GMHC To Honor Lea DeLaria With the 2022 Howard Ashman Award

GMHC will honor comedian, actress, and jazz musician, Lea DeLaria with the 2022 Howard Ashman Award for her contributions to the LGBTQ+ community and the fight against the HIV and AIDS epidemic.

DeLaria will be presented with the award on Thursday, March 24 at GMHC's Cabaret & Howard Ashman Award event, hosted by Joe's Pub at The Public Theater. She will be saluted by friends, including Broadway, cabaret, movie, and TV stars. Sandra Bernhard (Pose) and Carrie Preston (The Good Wife) will be the presenters. Performers will include Gabriel Ebert (Pass Over), video from Jessie Tyler Ferguson (Take Me Out), Katie Finneran (The Gilded Age), Gina Gershon (Emily the Criminal), Cady Huffman (Cady Did), Amy Jo Jackson (Hatchetation), drag legend Dina Martina (Dina Martina: Chariots of Failure), and Kate Rigg (That's What She Said). Ron Dodd, producer for the Rachel Maddow Show and former GMHC Board member, is producing this event.

DeLaria is a three-time winner of the SAG Award for her role as "Carrie 'Big Boo' Black" in the Netflix hit series "Orange is the New Black." In addition to her work on-screen, Leahas five records on the Warner Jazz and Classics label and her book "Lea's Book of Rules for the World" is in its third printing at Bantam Doubleday and Dell. Her sixth record, House of David delaria+bowie=jazz, was released in the summer of 2015 to critical acclaim. Lea continues to be a dedicated LGBTQ+ activist and is committed to supporting the fight to end the HIV epidemic. Along with her years of entertainment work, she started volunteering in the 1980s/90s to help gay men who were dying of AIDS in Provincetown where she was performing.

Proceeds from the cabaret will directly support GMHC's lifesaving programs, benefiting thousands of people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS. GMHC's comprehensive psychosocial services include HIV/STI testing, prevention, mental health and substance use treatment, legal and immigration support, housing, and meals and nutrition.

The Howard Ashman Award is named for the Oscar, Golden Globe, and Grammy Award-winning lyricist of Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Little Shop of Horrors, who died of AIDS-related complications in 1991.

Past appearances at the cabaret include Kristin Chenoweth, Harvey Fierstein, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Javier Muñoz, Chita Rivera, Lillias White, Mary-Louise Parker, Judith Light, Tyne Daly, Kathy Najimy, Rachel Dratch, Christine Lahti, Sierra Boggess, Seth Rudetsky, Tituss Burgess, and many more...

Event Details:

WHO:

Lea DeLaria and Broadway, cabaret, movie, and TV performers

WHAT:

2022 GMHC Cabaret & Howard Ashman Award, benefiting GMHC

WHEN:

Thursday, March 24 -- 7:00 - 8:30 pm (doors open at 6:00 pm)

WHERE:

Joe's Pub, The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10003

TICKETS: https://www.gmhc.org/cabaret2022