Dr. Charlotte K. Frank and Marvin Leffler Receive Town Hall's 'Friend of the Arts' Award at Gala, 10/21

The Town Hall, New York City's landmark theatre and concert venue (123 West 43rd Street) honors two influential individuals: Dr. Charlotte K Frank, Senior Vice President of McGraw Hill and Chair of the Town Hall Arts and Education Committee, and Marvin Leffler, in recognition of 34 years as President of The Town Hall. They will receive The Town Hall's 'Friend of the Arts' Award on Sunday, October 21st, 2012. Michael Presser, Executive Vice President of The Town Hall will present the award, which is presented annually to individuals in recognition and appreciation for their abiding interest in the development, enrichment and support of the arts. For tickets to the Gala, call (212) 997-1003.

The Town Hall's Gala will begin at 5:45PM at the Princeton Club of New York. The event includes a matinee ticket to The Town Hall's Broadway Cabaret Festival's Broadway Originals! concert at 3PM. Broadway Originals! features Broadway stars reprising songs they introduced either in the original Broadway production or revival that have lit up the Great White Way these past 50 years. The evening is created, written and hosted by Scott Siegel for The Town Hall.

Performers include Laura Osnes (pictured - Tony nominee, Bonnie & Clyde and upcoming star of Cinderella), Chad Kimball (Tony Nominated Star of Memphis), Alice Ripley (Tony Award Winner for Next to Normal/Tony Nominated for Sideshow), Tonya Pinkins (Tony Nominated star of Caroline or Change), Matt Cavenaugh (West Side Story), Tovah Feldshuh (Tony Nominated for Sarava), Barbara Walsh (Company), Lindsay Mendez (Godspell) and Mandy Gonzalez (Drama Desk Award Winner for In The Heights). (These tickets can also be purchased to Broadway Originals! without attending the Gala).

The Town Hall "Friends of the Arts" Award is presented annually to individuals in recognition and appreciation of their interest in the development, enrichment and support of the arts. Established in 1981, the award has been given to distinguished actors, musicians, business leaders and legislators. Past recipients include such luminaries as Judith Jamison, Dr. Joyce F. Brown, Jacques d'Amboise, Beverly Sills, Tony Bennett, Dizzy Gillespie, Helen Hayes, Kitty Carlisle Hart, Andrea Marcovicci, Jane Alexander, Eli Wallach, Sheldon Harnick, Wendy Wasserstein, Theodore Bikel, Betty Comden & Adolph Green, Marilyn Horne, Gerald Schoenfeld, Merryl H. Tisch and Elaine Stritch.

Additional Broadway Cabaret Festival concerts, created, written and hosted by Scott Siegel for The Town Hall, include: The Best of Broadway By The Year on Friday October 26 at 8pm featuring performances by Beth Leavel (Tony Award/The Drowsy Chaperone), Kerry O'Malley (On A Clear Day, Drama Desk Award/ Into The Woods), Lari White (Three Grammy Awards), Christine Andreas (Tony Nominations/On Your Toes and Oklahoma), Christina Bianco (Drama Desk Nominee/Forbidden Broadway), Carole J. Bufford (Bistro Award Winner), Jeffry Denman (Drama Desk Nominee/Yank), Stephen DeRosa (Hairspray), Jason Graae (A Grand Night For Singing), Scott Coulter (Award Winning Vocalist) and Noah Racey (Curtains). This past weekend, Linda Eder kicked off the festival with her show, Linda Eder, A New Life on Saturday October 13. For more information regarding the Broadway Cabaret Festival, visit www.the-townhall-nyc.org.

DR. Charlotte K. Frank is Senior Vice President, Research and Development for McGraw-Hill Education of the McGraw-Hill Companies. She joined the company in 1988 from a nine year leadership role as Executive Director of the Division of Curriculum and Instruction for the New York City Public Schools where she was also a teacher and supervisor. Dr. Frank has been the keynote speaker at major forums, e.g. Teachers College, Harvard University, Touro College, Mercy College and Bank Street College with a focus on comparing and contrasting school practices with the needs of the workforce for the twenty-first century. She provides leadership for the Annual Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize for those who have made a difference in education, as well as serving as the co-chair with Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul & Mary), "Operation Respect: Don't Laugh At Me". Dr. Frank has received more than 70 awards for her achievements in education. In March she received the East Meadow Jewish Center, L.I Tikkun Olam "Repairing the World" Award for her work in combating bullying as well as a proclamation from the Nassau County Legislative Assembly of the State of New York. Just this past April she was given a "salute" by The Bank Street College of Education. In June, Education Update awarded Dr. Frank "An Outstanding Educator of the Year", 2012 Award". During 2011, recognition was given by Mercy College, The National Leadership Principal's Leadership Institute (NPLI) and on December 1, 2011 she was inducted into the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) Hall of Fame. Dr. Frank is a recipient of the Hunter College Hall of Fame, which is in addition to Hunter's Professional Achievement Award and has been honored to be a Townsend Harris Medalist from the Alumni of the College of the City of New York. Dr. Frank graduated with a B.B.A. from CCNY, an MS.ED. from Hunter College, received her Ph.D. from New York University and is a N.Y.S. Regent Emerita.

Marvin Leffler has served as President and CEO of The Town Hall for the past 33 years, having assumed office in 1979. He worked earnestly to restore the intelligent and provocative programming for which Town Hall had been famous. Under his leadership, The Town Hall came back to prominence, and did so with a balanced budget – no small feat in the economy of the past decade. With the ideals of Town Hall's founders to make The Town Hall a haven for fostering a more optimistic climate for all in mind, Mr. Leffler created the Annual Black History Month Celebration, which brings prominent artists to The Town Hall stage to demonstrate the rich heritage of African and African American performing artists traditions. After the state of New York cut arts funding to schools, Mr. Leffler garnered resources to create the Educational Outreach Program, through which Town Hall dispatches teaching artists to New York City public schools to provide arts enrichment courses to needy schools. All of this was done completely pro bono. In addition to his duties at The Town Hall, Marvin Leffler is a Trustee Associate of New York University, from which he holds B.S. and M.B.A. degrees. A member of the Mayor's Midtown Citizen's Committee, he is recognized as a leader in the community. Additionally, Mr. Leffler is a past President of the New York University Alumni Association, and member of its executive committee. In the private sector, Mr. Leffler successfully ran Flexible Fabricators, Inc. until his "retirement" to contribute his time to The Town Hall full time. His leadership in business led to his serving as a panelist for the American Arbitration Association, as well as a term as Chairman of the board, National Council of Sales Organizations. His sales books are published by Prentice Hall, and he has been a sought-after guest lecturer on the topics of sales and manufacturing. In 2005, Mr. Leffler received the M. Jacquie Lodico Service Award given by the Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations to honor an arts administrator for outstanding accomplishment and distinguished service to their organization and community.

Now celebrating its 91st Year, The Town Hall was built in 1921 by a group of suffragettes and began as a lecture hall and public forum for debates where "American Town Meetings on The Air" was broadcast live for 25 years. Over the decades, Eleanor Roosevelt, Carl Sandberg, Margaret Sanger, Billie Holiday, Igor Stravinsky, Bob Dylan, MiLes Davis and most recently, The Dalai Lama and President Obama have graced the stage. Today the hall flourishes as a popular, affordable venue, boasting the hottest acts in rock, pop, folk, cabaret, world music, comedy and dance, including Billy Joel, Blondie, Elvis Costello, Natalie Merchant, Graham Nash, Liza Minnelli, Cyndi Lauper, Norah Jones, Andre Watts, Henry Rollins, Joe Jackson, Pink Martini, Regina Spektor, Bryan Adams, Aimee Mann, Robin Williams, Dawn Upshaw, Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin, Al Gore, Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Mercer, Jay Leno, Dave Matthews, Vanessa Williams, and Ben Folds. For over a decade, The Town Hall has hosted live broadcasts of Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion." In its annual show, "Rising Stars," The Town Hall gives recent graduates from the nation's leading performing arts schools a chance to showcase their talents and perform on the legendary stage. The Town Hall Educational Outreach Program helps schools build their arts programs and advance student learning through standards-based, collaborative arts residencies. Over the past two-and-a-half decades, The Town Hall has produced the Feature Film Seminar Series and a number of new and critically acclaimed musical series, which include Not Just Jazz, Broadway By The Year®, The Broadway Cabaret Festival and The Summer Broadway Festival.