Jason Danieley, Tony Yazbeck & Julia Lester Join Lineup for Classic Stage Company's 2023 Gala

Classic Stage Company has revealed additional performers for CSC’s 2023 Gala, honoring theatrical agent Sarah L. Douglas of SLD Associates and John Weidman (CSC’s I Can Get It for You Wholesale). Directed by Susan Stroman (New York, New York), the event will be held on Monday November 13 at 6pm at Capitale (130 Bowery, New York, NY 10013). To reserve tickets, please visit: www.classicstage.org/gala-tickets-and-tables.

 

Joining the previously announced lineup of performers and presenters will be Jason Danieley (Knoxville), Michael Korie (Flying Over Sunset), Tony Award nominee Julia Lester (CSC’s I Can Get It for You Wholesale), Kara Lindsay (Newsies), Daniel May (Chess), Joey Mazzarino (“Sesame Street”), Eric Santagata (Prince of Broadway), Vanessa Sears (New York, New York), and Tony Award nominee Tony Yazbeck (Flying Over Sunset). The evening will also feature appearances from Fred Applegate (Happiness), Tony Award winner Santino Fontana (CSC’s I Can Get It for You Wholesale), four-time Tony Award winner Boyd Gaines (Contact), Victor Garber (Original Cast of Assassins), Judy Kuhn (CSC’s I Can Get It for You Wholesale), three-time Tony Award winner Nathan Lane (The Producers), Tony Award winner Debra Monk (Original Cast of Assassins), Tony Award winner Brandon Uranowitz(Leopoldstadt), A.J. Shively (CSC’s A Man of No Importance), and Tony Award winner BD Wong (Pacific Overtures).

 

Paul Masse (Wicked) will serve as pianist and Music Director. Laura Bontrager (Merrily We Roll Along) will play cello and Perry Cavari (A Bronx Tale) will play drums for the evening.

 

Tickets are on sale now at classicstage.org. Tickets start at $1,000, with tables starting at $10,000. The 2023 Gala Co-Chairs are Lynn F. Angelson, Matt Benjamin, Ilyssa Coghlan, and Matthew Grossman. The Honorary Chairs are LaChanze and Jeanine Tesori.

 

Sarah L. Douglas established her independent agency, SLD Associates, in 2019, building on her 35 years of experience and well-earned reputation for advocating and shepherding the careers and artistry of theater artists. She began her career with literary agent Helen Harvey, one-time head of William Morris’ Legit Department and, to her good fortune, her mother. Her background includes a brief stint with Jujamcyn Theaters followed by a 20-year association with Flora Roberts. Ms. Douglas assumed ownership and administration of Flora Roberts Inc. following Ms. Roberts’ death, representing iconic plays such as The Diary of Anne Frank and The Gin Game, and works by Alice Childress, Ionesco, Dorothy Parker, Jean Anouillh and Christopher Fry. She is proud to have fulfilled Harry Abrams’ wish to expand the theatrical literary department of Abrams Artists Agency, where she had the privilege of working with many of the theater’s most talented designers, composers, playwrights, artists, and agents for fifteen years. Currently, her clients include Maury Yeston, Richard Maltby, Jr. & David Shire, Jennifer Tipton, Iris Dart, Mike Stoller, Joyce Carol Oates, Irene Mecchi, Daniel Mate, Sean Hartley, and Ashley Tata.

 

John Weidman has written the books for a wide variety of musicals, among them Pacific Overtures, Assassins and Road Show, all with scores by Stephen Sondheim; Contact, co-created with  director and choreographer Susan Stroman; Happiness, score by Scott Frankel and Michael Korie, Take Flight and Big,scores by Richard Maltby Jr. and David Shire; the new book, co-authored with Timothy Crouse, for the Lincoln Center Theater, Roundabout Theatre, and National Theatre revivals of Cole Porter's Anything Goes, and Arrabal, score by Gustavo Santaolalla, directed and co-choreographed by Sergio Trujillo.  He is currently working on a musical adaptation of the movie Norma Rae with composers and lyricists Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal and on a revision of the Jerome Weidman and Harold Rome 1962 musical, I Can Get It for You Wholesale. When his children were preschoolers, Weidman began writing for Sesame Street, receiving more than a dozen Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for a Children's Program. He is a graduate of Yale Law School and a retired member of the New York State bar. From 1999 to 2009 he served as President of the Dramatists Guild of America. 

 

ABOUT Classic Stage Company

Classic Stage Company (CSC) challenges the traditional perception of classic work by exploring and reimagining great stories across the world’s repertoire that illuminate our common humanity. As a home for the classics, CSC collaborates with artists to produce work that is inclusive, relevant, and accessible. CSC believes that theater can both reflect and improve society by reaching across cultural divides in order to foster shared empathy and understanding. 

 

In 1967, director Christopher Martin founded CSC Repertory in a 100-seat theater at Rutgers Presbyterian Church on West 73rd Street. Following short stints in small spaces, CSC grew to the point where it needed a permanent home. In 1973, the theater moved to its present premises on 13th Street, an intimate space that was formerly an East Village carriage house.

 

In the 55 years since, CSC has become a leading Off-Broadway theater that is a home for new and established artists, as well as audiences seeking epic stories intimately told. Productions have been cited by all major Off-Broadway theater awards including the Obie, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, and the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work.