertoire includes Charlotte's Web; A Christmas Carol; Click, Clack, Moo; Fancy Nancy & Other Story Books; Freedom Train; If You Give a Mouse a Cookie & Other Story Books; Junie B. Jones; The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe; The Mystery of King Tut; Seussical; and We the People.

Theatreworks' honors include a Drama Desk Award, Off-Broadway's Lucille Lortel Award, the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Award, the William M. Dawson Award for Programmatic Excellence given by the Association of Performing Arts Presenters and the Medal of Honor from The Actors' Fund of America.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos