David Hyde Pierce Will Be Honored at Drama League's MUSICAL CELEBRATION OF BROADWAY Gala

The Drama League announced today that Tony and Emmy Award winner David Hyde Pierce will be the honoree of the 33rd Annual Musical Celebration of Broadway, to be held on Monday evening, November 7, 2016 at The Plaza (768 Fifth Avenue) in New York City.

Celebrating Mr. Pierce's career in theater, film and television including this season's productions of A Life (Playwrights Horizons) and Hello, Dolly!, the black-tie gala will feature dozens of stars from Hollywood and Broadway in a one-night-only musical tribute supporting The Drama League's educational initiatives for promising young artists.

VIP and Ballroom seats are now available, with a limited number of seats open to the General Public. For more information, please call (212) 244-9494, Ext. 101 or visit the website at www.dramaleague.org.

"Since 1916, The Drama League has been honored to celebrate the career achievements of great theatrical artists," noted Drama League Executive Artistic Director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks. "To kick off our second century in this tradition, we could think of no one more perfect than David, who exemplifies the absolute best of what American theater can be. What a pleasure it is to gather his friends, co-stars and colleagues for an unforgettable night celebrating his many triumphs, and his return to Broadway this season."

Resolution Life is the proud Lead Season Sponsor of The Drama League. The Drama League Benefit Gala Sponsors include Delta Air Lines, the Official Airline of The Drama League; M.A.C. Cosmetics, the Official Makeup Partner of The Drama League; Starbright Floral Design, the Official Florist of The Drama League; and The Plaza.

The Gala Chairpersons are Anna May Feige and Stan Ponte, with Vice-Chairs Rebecca A. Gillan, Kathy Henderson, Mary Jain, Kari Nettles, Joseph and Lauren Pizza, Resolution Life, Elaine C. and W. WelDon Wilson, and Nadine Wong.

The Drama League Benefit Gala helps to raise funds to support the educational training programs of The Drama League Directors Project. The award-winning initiative, which began in 1982 and whose alumni now number over 300, has been instrumental in launching the careers of Tony® Award winners Sam Gold (Fun Home, The Glass Menagerie), Diane Paulus (Waitress), Pam Mackinnon (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Amélie), Michael Mayer (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Burn This), and John Rando (On The Town); Tony Award nominees Mark Brokaw (Heisenberg), Christopher Ashley (Come From Away), Moritz von Steulpnagel (Hand to God) and Alex Timbers (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson); and OBIE and Emmy Award winners Rachel Chavkin (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812), Lear deBessonet, R.J. Cutler, and Anne Kaufmann (A Life), to name a few. 'Drama League Directors' have been honored with Tony, Emmy, Grammy, Obie, Peabody, Drama Desk, GLAAD, Drama League, New York Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics, Evening Standard, Lucille Lortel, Bessie, Princess Grace, Garland, Drama-Logue, Barrymore, Helen Hayes, Elliot Norton, and Joseph Jefferson Awards, and have directed films and plays that received Academy Award nominations and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The Drama League of New York, since 1916, has been at the forefront of the American Theatre community, providing talent, audiences, and prosperous support. It is one of the nation's oldest continuously-operating, not-for-profit arts advocacy and education organizations. Through its programs, initiatives and events, The Drama League serves over 3,000 artists and 15,000 audience members each season with over 150 events and programs. More information can be found at www.dramaleague.org.

Emmy and Tony Award winner David Hyde Pierce made his professional and Broadway debut in 1982 as the waiter in Christopher Durang's Beyond Therapy, and will return to the Great White Way in the Spring of 2017 as Horace Vandergelder in the revival of Hello, Dolly!, opposite Bette Midler. He will be seen Off-Broadway this fall in Adam Bock's "A Life," which will play at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater for Playwrights' Horizons.

Pierce won the Tony Award for his role as Lieutenant Frank Cioffi in the Musical Comedy, Curtains, before going on to appear in the Manhattan Theatre Club revival of the 1930's comedy Accent on Youth. In 2010, Pierce starred in the acclaimed London and Broadway productions of La Bête. He returned to Off-Broadway in the Vineyard Theatre's 2013 production of The Landing, a new musical from John Kander. He went on to create roles in the off-Broadway productions of That's it Folks!, The Author's Voice, Maderati, Zero Positive, and Elliot Loves before returning to Broadway in The Heidi Chronicles. In 2005, he originated the role of Sir Robin in the Broadway production of Monty Python's Spamalot. For his performance, Pierce was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.

In addition to his work in new plays, Pierce has appeared in Hamlet and Much Ado (New York Shakespeare Festival), Holiday and Camille (Long Wharf Theatre), Candida(Goodman Theatre), The Seagull, Tartuffe, Cyrano, and Midsummer's Night's Dream (Guthrie Theatre), and Peter Brook's The Cherry Orchard in New York, Moscow, Leningrad, and Tokyo. In Los Angeles, he appeared in Terrence McNally's It's Only a Play at the Doolittle Theatre and in the Geffen Playhouse production of Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks with Uta Hagen.

Pierce made his Broadway directorial debut with Barbara Anselmi and Brian Hargrove's original musical It Shoulda Been You, which opened last spring at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre and ran through the summer. Pierce first directed the show at the George Street Playhouse, starring Tyne Daly and Harriet Harris, who reprised their roles on Broadway. He most recently helmed David Lindsay-Abaire's new dark comedy, "Ripcord," for Manhattan Theater Club. The show, which starred Mary-Louise Burke and Holland Taylor as mismatched roommates in an assisted living facility, played a limited engagement in the winter of 2015. Pierce's other directing credits include Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at Los Angeles's Mark Taper Forum (Pierce originated the role of Vanya on Broadway, and was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance), as well as a reimagining of "The Importance of Being Earnest" for the Williamstown Theatre Festival, in which he set the play in Prohibition era times.

Pierce's film credits include "Bright Lights, Big City," "Crossing Delancey," "Little Man Tate," "Sleepless in Seattle," "Wolf," "Nixon," "Isn't She Great," "Wet, Hot, American Summer," "Full Frontal," "Down With Love," "A Bug's Life," "Osmosis Jones," "Treasure Planet," and the Sundance Film Festival Selection "The Perfect Host."

His television credits include a short but happy stint on Norman Lear's political satire "The Powers That Be," and a long but happy stint on "Frasier," for which he earned four Emmy® Awards and the American Comedy, Television Critics, Viewers for Quality Television and Screen Actors Guild Awards. He returned to series television in 2014 with a guest arc on the critically acclaimed CBS drama "The Good Wife." He also reprised his role in last summer's Netflix reboot of "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp."

Pierce has worked with The Alzheimer's Association for nearly twenty years. As a board member and national spokesperson, he has worked with the Association in its mission to eliminate Alzheimer's disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. In 2010, he was awarded the Tony Awards' Isabelle Stevenson Award for his work with the Association.