Harry Connick, Jr., Megan Mullally and Kelli O'Hara Celebrate Frank Loesser 6/7 In NYC

The American Theatre Wing will bring together the best of Broadway for their Annual Spring Gala, to be held on Monday, June 7, 2010 at Cipriani 42nd Street (110 East 42nd Street). Celebrating the centennial of Tony Award-winning composer Frank Loesser, Heart and Soul: The Legacy of Frank Loesser will feature performances by Harry Connick, Jr., Megan Mullally and Kelli O'Hara.

Heart and Soul: The Legacy of Frank Loesser will celebrate the composer famous for the scores of the Tony Award® winning musicals Guys and Dolls and How to Succeed in Business Without Trying, The Most Happy Fella, Where's Charley?, and others, as well as honor the companies he created: Music Theatre International and Frank Music Corp.

Harry Connick, Jr.'s multi-faceted career has been studded with awards and recognition, including several multi-platinum and gold albums, Grammy and Emmy awards, and much more. He received a Tony nomination in 2006 for The Pajama Game, in which he starred opposite Kelli O'Hara. He wrote music and lyrics (for which he received a Tony nomination) for the Susan Stroman directed musical Thou Shalt Not. This July, he will return to Broadway in Harry Connick, Jr. In Concert on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre.

Megan Mullally won two Emmy Awards and four SAG Awards for her portrayal of Karen Walker on the hit series "Will & Grace." Before landing that role, Mullally starred as Rosemary Pilkington in the 1995 revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, opposite Matthew Broderick, and returned to Broadway in 2007 in Mel Brooks' Young Frakenstein. Her other Los Angeles theater credits include The Berlin Circle, for which she won the 2000 BackStage West Garland Award and the L.A. Weekly Award for Best Leading Female Performance. Mullally currently stars on the Starz series "Party Down" and will also reprise her acclaimed role as Tammy Swanson on NBC's "Parks & Recreation" this fall.

Kelli O'Hara is a multi-Tony Award-nominee and has starred on Broadway in South Pacific, The Pajama Game (opposite Harry Connick, Jr.), The Light in the Piazza, among many others. When she first moved to New York, she frequently used Frank Loesser's "Somebody, Somewhere" (from The Most Happy Fella) as her audition song.
The evening's honorary chairs include Susan Loesser, John Loesser, Emily Loesser Stephenson (Frank's children), Stephen Sondheim, and ATW's longest serving board member (and Frank's widow) Jo Sullivan Loesser, who, among many other roles, played the lead role in the original production of her husband's The Most Happy Fella and toured the country in Guys and Dolls. The Gala Co-Chairs are Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Jacquin Philip Fink, Freddie Gershon and ATW Board members Theodore S. Chapin and Douglas B. Leeds.

The entertainment portion of the evening is produced by Lauren Class Schneider of Class Productions and directed by Marc Bruni, with musical direction by Rob Berman, lighting by Ken Billington and sound by Tom Young.

All proceeds from the evening will benefit the education and outreach programs of the American Theatre Wing. The evening includes cocktails, dinner and performances. Tickets start at $700, and tables of 10 at $7,000, for more information, email benefit@americantheatrewing.org or call (212) 765-0606, x302.

The American Theatre Wing (Theodore S. Chapin, Chairman of the Board of Directors; Howard Sherman, Executive Director) is best known as the creator of the Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards®, which it presents annually with The Broadway League. The Wing operates a variety of programs, all dedicated to recognizing excellence and supporting education in theatre. These programs include "Downstage Center," a weekly podcast featuring in-depth interviews with the leading artists and professionals working on stage today; "Working in the Theatre," a weekly television program on CUNY TV which gathers panels of theater artists to discuss their crafts; "In the Wings," a new web series that spotlights theatre's behind-the-scenes talents; a National Theatre company grants program that will support 10 emerging theatres across the country in 2010; the Theatre Intern Group, a career development program for young professionals; SpringboardNYC, a two-week college-to-career boot camp for young performers moving to NYC; and the Jonathan Larson® Grants, given annually to honor emerging composers, lyricists and book writers. All ATW media is available on americantheatrewing.org and on iTunes.

For additional information about all American Theatre Wing programs, go to americantheatrewing.org. You can also find the American Theatre Wing on Twitter (www.twitter.com/TheWing) and on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/TheAmericanTheatreWing).

Photo Credit: BWW-Staff