Playwrights Horizons to Celebrate Music of Robert Lopez, Jeanine Tesori & More at 2016 Spring Gala

Acclaimed Off-Broadway theater company Playwrights Horizons will hold its annual Spring Gala on Monday evening, May 9 at the event space 583 Park Avenue.

The evening will celebrate those writers and artists who trace the beginnings of their careers to Playwrights Horizons, and the funds raised will support the programs that continue this legacy. The event will feature music by alumni writers two-time Tony Award winner Adam Guettel (Floyd Collins at PH, The Light in the Piazza), three-time Tony Award winner and Academy Award winner Robert Lopez (Playwrights Horizons' Musical Theater Resident 1997/1998, The Book of Mormon, Frozen), Tony Award winner Jeanine Tesori (Violet at PH, Fun Home) and Chris Miller and Nathan Tysen (The Burnt Part Boys at PH, the upcoming Tuck Everlasting). A full slate of performers will be announced in the coming weeks.

For 45 years, Playwrights Horizons has launched the careers of hundreds of American writers and theater artists. In addition to productions of new plays and musicals, an array of programs support these artists, including readings and workshops of new works; script evaluation program; commissions to both emerging and established writers; intensive year-long fellowships; and the Playwrights Horizons Theater School at NYU. The theater company also provides deeply subsidized tickets to launch and cultivate the theater-going pursuits of young audiences. As Jesse Green of New York Magazine recently wrote, "A brilliant incubator of new plays and voices, Playwrights Horizons has an enviable track record of terrific new work."

The evening will honor Playwrights Horizons board member Stefanie Kane. Ms. Kane leads the U.S. Entertainment, Media & Communications Assurance practice for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC). Ms. Kane got her start at PwC as a college intern during the summer of her junior year at Washington University of St. Louis. After graduating Magna Cum Laude, she was brought onto the staff, and in the following 25 years has served a range of companies, from start-ups to large multinationals, in the entertainment, media, communications, and technology industries. Her experience is steeped in both traditional and digital media and she has led several companies through the process of reinventing their business models for improved competitive positioning. She has also brought her skills and leadership to the Playwrights Horizons Board of Trustees, serving as the Treasurer since 2011.

Serving as Gala Co-Chairs are Betsy Fippinger, Sam Gonzalez, Bruce Horten and Aaron Lieber.

Cocktails and a Silent Auction will begin at 6PM, followed at 7:30PM by dinner and the evening's entertainment.

Ticket prices for the Gala start at $1,000 and can be reserved by calling Karen Han at (212) 564-1235 extension 3141 or online at www.PHnyc.org.

The Spring Gala is the organization's largest fundraising event of the year, with donations earmarked to support six annual productions, the development of new plays and musicals, ticket subsidies and programs for students and early-career professionals. The programs cultivate the next generation of artists, arts managers and theatergoers.

Currently on stage as part of Playwrights Horizons 2015/2016 Season is FAMILIAR, the acclaimed New York premiere of a new play by Danai Gurira, directed by Rebecca Taichman (extended now through April 10); and ANTLIA PNEUMATICA, the world premiere of a Playwrights Horizons commission by Anne Washburn, directed by two-time Obie Award winner Ken Rus Schmoll (now in previews, opening April 4). The season will conclude with INDIAN SUMMER, the world premiere of a Playwrights Horizons commission by Gregory S. Moss, directed by Carolyn Cantor (previews begin May 13).

Playwrights Horizons recently announced the six productions of its 2016/2017 Season. In season order, they are: AUBERGINE, the New York premiere of a new play by Julia Cho, directed by Kate Whoriskey (previews begin August 19, 2016); A LIFE, the world premiere of a new play by Obie Award winner Adam Bock, directed by two-time Obie Award winner Anne Kauffman; RANCHO VIEJO, the world premiere of a Playwrights Horizons commissioned new play by Dan LeFranc, directed by three-time Obie Award winner Daniel Aukin; THE LIGHT YEARS, the world premiere of a new play written by Drama Desk Award winner Hannah Bos and Obie Award winner Paul Thureen, directed and developed by Obie Award winner Oliver Butler, made by The Debate Society; THE PROFANE, the world premiere of a new play by Zayd Dohrn; and BELLA: AN AMERICAN TALL TALE, the co-world premiere of a Playwrights Horizons commissioned new musical with book, music and lyrics by Obie Award winner Kirsten Childs, directed by two-time Obie Award winner Robert O'Hara.

Playwrights Horizons is a writer's theater dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers and lyricists and to the production of their new work. Under the leadership of artistic director Tim Sanford and managing director Leslie Marcus, the theater company continues to encourage the new work of veteran writers while nurturing an emerging generation of theater artists. In its 45 years, Playwrights Horizons has presented the work of more than 400 writers and has received numerous awards and honors, including a special 2008 Drama Desk Award for "ongoing support to generations of theater artists and undiminished commitment to producing new work." Notable productions include six Pulitzer Prize winners - Annie Baker's The Flick (2013 Obie Award, 2013 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize), Bruce Norris's Clybourne Park (2012 Tony Award, Best Play), Doug Wright's I Am My Own Wife (2004 Tony Award, Best Play), Wendy Wasserstein's The Heidi Chronicles (1989 Tony Award, Best Play), Alfred Uhry's Driving Miss Daisy and Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Sunday in the Park with George - as well as Ms. Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation (three 2010 Obie Awards including Best New American Play); Lisa D'Amour's Detroit (2013 Obie Award, Best New American Play); Samuel D. Hunter's The Whale (2013 Lortel Award, Best Play); Kirsten Greenidge's Milk Like Sugar (2012 Obie Award); Jordan Harrison's Marjorie Prime (2015 Pulitzer finalist); Lucas Hnath's The Christians (2015 Kesselring Prize), Robert O'Hara's Bootycandy (two 2015 Obie Awards); Taylor Mac's Hir; Anne Washburn's Mr. Burns, a post-electric play, Sarah Ruhl's Stage Kiss and Dead Man's Cell Phone; Gina Gionfriddo's Rapture, Blister, Burn; Dan LeFranc's The Big Meal; Amy Herzog's The Great God Pan and After the Revolution; Bathsheba Doran's Kin; Adam Bock's A Small Fire; Edward Albee's Me, Myself & I; Melissa James Gibson's This (2010 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalist); Doug Wright, Scott Frankel and Michael Korie's Grey Gardens (three 2007 Tony Awards); Craig Lucas's Prayer For My Enemy and Small Tragedy (2004 Obie Award, Best American Play); Adam Rapp's Kindness; Lynn Nottage's Fabulation (2005 Obie Award for Playwriting); Kenneth Lonergan's Lobby Hero; David Greenspan's She Stoops to Comedy (2003 Obie Award); Kirsten Childs's The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin (2000 Obie Award); Richard Nelson and Shaun Davey's James Joyce's The Dead (2000 Tony Award, Best Book); Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's Assassins; William Finn's March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland; Christopher Durang's Betty's Summer Vacation and Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You; Richard Nelson's Goodnight Children Everywhere; Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's Once on This Island; Jon Robin Baitz's The Substance of Fire; Scott McPherson's Marvin's Room; A.R. Gurney's Later Life; Adam Guettel and Tina Landau's Floyd Collins; and Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley's Violet.