Darren Criss, Brian d'Arcy James, Jessica Vosk & More to Take Part in Atlantic Theater Company Gala

Atlantic Theater Company will present their 2023 Gala on Monday, April 17, 2023 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel (80 Columbus Circle at 60th Street). This year, Atlantic is celebrating with an evening of delicious food, drink, and delightful entertainment, with a stunning view of New York's Landmark Central Park.

Featured performers for the evening will include George Abud (Cornelia Street, The Band's Visit), Darren Criss (American Buffalo), Brian d'Arcy James (Days of Wine and Roses, Into the Woods), Kecia Lewis (Marie and Rosetta, Children of a Lesser God), Jessica Vosk (Wicked, The Bedwetter), and more. All artists are subject to change.

This year's Gala will honor Roger Kass for his 35 years of outstanding service on the Atlantic Theater Company Board of Directors.

"As theaters across the city labor to sustain live performance in a post-pandemic era, we are thrilled to bring together our closest friends to celebrate Atlantic's 38-year history," says Neil Pepe, Artistic Director. "Jeff, Mary, and I are especially honored to recognize Roger Kass for his exceptional Board leadership, generosity, and unwavering commitment to our work for the past 35 years. We are grateful to him, the full board, our staff, and the most talented artists in the industry who represent the many voices that work tirelessly to tell the stories of the times in which we live. Join us on April 17 and be part of this exciting night!"

This year's Gala is co-chaired by Board Members Betsy Pitts and Hilary Edson Polk and will begin at 6:30pm at the Mandarin Oriental with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, followed by a three-course dinner at 7:30pm, a thrilling live auction, and star-studded performances. Auction packages will include luxurious travel, behind-the-scenes access to theater premieres, and premium sports experiences with special guests. Auction services are provided by Meaghan Steele, Sotheby's.

Gala ticket prices begin at $1,500 and may be purchased by contacting 646-216-1086 or gala@atlantictheater.org.

The annual Gala is Atlantic's most important fundraising event of the year. Proceeds from the gala will benefit Atlantic's annual productions, new play and musical development, and arts education initiatives for more than 3,500 students across New York City.

BIOGRAPHIES:

Roger Kass

is an entertainment lawyer and producer who has worked on dozens of critically acclaimed movies, TV series, and stage productions. Kass's film producing credits include David Cronenberg's Oscar-winning A History of Violence, Ti West's cult classic The House of the Devil, the Jonathan Franzen essay-based documentary Emptying the Skies, and David Mamet's Edmond, starring William H. Macy. Kass's legal practice has involved advising the creators of FX's hit series "Damages," Netflix's Emmy-winning "Bloodline," and Apple TV+'s upcoming scripted series "The New Look," chronicling the life and times of fashion icon Christian Dior. Kass has also been a producer on numerous New York theater productions, including Barrow Street Theatre's productions of Tribes, The Effect, and Hit the Wall. Mr. Kass serves on the Board of Directors of the Newport Festivals Foundation, producer of the Newport Folk Festival and Newport Jazz Festival, and he is a Founding Director and the Managing Director of Art & Newport, a public art initiative in Newport, Rhode Island.

George Abud

was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for his role as Nerd Face in Emojiland (The Duke on 42nd; OOBC Recording). Broadway: The Band's Visit starring Katrina Lenk & Tony Shalhoub (Daytime Emmy Award, OBC Recording); The Visit starring Chita Rivera & Roger Rees (OBC Recording). Off-Broadway: The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui opposite Raúl Esparza, Nathan The Wise opposite F. Murray Abraham, Ibsen's Peer Gynt, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Allegro directed by John Doyle (Classic Stage Company); Cornelia Street opposite Norbert Leo Butz directed by Neil Pepe, The Band's Visit directed by David Cromer (Atlantic Theater Company). Regional: Filippo Marinetti in Lempicka directed by Rachel Chavkin (Craig Noel Award nom., La Jolla Playhouse); Lewis Chapman in August Rush directed by John Doyle (Paramount Theatre); Charlie Davenport in Annie Get Your Gun directed by Sarna Lapine (Bay Street Theater); Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Geva Theatre Center). International: The New Prince alongside Barbara Walsh, Marc Kudisch, and Paulo Szot at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam. He is a proud Arab-American artist. He will next be seen as the Russian Symbolist poet Alexander Blok in the New York premiere of Elizabeth Swados' The Beautiful Lady directed by Anne Bogart at La MaMa.

Darren Criss

the San Francisco native actor/singer/songwriter, is a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors' Guild Award, and Critics' Choice Award winner ("American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace"). He made his Broadway debut in How to Success In Business Without Really Trying (J. Pierrepont Finch) in 2012. Other notable Broadway credits include Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Hedwig) and Tony-nominated play American Buffalo (Bobby). Known for playing Blaine Anderson on FOX's global phenomenon "Glee." Criss released three albums, first-ever holiday album "A Very Darren Crissmas" (Decca Records), solo EP "Masquerade" (BMG), and EP "Homework", which debuted at #1 on Billboard's Heatseekers Album chart. He has written songs for the comedy musical "Royalties," "Central Park," co-wrote "Starting Now" for Disney and performed by Brandy, and headlined the iHeartRadio Music Festival with Steve Aoki. While pursuing his acting degree at University of Michigan, Criss and his writing partners started StarKid productions. This resulted from their Harry Potter musical parody entitled, A Very Potter Musical as a fun project for their classmates, friends, and other Harry Potter fans. Along with starring as the boy wizard himself, Criss also lent several of his songs to be used in the show. Within a year, they wrote and produced subsequent online hits like "Starship" and "A Very Potter Sequel," both of which he wrote the music and lyrics for. Criss' other TV credits include host of ABC's "The Queen Family Singalong," "Muppets Haunted Mansion," "Midway," "Girl Most Likely," "American Horror Story," "Web Therapy," and "Eastwick." He is also the founder of New York City's first show tunes music festival, Elsie Fest.

BRIAN D'ARCY JAMES

is a three-time Tony nominated actor (Into the Woods, Something Rotten!, Shrek the Musical, and Sweet Smell of Success) who just completed the star studded run of the Broadway revival of Into The Woods as The Baker. He will be seen at Atlantic this Spring in the world premiere of Adam Guettel's new musical Days of Wine and Roses, opposite Kelli O'Hara. He is nominated for a 2023 Independent Spirit Award in the category of Best Supporting Performance for his work in the critically acclaimed independent film The Cathedral currently available on MUBI. He stars opposite Anne Hathaway, Peter Dinklage, and Marisa Tomei in the Rebecca Miller film She Came to Me, that opened the 2023 Berlin Film Festival in February. Other upcoming film and television projects include Pain Hustlers, opposite Emily Blunt and Chris Evans; Devil's Peak with Billy Bob Thornton, Robin Wright, and Jackie Earle Haley; the HBO Max's miniseries "Love and Death" with Elizabeth Olsen produced by Nicole Kidman and David E. Kelley; and as Bruce Adler (Edward's father) on Apple TV+'s "Dear Edward". In 2015, he originated the role of King George III in Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton Off-Broadway and reprised the role on Broadway in the summer of 2017. Other Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include: The Ferryman directed by Sam Mendes; Time Stands Still with Laura Linney, Christina Ricci and Eric Bogosian; the Lincoln Center production of Macbeth opposite Ethan Hawke and directed by Jack O'Brien; the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Next to Normal; Conor McPherson's The Good Thief (OBIE Award winner); The Wild Party; Port Authority (Lucille Lortel Winner); The Lieutenant of Inishmore; The Apple Tree; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels; Titanic; Carousel; Blood Brothers and others. Brian starred in the Best Picture Oscar®-winning film Spotlight (2016), the Oscar nominated West Side Story (2021), among many others.

Kecia Lewis

is celebrating 39 years in the entertainment industry. She made her Broadway debut at 18 years old in the original company of Dreamgirls, directed by Michael Bennett. Her other Broadway credits include The Gospel at Colonus (with Morgan Freeman), Big River, Ain't Misbehavin' (standby for Nell Carter), Once on This Island (OBC), The Drowsy Chaperone (OBC), Chicago, Leap of Faith (OBC), Cinderella (as Marie/Fairy Godmother), and most recently Children of a Lesser God (directed by Kenny Leon). Off-Broadway she has starred in the title role of Mother Courage, The Skin of Our Teeth (Obie Award), Dessa Rose at Lincoln Center (Drama Desk award nomination), and Marie and Rosetta (Lortel & Drama League nominations/ Obie Award winner). Her television credits include Guest Star and recurring roles on "The Good Fight" (CBS), "And Just Like That" (HBO), "Law & Order: SVU" (recurring), "Madam Secretary," "Royal Pains," "Limitless," "Conviction," "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," "Blue Bloods," "SMILF," "The Blacklist" (recurring), "The Passage" (recurring), "Mad About You" (recurring), and the Hulu series, "Wu-Tang: An American Saga" (recurring). As a vocalist Kecia has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Russia.

Jessica Vosk

is a celebrated singer and actress known for memorable roles on the musical theater and concert stage. Prior to her 2023 solo concert tour, she made her Carnegie Hall debut in November 2021 in a sold-out solo show titled My Golden Age, then followed by her second Carnegie Hall sold out run in the same season, highlighting Judy Garland. You can find her back in New York this June, with a brand new curated piece at The 92nd Street Y. She recently closed out the Atlantic Theater Company run of Sarah Silverman's The Bedwetter. She starred as the Narrator in the 50th anniversary of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Lincoln Center, which she took on again at the MUNY last season. Vosk is best known for her star-turn as Elphaba in Wicked, both on tour and in the 15th Anniversary Broadway company. She independently produced two albums: Wild and Free and A Very Coco Christmas, which both debuted on the Billboard and iTunes Charts. She started with a career in finance, before taking a leap to try and make her way to the Broadway stage. Her one-of-a-kind story has been covered by ABC's 20/20 and NBC Nightly News. Wanna know more? Follow along: @jessicavosk.

ATLANTIC THEATER COMPANY

(Neil Pepe, Artistic Director; Jeffory Lawson, Managing Director). At Atlantic, our aim is singular-to empower simple and honest storytelling that fosters greater understanding of our shared world. We are a family of artists dedicated to exploring essential truths onstage, be it a show at Atlantic Theater Company or a class at Atlantic Acting School. As a producer, presenter, and educator of theater, we are driven by the belief that theater can challenge and transform our ways of thinking and urge us to reflect on our role in society. From our Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning productions to our community-based education programs, we are committed to uncovering and celebrating the stories of our varied human existence. Founded as an ensemble of impassioned artists in 1985, Atlantic Theater Company has grown into a powerhouse Off-Broadway company. We challenge, inspire, and awaken audiences with truthful storytelling presented across our two venues, the Linda Gross Theater and the intimate Stage 2 black-box. As a producer of compelling new works, we are committed to championing the stories from new and established artists alike, amplifying the voices of emerging playwrights through our deeply collaborative programs and initiatives. We have produced more than 200 plays and musicals including Tony Award-winning productions of The Band's Visit (David Yazbek, Itamar Moses), Spring Awakening (Steven Sater, Duncan Sheik), and The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Martin McDonagh); Pulitzer Prize recipient Between Riverside and Crazy (Stephen Adly Guirgis); New York Drama Critics' Circle winners for Best New Play The Night Alive (Conor McPherson) and Best Foreign Play Hangmen (Martin McDonagh); Obie Award winners for Best New American Play Guards at the Taj and Describe the Night (Rajiv Joseph); Obie Award Special Citation recipient Skeleton Crew (Dominique Morisseau); Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award and Lucille Lortel Award winner English (Sanaz Toossi); and New York Drama Critics' Circle, Drama Desk Award, and Lucille Lortel Award winner for Best New Musical Kimberly Akimbo (David Lindsay-Abaire, Jeanine Tesori).