Elaine Stritch Hosts 'Love n Courage' Benefit Feb.10

Theater for the New City will hold its annual "Love 'n' Courage" benefit -- hosted by Elaine Stritch, with guests including Edward Albee, Bill Irwin, Marian Seldes and Tammy Grimes -- on Sunday, February 10 at 6:30PM at the National Arts Club (15 Gramercy Park South) in New York City.
 
The event which benefits Theater for the New City's "Emerging Playwrights Program," will pay tribute to Mr. Albee, America's greatest living playwright who turns 80 this year, and is a longtime supporter of Theater for the New City as well as a champion of programs that support and encourage young playwrights.  According to Crystal Field, executive artistic director of Theater for the New City, this is TNC's 5th annual "Love 'n' Courage" benefit for the Emerging Playwrights Program.
 
Hosted by Tony Award-winner Elaine Stritch, who has starred on Broadway in Mr. Albee's Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? and A Delicate Balance, this year's benefit takes place at the beautiful National Arts Club (15 Gramercy Park South) on Sunday, February 10, with cocktails beginning at 6:30pm, followed by dinner and performances by Bill Irwin, Marian Seldes, Tammy Grimes, and others.
 
Widely considered America's foremost living playwright, Edward Albee (who turns 80 on March 12, 2008) will speak and read a selection from his vast body of work which includes the Pulitzer Prize-winning plays A Delicate Balance, Seascape, and Three Tall Women and the Tony Award-winning plays Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? and The Goat.
 
"Love 'n' Courage" will include selected readings and commendations by esteemed actor Bill Irwin, Tony Award-winner for his performance as George in the recent revival of Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? and in The Goat; and celebrated actress Marian Seldes, Tony Award-winner for her performance in A Delicate Balance in 1967 and whose many appearances in plays by Mr. Albee include Three Tall Women, The Play About The Baby, and Counting The Ways.
 
Tony Award-winning actress Tammy Grimes is set to perform two songs, and Wendy Osserman Dance Company is also scheduled to perform. Edward Albee is a member of the Dramatists Guild Council and President of The Edward F. Albee Foundation. Mr. Albee was awarded the Gold Medal in Drama from American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1980, and in 1996 received the Kennedy Center Honors and National Medal of Arts. In 2005, he received a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.
 
Celebrating its 36th year, Theater for the New City is a long-running bastion for new theatrical works. Often, talented emerging playwrights find themselves competing for funding with more established writers; Theater for the New City's mission is to offer "love and encouragement" to these struggling artists with its Emerging Playwrights Program, established in 1971. O. Aldon James Jr., head of The National Arts Club, has taken an interest in Theater for the New City's mission, and the organizations are working together to present this year's incarnation of "Love 'n' Courage."
 
The Emerging Playwrights Program represents 60 percent of the nearly 40 new plays produced annually by Theater for the New City, giving playwrights a professional forum in which to experiment and develop as theater artists, and introducing fresh ideas and energy into the mainstream of American playwriting.
 
Through the Emerging Playwrights Program, up-and-coming writers meet and have access to experienced designers, directors and performers. The emerging playwright is surrounded by dedicated professionals in an atmosphere of high standards and supportive collaboration. Theater for the New City has an open-door policy towards new work -- considering plays of any style, genre and political thrust -- and reading every script submitted. The company also produces and commissions plays by some of the better-known American playwrights such as Maria Irene Fornes, Eduardo Machado, Charles Busch, Sam Shepard, Ronald Tavel, Amlin Gray and Harry Kondoleon.
 
"Love 'n' Courage," the 5th annual benefit for Theater for the New City's Emerging Playwrights Program will be held at The National Arts Club (15 Gramercy Park South) on Sunday, February 10; Cocktails begin at 6:30pm; dinner at 7:00pm, followed by performances at 8:00pm. Tickets are $125 (tax deductible). For reservations and additional information, please call 212-254-1109 or visit www.theaterforthenewcity.net 

Elaine Stritch