Michael C. Hall & More to be Honored at National Corporate Theatre Fund's Awards Gala

National Corporate Theatre Fund (NCTF) and Chairman James S. Turley will lead a celebration to support American theatre at the annual Chairman's Awards Gala on Monday, April 13th at The Pierre New York (2 East 61st Street at Fifth Avenue) at 6:30pm. The Chairman's Awards Gala supports the creation of theatrical works and arts education at theatres across America.

Michael C. Hall (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Dexter) will be honored with the Theatre Artist Award, Jolyon F. Stern and DeWitt Stern will receive the Corporate Leadership Award, and Long Wharf Theatre, in honor of its 50th Anniversary, will receive the 50 Years of Achievement in Theatre Award. Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Long Wharf Theatre are both insured by DeWitt Stern, which was founded in 1899 and which specializes in insurance for cultural institutions and the performing arts.

"Michael C. Hall has been one of the most admired artists of his generation," said Bruce E. Whitacre, NCTF Executive Director. "The indelible characters he has embodied onstage and onscreen have always been portrayed with a unique, brave passion that draws us in even under the most extreme circumstances. Jolyon Stern and his firm have been the go-to insurance providers for dozens of for-profit and nonprofit theatre businesses. Their state of the art expertise has helped keep companies alive, and shows running. Long Wharf Theatre is not only one of our country's leading theatres with a distinguished record of artistic excellence, but NCTF itself was created under their leadership a generation ago, and we are extremely pleased to salute this national theatre icon." The announcement of the honorees was officially made at NCTF's 12th Annual Broadway Roundtable on Friday, February 6th.

The Gala will also showcase the work of NCTF's founding member theatres, which include Actors Theatre of Louisville, American Conservatory Theater, American Repertory Theater, Center Theatre Group, Cleveland Play House, Guthrie Theater, Long Wharf Theatre, The Old Globe, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and Trinity Repertory Company. The national network of NCTF supported theatres has been responsible for some of Broadway's biggest recent hits, including Pippin, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, All the Way, and the upcoming Finding Neverland.

The evening will include an opening number by Kevin Duda (Beautiful, The Book of Mormon) and Jason Michael Snow (The Book of Mormon). Additional performers will be announced at a later date. Pamela Farr and Buford Alexander, Cisco Systems, Inc., and Joseph F. Kirk, Wells Fargo are event co-chairs.

The Gala will include drinks, dinner, and performance, as well as a live and silent auction. The Patron and Co-Chair Tables are priced at $25,000. Benefactor Tables are priced at $15,000 and Sponsor Tables are priced at $10,000. Ticket pricing is as follows: $2,500 (Patron Ticket), $1,000 (Individual Ticket). Journal ads and Sponsorships are also available.

MICHAEL C. HALL most recently starred as the title character in the Broadway production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, directed by Michael Mayer with book by John Cameron Mitchell and music and lyrics by Stephen Trask. Hall also starred last spring in the Broadway production of Will Eno's The Realistic Jones, directed by Sam Gold and co-starring Toni Collette, Tracy Letts, and Marisa Tomei. Hall made his Broadway debut in 1999 as the Master of Ceremonies in Sam Mendes' revival of Cabaret and portrayed Billy Flynn in 2002 in the revival of Chicago. Off-Broadway, Hall's credits include the Roundabout Theatre Company's Mr. Marmalade; Cymbeline, Macbeth, Timon of Athens, and Henry V at the Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival; The English Teachers for MCC; Manhattan Theatre Club's Corpus Christi; Romeo and Juliet at Center Stage; R Shoman at Williamstown Theatre Festival; and Skylight at the Mark Taper Forum. His television credits include "Dexter" (SAG, Golden Globe awards; five Emmy nominations) and "Six Feet Under" (two SAG ensemble awards, Emmy nomination). On film, Hall recently appeared in Cold in July and Kill Your Darlings. He received his MFA from NYU.

JOLYON STERN and DeWITT STERN: Jolyon joined DeWitt Stern in 1963, and in 1974 became its President -- the third generation of his family to lead the now 116 year old firm. Upon joining DeWitt Stern, Jolyon's love of the theater led him to investigate how he could help the people who produce the shows he loved and those who managed the houses he respected so much. Jolyon did not waste his time - by 1965, he revolutionized the way stage plays were insured, devising the Production Package policy that has been the backbone of standard theatrical insurance on and off Broadway and regionally for the past half century. The number of shows DeWitt Stern insured in New York each year skyrocketed as Jolyon continually made the process for procuring theatrical insurance more transparent, less expensive, and of greater protection to producers and theater owners.

Extraordinary industry knowledge and producer-centric, risk management advice are hallmarks of DeWitt Stern. By always stressing that they "start with what the client wants, and finish with what they truly need," Jolyon and his teams have covered and indemnified an enormous body of work. Just a few of these include the original productions of: Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair, Cats, Annie, The Gin Game, The Wiz, Nicholas Nickelby, Starlight Express, Six Degrees of Separation, Spider Man, The Book of Mormon, and hundreds more.

Jolyon is a member of the Board of Trustees of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the New Dramatists, and the Princeton Club Foundation; a Director of the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce; and is on the Board of the Hans Christian Andersen Storytelling Center.

LONG WHARF THEATRE began in the unlikeliest of places in the unlikeliest of ways. Located in a food terminal facing the New Haven Harbor, the theatre's original founders, Jon Jory and Harlan Kleiman, shared the dream of starting a resident professional theatre company in New Haven. Assisted by an avid group of community leaders and patrons of the arts, they made that dream a reality in 1965 when Arthur Miller's The Crucible opened for a two-week engagement.

Named for the Long Wharf port along New Haven Harbor, the theatre was built in a vacant warehouse space in a busy food terminal, with its Mainstage originally stocked with seats borrowed from a retired movie house. The first year's budget was $294,000, and the theatre played to more than 30,000 patrons. Now in its 50th season, Long Wharf Theatre is an organization of international renown producing an annual season of six plays on its two stages, along with children's programming, new play workshops and a variety of special events for an annual audience exceeding 100,000.

Under the watch of Arvin Brown and Edgar Rosenblum for over 30 years, Long Wharf Theatre established itself as an important force in the regional theatre movement. Following Brown's leadership, Doug Hughes served as artistic director for four seasons. Under the current leadership of Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein and Managing Director Joshua Borenstein, Long Wharf Theatre continues to be a leader in American theatre, revitalizing classic and modern plays for a contemporary audience, discovering new resonance in neglected works and premiering new plays by new voices that both investigate and celebrate the unique circumstances of our time.

Throughout its history, Long Wharf Theatre has created a unique home in New Haven for theatre artists from around the world, resulting in the transfer of more than 30 Long Wharf productions to Broadway or Off-Broadway, some of which include Satchmo at the Waldorf, My Name is Asher Lev, Wit (Pulitzer Prize), The Shadow Box (Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award/Best Play), Hughie, American Buffalo, Requiem for a Heavyweight, Quartermaine's Terms (Obie Award/Best Play), The Gin Game (Pulitzer Prize), The Changing Room, The Contractor and Streamers.

Long Wharf Theatre has received New York Drama Critics Awards, Obie Awards, the Margo Jefferson Award for Production of New Works, a Special Citation from the Outer Critics Circle and the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1978.

Photo by Walter McBride