EST Honors Jerry Zaks and Jerry Saviola on June 24th

Ensemble Studio Theatre (William Carden, Artistic Director, Paul Alexander Slee, Executive Director is celebrating a milestone – this spring marks their 30th Marathon of One-Act Plays – and the occasion will be celebrated with a gala Benefit Dinner in honor of distinguished E.S.T. member Jerry Zaks and outstanding corporate leader Jerry Saviola. The Benefit Dinner will be held Tuesday, June 24th at The Players Club (16 Gramercy Park).

The 30th Marathon Benefit Dinner will honor a founding member of this theater, director and performer Jerry Zaks, who will receive EST's inaugural Distinguished Member Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field.   The Dinner also will honor Jerry Saviola and Grey New York with EST's 2008 Corporate Citizen Award for decades of casting EST members in television commercials. The 30th Marathon Benefit Dinner will gather supporters to dine in the splendor of Edwin Booth's former townhouse, while raising funds to support this year's landmark play festival as well as provide general operating support of E.S.T.  Among those who will speak or perform in tribute to the guests of honor will be Barbara Andres, Andre Bishop, Walter Bobbie, Ray DeMattis, Jack Viertel, Christopher Durang, Jill Eikenberry, Jules Feiffer, John Christopher Jones, KendRick Jones, Ilene Kristen, Grant Shaud, and Michael Tucker, among many others.
 
Jerry Zaks most recently directed Chazz Palminteri's A Bronx Tale on Broadway as well as the acclaimed City Center Encores! production of Stairway to Paradise.  He has received four Tony® Awards, four Drama Desks, two Outer Critics Circle Awards, on Obie and an NAACP Image Award nomination for his national tour of The Tap Dance Kid.  He has directed more than 30 productions in New York, including Guys and Dolls (Tony Award), Six Degrees of Separation (Tony Award), Lend Me A Tenor (Tony Award), House of Blue Leaves (Tony Award), A Funny Thing…Forum (Tony Award nomination), Smokey Joe's Café (Tony Award nomination), Anything Goes (Tony Award nomination), La Cage aux Folles (Tony Award, Outstanding Musical Revival), The Foreigner (Obie Award), The Marriage of Bette and Boo (Obie Award), The Caine Mutiny Court Marshal, Little Shop of Horrors, The Man Who Came to Dinner, A Bad Friend, The Front Page, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Assassins (Drama Desk nomination), Wenceslas Square, Sister Mary Ignatius…, and Beyond Therapy.  Since 1990 he has been proudly affiliated with Jujamcyn Theaters.
 
Jerry Saviola is a Senior Vice-President and Director of Casting Services at Grey/NYC – a position he has held for the past twenty-five years.  Jerry came to Grey from the Casting Department at Joseph Papp's Public Theatre, where he worked under his mentor Vince Gugleotti.  Along with running one of the most active casting operations in the city and the only in-house casting department at any ad agency today, Jerry found time in his early career to cast numerous low-budget films and off-Broadway and regional theater. His relationship with E.S.T. dates back to the 11th Annual One-Act Play Marathon 19 years ago. More recently, Jerry has headed up Grey's sole-agency leadership in the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS annual Shubert Alley Flea Market and the annual Christmas fund-raiser for God's Love We Deliver.
 
To participate in this special evening in honor of Mr. Zaks and Mr. Saviola visit www.ensemblestudiotheatre.org or call 212/247-4982.