Groff, Shindle and White Join Up for Second Stage Theatre's 'PRO-AM NIGHT 2009' Benefit 4/20

Broadway stars Jonathan Groff (Spring Awakening), Lillias White (Tony-winner for The Life), Kate Shindle (Legally Blonde), Derrick Baskin (The Little Mermaid), Manu Narayan (Bombay Dreams) and others will take the stage alongside members of Second Stage Theatre's Board of Trustees for the Company's second annual SECOND STAGE THEATRE PRO-AM NIGHT ("Pro as in professional / "Am" as in amateur) on Monday April 20, 2008 at Hammerstein Ballroom (311 West 34th street, between 8th and 9th Avenues).

For this one-night-only event, Broadway performers will join the 2ST Board of Trustees to perform "The Quest for Fame," featuring the Great White Way's best show-stopping numbers in this spring gala benefit for the acclaimed off-Broadway theatre company.

Board members currently scheduled to appear include Liz Berens, Tavener Holmes Berry, Larry Creel, Liz Gerring and daughter Nicole Radke, Wendy Evans Joseph, Tony Kiser, John Kroft, Annie McMillan, John Partilla and son Jackson, Bambi Putnam, Lynne Randall, Ellen Richard, Nathan Saint-Amand, John Schmidt, Suzanne Schwartz Davidson, Denise Seegal, Robin Senior, Stephen Sherrill, Mike Singer, John Sullivan, and James and Eileen Thomas.

Ticket Information: To purchase tickets or for more information, please call 212-787-8302, ext. 113

Currently celebrating its 30th Anniversary Season, Second Stage Theatre recently concluded an extended critically-acclaimed production of Gina Gionfriddo's Becky Shaw, directed by Peter Dubois. The season kicked off on October 2 with the 20th Anniversary staging of Howard Korder's 1988 breakthrough play BOYS' LIFE, directed by Michael Greif and starring Jason Biggs, Rhys Coiro, and Peter Scanavino.

Founded in 1979 under the leadership of Artistic Director Carole Rothman, SECOND STAGE THEATRE produces a diverse range of premieres and new interpretations of America's best contemporary theatre, including Tiny Alice and Peter and Jerry by Edward Albee; The Good Times Are Killing Me by Lynda Barry; The Little Dog Laughed by Douglas Carter Beane; Little Murders by Jules Feiffer; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin; A Soldier's Play by Charles Fuller; Afterbirth: Kathy & Mo's Greatest Hits by Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy; Painting Churches and Coastal Disturbances by Tina Howe; Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants and On the Stem by Ricky Jay; Living Out by Lisa Loomer; This Is Our Youth and The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan; Some Men by Terrence McNally; eurydice by Sarah Ruhl; Saturday Night by Stephen Sondheim; Crowns by ReGina Taylor; Uncommon Women and Others by Wendy Wasserstein; Spoils of War by Michael Weller; Before It Hits Home, Jar the Floor and Birdie Blue by Cheryl L. West; Jitney by August Wilson; Lemon Sky, Serenading Louie and Sympathetic Magic by Lanford Wilson; and Metamorphoses and The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci by Mary Zimmerman. The company's more than 125 citations include the 2007 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (Julie White, The Little Dog Laughed), 2005 Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical (Rachel Sheinkin, ...Spelling Bee) and Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Dan Fogler, ...Spelling Bee), 2002 Tony Award for Best Director of a Play (Mary Zimmerman for Metamorphoses), the 2002 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work, 23 Obie Awards, four Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Clarence Derwent Awards, nine Drama Desk Awards, five Theatre World Awards, 11 Lucille Lortel Awards, the Drama Critics Circle Award and 15 AUDELCO Awards.

In 1999, Second Stage Theatre opened its state-of-the-art, 296-seat theatre, designed by renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. In 2002, Second Stage launched "Second Stage Theatre Uptown" series to showcase the work of up and coming artists at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre. The Theatre supports artists through several programs that include residencies, fellowships and commissions, and engages students and community members through education and outreach programs.

Second Stage Theatre recently announced that it has acquired the right to purchase the historic Helen Hayes Theatre, located at 240 W. 44th Street. With this new home, Second Stage will be the only theater company on Broadway dedicated exclusively to the development and presentation of contemporary American theatrical productions. Second Stage will also become one of only four non-profit theater companies that own and operate theaters on Broadway. The company will continue to lease and operate their original theaters on the city's Upper West Side and in Midtown Manhattan.

Photo by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.