Neuwirth, Oh, Mazzie, Etc. Set for TheatreworksUSA Gala

TheatreworksUSA, the leading not-for-profit professional theatre for family audiences, will honor Kaki Hinton, Bebe Neuwirth and Tony Phelan with the Lee Salk Goodworks Award at its annual awards dinner and gala on October 16th.  The event will begin at 6 p.m. at New York's famed Rainbow Room, high atop 30 Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan.

TheatreworksUSA's Goodworks Award was established in 1985 to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions in the fields of business, philanthropy and/or the arts.  The award was renamed in 1992 to the Lee Salk Goodworks Award in memory of Theatreworks' dedicated board member.

Award recipient Kaki Hinton is Vice President of Advertising Sales for Pfizer Consumer Healthcare. She is also co-chair of the Association of National Advertisers TV Committee and co-chair of the Family Friendly Programming Forum. Additionally, she is the Executive Sponsor of the Pfizer New Jersey Women's Network, and was named as one of Advertising Age Magazine's 17 "Media Mavens."

Mike Shaw, President of Sales and Marketing for the ABC Television Network, will be on-hand to present the award to Hinton.

Two-time Tony Award winner Bebe Neuwirth is the multi-talented star of stage and screen whose Broadway credits include Chicago, Sweet Charity, Fosse, Damn Yankees, A Chorus Line, Little Me and Dancin'.  In addition, she is the recipient of two Emmy Awards for her role as Dr. Lilith Sternin on the television series "Cheers." She is an Honorary Ziegfeld Girl.

Tony Award-winning director Walter Bobbie will present the award to Neuwirth.

With TheatreworksUSA, Tony Phelan developed and directed a series of hour-long musicals which have delighted family audiences across the country, including Harold and the Purple Crayon, Swiss Family Robinson, The Three Pigs, Lyle the Crocodile and Super Fudge. An alumnus of the Drama League Director's Project and Lincoln Center Theater Director's Lab, he is currently Supervising Producer on ABC's hit primetime drama "Grey's Anatomy."

Sandra Oh, Golden Globe Award winner for "Grey's Anatomy," will be on-hand to present the award to Phelan.

In addition, the awards gala will feature performances from various TheatreworksUSA contributors, past and present, including Tony winner Robert Lopez (Avenue Q), Tony winners Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime), Tony nominee John Tartaglia (Avenue Q), Tony-nominee Marin Mazzie (Kiss Me, Kate); José Llana (…Spelling Bee), Jason Danieley (The Full Monty), Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde), Alexio Barboza (The Lion King) and more. The gala presentation will be directed by Peter Flynn and choreographed by Devanand Janki.

The cocktail reception begins at 6 p.m., followed by the dinner and gala presentation at 7 p.m. Tickets for the event are $500-$1,000. To purchase tickets or for more information, please call 212-647-1100 ext. 131.  Dress is semi-formal.

Visit www.theatreworksusa.org for more information on TheatreWorks.