New Dramatists Cancels 71st Annual Spring Luncheon Honoring Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori Due to the Health Crisis

New Dramatists has cancelled its previously announced 71st Annual Spring Luncheon due to the COVID-19 emergency. The event, to have taken place on Thursday, May 21st at the New York Marriott Marquis, was to honor Tony Award winners Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori with its 2020 Distinguished Achievement Award. Though saddened to miss the chance to come together in celebration of Kushner, Tesori, the current theatre season, and New Dramatists' illustrious company of current and alumni playwrights, the New Dramatists team recognizes the need to prioritize the health and safety of our community.

A perennial of the New York theatre season, the annual New Dramatists luncheon salutes individuals who have made an outstanding artistic contribution to the theatre community. Past luncheon honorees include Nathan Lane, Denzel Washington, Daryl Roth and Paula Vogel, Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Susan Stroman, Seth Gelblum, Bernadette Peters, Roger Berlind, Julie Taymor, Horton Foote, Edward Albee, Harvey Fierstein, Chita Rivera, George C. Wolfe, Meryl Streep, Angela Lansbury, Julie Andrews, Glenn Close, Stephen Sondheim, Arthur Miller, Neil Simon, Jerry Herman, Terrence McNally, Barbara Cook, John Kander & Fred Ebb, August Wilson, and Gwen Verdon.