League of Professional Theatre Women To Host TURNING 30 In Duffy Square

On Wednesday, September 28th the League of Professional Theatre Women will kick-off the fifteen-month celebration of their 30th Anniversary with a special event, TURNING 30, in Duffy Square at 11am. Co-hosted by Sirius/XM Radio's Julie James & Off-Broadway's Christine Pedi, the event will feature appearances by Emmy Award-winning actress/comedian Judy Gold (The Judy Show) & the Mamma Mia! "Dynamos," Carol Linnea Johnson, Corinne Melançon & Stacia Fernandez. Also attending will be some of LPTW 30th Anniversary Leading Ladies: Ruby Dee, Eve Ensler, RoseMary Harris, LaChanze, Elizabeth McCann, Estelle Parsons, Chita Rivera & Fran Weissler.

True to the League's mission of increasing visibility for women in all aspects of the professional theatre, women from all disciplines in the theatre are invited to gather in Times Square to give a celebratory salute to the important strides & contributions women are making in the theatre. A photo opportunity will be provided of women from Broadway & Off-Broadway, from actors to ushers, invited to gather on the steps of the TKTS booth at noon.

Julie James is an award-winning vocalist, theatre performer, voice-over artist & radio personality who currently hosts "Broadway Names with Julie James" on SIRIUS/XM Radio's "On Broadway" channel. She takes her listeners on the town, backstage & into the studio for fun & lively conversations with the biggest & best Broadway stars. Currently starring Off-Broadway in NEWSical the Musical, Christine Pedi is a long-time cast member of the venerable revue Forbidden Broadway & a Drama Desk nominee for Forbidden Hollywood, in New York, London & around the world. She appeared on Broadway in Talk Radio with Liev Schrieber & Little Me with Martin Short. Fans of HBOs "The Sopranos" will recognize her as Mrs. Bobby Baccala. Her multi-award winning cabaret act Great Dames has played New York, London, South Africa & all over the US. Christine can be heard daily on Sirius/XM Radio's "On Broadway" channel, playing the music of the stage & screen & interviewing theatre legends. Emmy Award winning actress & comedian, Judy Gold is best known as the star of the critically acclaimed, long-running Off-Broadway hit, 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother, for which she was nominated for a 2006 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance. In addition, the show won the 2007 GLAAD award for "Outstanding New York Theatre." A book based on the show was nominated for the prestigious Quill Award. Most recently, Judy has been in the cast of Nora & Delia Ephron's Off-Broadway play, Love, Loss & What I Wore & is currently starring in her solo show, The Judy Show. She has guest-hosted ABC's The View & appears regularly on The Joy Behar Show on HLN. Her stand-up specials include "Comedy Central Presents: Judy Gold," "Comedy Central's Tough Crowd Stands Up" & and Judy's HBO half-hour special, which received a Cable Ace Award. She has also appeared on "Ugly Betty," "Law & Order," "Law & Order SVU," "Hollywood Squares," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" & "The Conan O'Brien Show" to name a few. Gold won two Emmy Awards for writing & producing "The Rosie O'Donnell Show." Direct from Broadway's Mamma Mia! the "Dynamos" (Carol Linnea Johnson, Corinne Melançon & Stacia Fernandez) are celebrating the show's 10th Anniversary on Broadway this October. The global smash hit musical, conceived & created by the powerful "real life Dynamo" trio of global producer Judy Craymer, director Phyllida Lloyd & playwright Catherine Johnson, has a strong "girl power" message, telling the story of independent single mother "Donna Sheridan" running a business on a remote Greek island & her daughter Sophie's quest to find her father to walk her down the aisle on the eve of her wedding!

Sound for the event will be provided by Sound Associates. LPTW acknowledges the help & support of The Actors' Fund, Victoria Bailey & Theatre Development Fund, as well as the Times Square Alliance.

In the event of rain, TURNING 30 will be held on the stage of the Times Square Tourist Center, 1560 Broadway, Ground Floor, on 7th Avenue between 46th and 47th Street.

Highlights of the 30th Anniversary Celebration include:

International Award will be the first Rosamond Gilder/Martha Coigney International Award & will be presented on October 16, 2011, at the Cultural Services of the French Embassy to recognize an artist who, in her own right, has had a powerful impact on her community & the international community at large. There were 21 nominees from 10 countries & this year's awardee is Rwandan artist, Odile Gakire Katese, a playwright, novelist, screenwriter, poet, drummer & actress.

The Edith Meiser Oral History Series will begin on Monday, November 7, 2011, at 6pm at the Bruno Walter Auditorium of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. The League will tape an Oral History interview with a notable theatre woman (name TBA). Future tapings will be announced in Spring, 2012.

Celebrating Our Legacy - Oral History Exhibition, opening on March 8, 2012, for two months & presented in association with the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. It will feature over 100 women in a Photographic Gallery Exhibition of the distinguished theatre women whose Oral Histories & Women in Theatre television series interviews form a part of the Library's Theatre on Film & Tape (TOFT) Archive.

Women in Theatre Magazine will have a greatly expanded 30th Anniversary issue as a celebration of the League's 30 years of advocacy for women in professional theatre. The Magazine takes a look at women's role nationally in the artistic leadership of theatres across the country in both the non-profit & for-profit sectors. Penned entirely by women writers, it contains profiles of women-led theatres large & small, ethnically diverse, mainstream & experimental, as well as some recent history of women producers & directors & a look at the future for women in all types of professional theatre.

30 Plays Celebrate 30 Years will honor professional theatre women & thirty years of League history, as the League co-presents (with theatre companies throughout the U.S. & Internationally) thirty theatrical events ranging from intimate readings to full productions, beginning in January & produced throughout 2012. Members will curate women-led events that will appear in New York City, as well as in national & international venues.

The League of Professional Theatre Women is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization. Numerous events are planned each year to deliver on their mission of promoting visibility & increasing opportunities for women in the field. For their 30th Anniversary, they are planning fifteen months of events to advocate, promote & highlight the contributions of women in theatre both domestically & abroad. None of these projects are possible without generous philanthropic support. To find out more about how you can support their endeavors please visit their website www.theatrewomen.org & click on the "Support Us" tab.

DATE: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - 10:30am - noon
PLACE: Duffy Square ~ Broadway @ 47th Street
INFORMATION: (888)297-3117 ~ www.TheatreWomen.org