Deneé Benton, Matt Doyle, Norm Lewis & More to Take Part in New 42 FIND YOUR LIGHT Gala

Today, New 42 announced the in-person return of their annual gala, celebrating the power of the performing arts and arts education. The Find Your Light Gala will return to the Plaza Hotel on Monday, June 6, 2022 at 7pm. This uniquely New 42 celebration will honor Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) and Ping Chong and feature performances by Tony Award Nominee and star of the HBO series, The Gilded Age, Deneé Benton; star of the Broadway revival, COMPANY, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle nominee, Matt Doyle; and Emmy, Grammy, Tony, and SAG Award Nominee Norm Lewis.

The evening will also include a special appearance by Tony Award Winner John Benjamin Hickey and video appearances by Tony Award Winner Bill Irwin; Tony Award Winner Celia Keenan-Bolger; Tony Award Winner Beth Leavel; Emmy, Tony and SAG Award Winner John Lithgow; Tony Nominee Arian Moayed and more.

Brandon Victor Dixon will serve as the host of the gala, which will also feature a performance by 2022 NYC Youth Poet Laureate, Elizabeth Shverts, as well as a performance by Jason Tam that will honor Ping Chong.

The Marian Heiskell Award will be presented to Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) for their commitment to bringing exceptional live experiences to the widest audience possible. This award recognizes ATG for their demonstrated passion in engaging and empowering people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds in a successful effort to widen access to the performing arts. In 2021, their Creative Learning program engaged more than 100,000 participants through over 1,400 cultural events and learning experiences globally, and thousands of participants benefited from activities offered across the 15 U.S. venues.

The New Victory Arts Award will be presented to Ping Chong for his outstanding contributions as a renowned interdisciplinary theater artist at New Victory and beyond. This award recognizes Ping for the creation of over 100 innovative and thought-providing productions over the past five decades which have challenged artistic boundaries and deftly explored the most pressing social and cultural issues of our time. Ping and his company collaborated with New Victory in the creation of Generation Rise, the presentation that reopened New Victory in November 2021.

"Ambassador Theatre Group and Ping Chong both exemplify values we hold at New 42: accessibility and ingenuity," said Russell Granet, President & CEO of New 42. "We are fortunate to work with ATG as a stakeholder on 42nd Street with the beautiful Lyric Theatre and with Ping Chong as the leader of an artistic company we have featured multiple times on the New Victory stage. The arts are critical for the empowerment of young audiences and ATG and Ping Chong have demonstrated an impactful commitment to achieving this goal. They honor us by letting us honor them."

Proceeds from the Find Your Light Gala will support the innovative artistic, arts education, and engagement programs of New 42 and New Victory.

The Find Your Light Gala leadership includes Angels Emily and Len Blavatnik, Fiona and Eric Rudin and Diane and Marc Spilker and Chairs Shahara Ahmad-Llewellyn, Kitty Patterson Kempner and Tom Kempner, May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Inc., Mara Burros Sandler, Sarah Long Solomon and David Solomon, Gerri and Andy Sommers, Anne Stringfield and Steve Martin and Ann and Thomas Unterberg.

Gala Vice Chairs are Amy Jacobs, Rubenstein, Kate and Brad Peck, Leigh Bishop Taub and Henry Tisch; and Committee Members include Sarah Arison, Yemi Benedict-Vatel and Patrick Vatel, Herman Berliner and Annette Schrader, Lynne Biggar, Tim and Diana Brodlieb, Tiffany and Sean Gardner, Neil Gupta and Seema Dhar, Sharon Coplan Hurowitz and Richard Hurowitz, Bill Irwin, Kasirer LLC, Kim and Greg Lippmann, John Lithgow, Sammy Lopez, Isaac Mizrahi, Betsy Ross and Nicholas Rytting, Stefanie Katz Rothman and James Rothman, Meredith and Eliot Rubenzahl, Susan Rudin, Christina Zagarino and Tyler Horan, and Lucinda Zilkha and Andrew Francis

The evening will begin at 6pm with a festive cocktail reception, after which guests will be treated to a night of tributes and performances by world-class artists beginning at 7pm. To purchase tickets, visit New42.org/Gala or call 646-223-3085.

ABOUT NEW 42

Under the leadership of President & CEO Russell Granet, New 42 is a cultural nonprofit whose mission is to make extraordinary performing arts a vital part of everyone's life from the earliest years onward. Driven by a deep commitment to performing arts access, New 42 connects people to world-class performances, essential education and employment programs, and creative communities that push culture forward. Through New Victory and New 42 Studios, the nonprofit serves artists, educators and New Yorkers of all ages with invaluable arts engagement and resources in and beyond the performing arts. Together with our supporters, New 42 opens new perspectives, incubates new works and creates new opportunities to move us all.

ABOUT Ambassador Theatre Group

Nothing beats the energy and excitement of a great live experience. That's why at Ambassador Theatre Group, our mission is to bring the very best in live entertainment to the largest possible number of people. Founded in 1992 in the UK, we've grown into a global leader in live theater, music and comedy. We are vertically integrated in the entertainment industry, from producing shows, to marketing and ticketing services, to venue operations. Please visit www.atg.co.uk/ for more information.

ABOUT Ping Chong

Ping Chong is an internationally acclaimed interdisciplinary artist, and founder of Ping Chong and Company. Since 1972, he has created over 100 original works for the stage in New York City, and around the world. The company's work centers beauty, invention, precision and a commitment to social justice. Ping Chong is the recipient of two BESSIE awards, two OBIE awards, a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellowship, and the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and is recognized as one of our country's most significant multidisciplinary artists. In 2022, Ping Chong will celebrate his 50th Anniversary as a creative artist, revisiting his first work LAZARUS at La MaMa, his longtime artistic home.