Freestyle Love Supreme, Marissa Jaret Winokur, and John Lloyd Young Will Headline Transport Group Gala

Transport Group has announced performers for its 2024 gala will include Tony Award winners Freestyle Love Supreme, Marissa Jaret Winokur, and John Lloyd Young.  The star-studded benefit will also feature performers Laura Bell Bundy, Kerry Butler, Skye Alyssa Friedman, Danyel Fulton, Miguel Gil, Mandy Gonzalez, Darron Hayes, Anika Larsen, Betsy Morgan, Sabrina Shah, Barbara Walsh, and Eleri Ward. The evening will be hosted by Tony Award nominee John Cariani.

Transport Group’s 2024 gala will honor Broadway producer Jennifer Costello and founder of Activate4Good Jan Svendsen Weiss with its Transporting American Theatre Award on Tuesday, April 30, at The Edison Ballroom, 240 West 47 Street.  The evening includes a cocktail party, seated dinner, performances, dessert reception, and silent and live auctions.  

The Transporting American Theatre Award recognizes significant contributions to the American Theatre.  Past recipients include Barbara Andres, Donna Lynne Champlin, Michele Pawk, Mary Testa, Carmel Dean, Michael Starobin, Dick Scanlan, Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Michael John LaChiusa, Gretchen Shugart, Barbara Whitman, Beth Williams, Sue Frost, Christian Borle, Paul Huntley, Douglas Carter Beane, Lewis Flinn, A.R. Gurney, Liz Smith, Barbara Frietag, Terrence McNally, and Joe Mantello.

Jennifer Costello began her career in the New York theatre community by founding and acting as artistic director for an award-winning, not-for-profit ensemble troupe, Monster[less] Actors, Inc.  In 1997, she joined the Broadway commercial sector by working for PACE Theatrical Group.  For over 26 years, she served the various companies that grew from PACE’s beginnings, eventually acting as the Executive Vice President of Production for the John Gore Organization.  In that capacity, Jennifer managed the company’s annual investment portfolio, and at the division’s height, helmed a small studio of producers, overseeing their multiple family, national, and international touring companies, while also acting as executive producer for select Broadway projects, including Hands on a Hardbody; On a Clear Day You Can See Foreverstarring Harry Connick, Jr.; Million Dollar Quartet; How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying starring Daniel Radcliffe; Promises, Promises starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenowith; The Producers; La Cage Aux Folles; and Sweet Charity starring Christina Applegate.  Jennifer currently runs Big Red Barn Productions and is producing the new Broadway musical Water for Elephants, which is set to open at the Imperial Theatre on March 21, 2024.  Jennifer is proud wife to Micah Hollingworth, and happy mother to Dylan and Finn.

Jan Svendsen Weiss has over 20 years of experience in entertainment, partnership and cause marketing, philanthropic strategy, talent relations, and business development. Most recently Jan founded Activate4Good, a social impact and philanthropy consulting agency where she supports the initiatives of artists, brands, and organizations to elevate their philanthropy, enhance their activism, and magnify their impact.  For the last seven years, as Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Creative Officer, Jan has overseen philanthropic initiatives for clients of Charity Network and its divisions Charitybuzz, an online charity auction platform, and Prizeo, an online fundraising platform. Jan led the marketing, event production, and business development for the Tony Awards and the Broadway League, the national trade and marketing association for Broadway in New York City and around the world.  Under Jan’s leadership as the Broadway League’s Director of Marketing and Business Development for 18 years, she revitalized the branding of Broadway and the Tony Awards while developing numerous audience development initiatives, diversity programs, and corporate partnerships. She also produced many live and taped events and shows, receiving an Emmy nomination for her role as Executive Producer of the Tony Awards Preview Show. Jan created and currently hosts a podcast, Broadway Gives Back, focused on celebrities discussing their philanthropic and social impact work. 

Transport Group, an Off-Broadway theatre company, co-founded in 2001 by Jack Cummings III and Robyn Hussa, is currently run by Cummings as Artistic Director and Executive Director Denise Dickens. Transport Group crafts risk-taking, thoughtful, acclaimed productions of plays and musicals that widen the lens on our American experience. Transport Group creates unexpected theatrical experiences that allow audiences and artists to collaboratively explore the “American identity.”  Transport Group has produced 36 productions: 16 new works and 20 revivals; including 14 world premieres, 3 New York premieres, and 6 commissioned works. The company has received a special New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, three Drama Desk Awards including a special one “for its breadth of vision and its presentation of challenging productions,” nine Obie Awards, an Outer Critics Circle Award, three Off-Broadway Alliance Awards, and a Dramatists Guild Award. In addition, Transport Group’s productions have received 46 Drama Desk Award nominations, eight Drama League Award nominations, four Lucille Lortel Award nominations, six Outer Circle Award nominations, nine American Theatre Wing Design Award nominations, nine Off-Broadway Alliance Award nominations, four Audelco Award nominations, and a Tony Award nomination.

Transport Group’s 2024 gala takes place Tuesday, April 30 at The Edison Ballroom, 240 West 47 Street. Cocktails begin at 6:00pm; seated dinner, performances, and award presentation begin at 7:00pm; dessert reception follows at 9:00pm. Ticket and e-journal tribute ad information is available by visiting transportgroup.org/gala or by phoning 212-564-0333.