Jackson, Kuhn & More Perform at Vineyard Theatre Gala 1/29

THE VINEYARD THEATRE celebrates its 25th Anniversary on Monday, January 29 at the Rainbow Room (30 Rockefeller Plaza, 65th Floor) in Manhattan. Highlights of the company's 25th Anniversary Gala to include musical performances from past Vineyard hits.

Emmy Award-winner and Tony Award-nominee S. Epatha Merkerson ("Law & Order," "Lackawanna Blues," and THE PIANO LESSON) will perform songs from The Vineyard's world-premiere production of LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR & GRILL, in which she starred as legendary singer Billie Holliday. Tony Award-nominee Judy Kuhn (CHESS, SHE LOVES ME) will perform songs by Laura Nyro. Ms. Kuhn starred in The Vineyard's 2001 world-premiere production of ELI'S COMIN', for which she received an Obie Award. Cheyenne Jackson (ALL SHOOK UP, "United 93"), recently seen in The Vineyard's Lab Production of Nicky Silver's THE AGONY AND THE AGONY, will perform a song from the John Kander-Fred Ebb musical FLORA, THE RED MENACE which had an acclaimed Off-Broadway revival at The Vineyard in 1987.

The evening's other participants include Patricia Clarkson, Julianne Moore, Oliver Platt, Joe Morton, Annie Parisse, Ann Harada, Tony Roberts, Michael Berresse, and Penny Fuller among others.

Providing new material, written specifically for the Gala, will be Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell, creators and stars of [title of show] which had its Off-Broadway debut at The Vineyard last season. The Obie Award-winners Messrs. Bowen and Bell will be joined by their [title of show] co-stars Heidi Blickenstaff and Susan Blackwell to perform an original song and serve as the evening's emcees. The Vineyard Theatre's 25th Anniversary Gala will be directed by Jason Moore, who received a Tony nomination for AVENUE Q, the first Vineyard production to transfer to Broadway (and subsequently win three Tony Awards, including Best Musical).

Paula Vogel, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning play HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE, as well as THE LONG CHRISTMAS RIDE HOME debuted at The Vineyard Theatre, will be a guest of honor at the annual dinner and Gala, where the first recipient of The Paula Vogel Playwriting Award will be announced. The winner will receive a cash award and a staged reading of their work at The Vineyard in the coming season.

The Paula Vogel Playwriting Award is being supported by Holedigger Studios, producers of the film version of Craig Lucas's THE DYING GAUL, which had its Off-Broadway premiere in 1998 at The Vineyard.

Also to be presented at the Gala will be The Vineyard's 2007 Kitty Carlisle Hart Musical Theatre Award to recipients Nathan Tysen and Chris Miller, creators of the musical THE BURNT PART BOYS.

The evening will also feature a live and silent auction. Current items to be auctioned will be posted on The Vineyard website at www.vineyardtheatre.org.

Other guests will include The Vineyard Theatre's founder Barbara Zinn Kreiger and Douglas Aibel, who has held his position as artistic director throughout the company's 25-year history. Under Mr. Aibel's artistic leadership, The Vineyard Theatre has presented some of the most provocative and original new plays and musicals written for the stage in its first quarter century: Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize winning-play THREE TALL WOMEN, Craig Lucas' THE DYING GAUL, Gina Gionfriddo's AFTER ASHLEY, numerous plays by Nicky Silver including PTERODACTYLS and RAISED IN CAPTIVITY, last season's hit musical [title of show], and most recently Anne Washburn's THE INTERNATIONALIST.

Jennifer Garvey-Blackwell is the Vineyard Theatre's Executive Director.

The Vineyard's 25th Anniversary season is presently underway with a rare revival of J.M. Barrie's MARY ROSE, directed by Tina Landau, with previews to begin February 1, prior to an official press opening February 20.

Tickets to The Vineyard Theatre's 25th Anniversary Gala at The Rainbow Room (30 Rockefeller Plaza, 65th Floor) on Monday, January 29 are $500-1,000. For additional information and tickets, please call 212-353-3366 x 238 or visit www.vineyardtheatre.org.