Jessie Mueller, Donna Murphy, Mario Cantone & More Join ASA Gala Honoring Betty Buckley

American Songbook Association has revealed that Sandra Bernhard, Sharon Catherine Brown, Mario Cantone, Elizabeth Davis, Rupert Holmes, Joe Iconis, Jessie Mueller, Donna Murphy, Orfeh, Christine Pedi, and Jennifer Simard have been added to the all-star lineup of its Fourth Annual Gala to honor Tony Award-winning star of Broadway and London theater, film and television Betty Buckley on Monday, October 2 at 7:30 PM. The event will take place at New York’s Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Music Center. The evening will also feature previously-announced special guests performers F. Murry Abraham, Bryan Batt, Jason Robert Brown,  Veanne Cox, Paul Hecht, Bonnie Milligan, Ken Page, Kurt Peterson, Seth Rudetsky, and Stephen Schwartz Tickets are now available at www.americansongbookassociation.org or www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org

Betty Buckley received the Tony Award for her portrayal of Grizabella in Cats. She has appeared on Broadway (1776, Pippin, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Song and Dance, Carrie (Outer Critics Circle Nomination), Sunset Boulevard, Triumph Of Love (Tony nomination), in London (Promises, Promises, Evening Standard Nomination), Sunset Boulevard (Olivier Nomination), Dear World), on television (“Eight Is Enough,” “Oz,” “Preacher,” “Law & Order: SVU”), two Daytime Emmy nominations, in films (Carrie, Frantic, Another Woman, Wyatt Earp, Tender Mercies, The Happening, Split (Saturn Award nomination) and in concerts and cabaret. Betty has released 18 solo albums and is a two-time Grammy Award nominee. She was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2012, and has been awarded two honorary doctorates of fine arts for her contribution to the musical theater by Marymount College and the Boston Conservatory of Music. She’s been a guardian of the Great American Songbook and has championed new songwriters. Not only has she mastered the many fields in which she has performed, she has generously shared her expertise with aspiring performers through her master classes. She is the ideal recipient of this ASA Lifetime Achievement Award.

ASA also bestows its Bill Sensenbrenner Dream Maker Award to Seth Rudetsky, also on the evening of October 2. This award is given annually to a leader in the art and business communities who exhibits a passion for investing in the cultural capital of our youth.

Seth is the host on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio’s “On Broadway” as well as the host of “Seth Speaks.” As a pianist, Seth has played for more than a dozen Broadway shows including Ragtime, Les Misérables, and The Phantom of the Opera He was the Artistic Producer/Music Director for the first five annual Actors Fund Fall Concerts including Dreamgirls and Hair.

Premium seating is $300. Other seats range from $75 to $175.  

American Songbook Association Inc.

(ASA)—a 501(c)(3) nonprofit incorporated in New York State—seeks to preserve, promote, and advance the legacy of American popular music, the Great American Songbook (classic and new), and the unique art form of cabaret. The ASA publishes the long-established CabaretScenes magazine, conducts educational programs in New York City public schools, and creates performances serving its audience of seniors, students, and others. We strive to inspire, transform, empower, and create torchbearers for future generations so they may understand, appreciate, and embrace the historical and cultural importance of America's rich musical heritage. Please visit us online at  AmericanSongbookAssociation.org for more information.