LuPone, Etc. Set for D.C. Shakespeare Theatre Gala, 10/1

The Shakespeare Theatre Company will open the Harman Center for the Arts with a gala celebration on Monday, October 1, 2007. Comprising the existing Lansburgh Theatre (Seventh and E streets NW) and the new Sidney Harman Hall (currently under construction at Sixth and F streets NW), the Harman Center for the Arts is a 21st-century expanded stage for the Shakespeare Theatre Company and Washington's performing arts community.

The evening will begin with a performance in the new Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F St. NW. The performance will feature world-renowned artists in theatre, classical music, jazz, ballet and modern dance, including: ballet dancers Nina Ananiashvili and Julio Bocca, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, actress Patti LuPone, violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter accompanied by Ayami Ikeba, The Washington Ballet, Washington Performing Arts Society's (WPAS) Men and Women of the Gospel Mass Choir and actors from the Shakespeare Theatre Company.

The production is directed by Ethan McSweeny and designed by Helen Hayes Award-winner Robert Perdziola. Following the performance, the Shakespeare Theatre Company will host a dinner dance at the neighboring National Building Museum (440 G St. NW).

The Opening Gala benefits the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Campaign for the Harman Center for the Arts and is chaired by Ann Nitze with Vice Chairs Calvin and Jane Cafritz, William Couper, Samia and Huda Farouki, Kristin and Kingdon Gould, Michael R. Klein and Joan I. Fabry, Arlene and Robert Kogod, The Honorable Selwa Roosevelt and William Talbert.  The gala's Honorary Patrons are President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush. The gala's Honorary Chairs are Jane and Sidney Harman, Honorable Adrian M. Fenty and Michelle Cross Fenty, Anthony Williams and Diane Simmons Williams, Debra and John Boehner, Susie and Norm Dicks, Steny H. Hoyer, and Victoria and Ted Kennedy. The gala will be in the presence of HRH The Duchess of Gloucester.

The event is black-tie and benefits the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Capitol File Magazine is the exclusive regional magazine sponsor of the Harman Center for the Arts Opening Gala. For more information, call Joanne Coutts, Special Events Manager, at 202.547.3230 ext. 2330.  Limited space is available for press wishing to cover this event. Press should contact Liza Lorenz at 202.608.6302.

According to press notes, "The Harman Center for the Arts will serve to transform the Shakespeare Theatre Company into a national destination theatre while providing ideal venues for many of Washington's distinguished performing arts companies.

The Harman Center will provide two affordable, downtown, midsize, high-quality venues that will fulfill a need expressed by local and national performing arts organizations. In collaboration with these artistic partners and using the extraordinary design flexibility of the new facility, the Center will create new perceptions, uphold high artistic standards and encourage innovation and creativity in works that challenge itself and its audiences. At the heart of the Harman Center, the Shakespeare Theatre Company will continue to produce classic plays of size and scope that confront humanity's most profound questions, enabling us to connect to our past and gain insights into our lives and the world in which we live.

The increased facilities of the Center also will allow for expanded education programming that engages students with meaningful and long-term experiences in the arts, and will contribute to the economic vitality of downtown."

The Harman Center is named for Dr. Sidney Harman and the Harman family, who have given $19.5 million to the project.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company's innovative approach to Shakespeare and other classic playwrights has earned it the reputation as the nation's premier classical theatre company. By focusing on works with profound themes, complex characters and poetic language written by Shakespeare, his contemporaries and the playwrights he influenced, the Company's artistic mission is unique among theatre companies: to provide vital, groundbreaking, thought-provoking, vibrant and eminently accessible theatre in a uniquely American style.

For more information, visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org/Harman.

Photo of Patti LuPone by Ben Strothmann

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