NYTW Gala To Celebrate 25th Anniversary Of RENT Featuring Original Cast Members Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Idina Menzel, and More!

Today marks the 25th Anniversary of RENT's first performance at New York Theatre Workshop. The NYTW has announced that its 2021 Annual Gala will celebrate the Tony Award & Pulitzer Prize-winning musical. The Gala will be held virtually on Tuesday March 2, 2021 at 8PM EST and will remain available to stream through March 6, 2021 at 8PM EST.

This virtual celebration of RENT and its impact on the collective cultural consciousness will feature a selection of iconic songs by some of today's most beloved recording and theatre artists, exclusive content uncovering how RENT came to life, and reflections on the driving force of Jonathan's legacy in the American theatre.

The evening will feature appearances by original NYTW cast members Gilles Chiasson, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Rodney Hicks, Idina Menzel, Aiko Nakasone, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Daphne Rubin-Vega & Byron Utley, as well as Sebastian Arcelus, Annaleigh Ashford, Martha Banta, The Bengsons, Adam Chanler-Berat, Linda Chapman, Nicholas Christopher, Paul Clay, Wilson Cruz, Brandon Victor Dixon, Wendy Ettinger, Stephen Graham, Michael Greif, Janet Harckham, Jeremy O. Harris, Neil Patrick Harris, Victoria Hoffman, Joe Iconis, Christopher Jackson, Julie Larson, Tamika Lawrence, The Lazours, Telly Leung, Kamilah Marshall, Kevin McCollum, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anaïs Mitchell, Shakina Nayfack, James C. Nicola, Eva Noblezada, Dael Orlandersmith, Ben Platt, Billy Porter, Will Power, Councilmember Carlina Rivera, Jai Rodriguez, Jeffrey Seller, Rona Siddiqui, Leigh Silverman, Ali Stroker, Ephraim Sykes, Bernie Telsey, Jennifer Ashley Tepper, Tracie Thoms, Ivo van Hove, Tom Viola, Tim Weil, Angela Wendt, Marlies Yearby and more.

The evening's program will be directed by Andy Señor Jr. (RENT, Holiday Inn) and feature musical supervision by Stephen Oremus (Frozen, Kinky Boots) and musical direction by Will Van Dyke (Pretty Woman, Fly). The event is produced in association with Heredia Vision with platinum sponsorship from Select Equity, Stephen Graham and TodayTix.

The NYTW Annual Gala raises nearly 10% of the Off-Broadway company's annual budget. While NYTW's stage is dark this season, the energy that connects visionary artists and adventurous audiences is still pulsing through a range of programming. This year, funds raised at this one-night-only event help NYTW to support 27 extraordinary Artistic Instigators who are creating work in new and imaginative ways that has already reached more than 60,000 audience members. Proceeds will also support NYTW's Virtual Programming, free and open to the public, which has connected more artists and more than 7,000 audience members over the course of the pandemic, and Education and Engagement initiatives including Learning Workshop residencies with public school partners across the city and our new Youth Artistic Instigator program that will engage more than 500 participants by the end of the season.

Tickets, beginning at $25, and packages and sponsorships, beginning at $1000, can be purchased at www.nytw.org or by calling 212-460-5475. A limited number of free tickets will be available through an exclusive lottery on TodayTix. The lottery is now open for entries on the TodayTix app. Winners will be notified 1 week prior to the event on February 23rd at 12PM EST and will have 1 hour to claim their ticket on the TodayTix platform