Rupert Holmes to Headline New York Theatre Barn's Master Class Benefit, 4/13

Tony Award-winning Rupert Holmes will headline the second annual master class benefit event for the New York-based non-profit theatre company New York Theatre Barn called A Conversation with Rupert Holmes: From Platinum Piña Coladas to Tony-winning Playwright on Sunday, April 13, 2014 at 2pm at the SVA Theatre in New York City. All proceeds will support New York Theatre Barn's convention-defying process for new musical development and its ongoing operations. This event follows on the heels of 2013's sold-out benefit event starring living legend Barry Manilow, and will be hosted by The New York Post theater columnist Michael Riedel.

At A Conversation with Rupert Holmes, Holmes will recount tales from his early years as a singer-songwriter (starting with his first solo album Widescreen, named one of the top ten albums of 1974 by The New York Daily News), to writing platinum hits for Barbra Streisand (A Star is Born), winning a Tony Award for Best Score and Best Book for the beloved musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and penning top-selling novels and short stories (Where The Truth Lies). The master class benefit will include an intimate performance by the songwriter himself, a live auction of exclusive Holmes memorabilia (including an autographed photo of he and Barbra Streisand and original scripts of his acclaimed musicals Drood and Curtains), and a live Q&A section at the end of the program.

Tickets range from $50 to $125, a portion of which will underwrite the cost of attendance for 25 writers. $125 tickets include entry to an exclusive reception with Holmes following the event, and non-premium ticket buyers can purchase reception tickets a la carte. A large portion of each ticket is fully tax-deductible as a charitable contribution to the fullest extent of the law. For tickets and more information, visit www.nytheatrebarn.org, or call OvationTIx at (866) 411-8111.

Called "an American treasure" by The Los Angeles Times, and "a true Renaissance man" by Newsweek, CBS News, Playbill and hundreds of other publications and websites, playwright-composer-arranger-screenwriter-conductor mystery novelist-and singer-songwriter Rupert Holmes is the first person in theatrical history to solely win Tony awards as an author, a composer and a lyricist.

Twice presented with the coveted "Edgar" award (the "Oscar" of the Mystery Writers of America), his first novel, Where the Truth Lies, was nominated for a Nero Wolfe award for Best American Mystery Novel and made into a motion picture starring Colin Firth and Kevin Bacon.

His second Random House novel, Swing, reached #24 among all books at Amazon, and was the first novel ever to come with its own original CD musical score. His short stories have been anthologized in such collections as Best American Mystery Stories and On a Raven's Wing.

He solely authored and composed the Broadway musical-comedy The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which won the Tony award for Best Musical and last year received a critically-acclaimed Broadway revival by the Roundabout Theater. His comedy-drama about the life of comedian George Burns, Say Goodnight, Gracie, earned him a Tony nomination for Best Play as well as winning the National Broadway Theatre Award. His stage comedy-thrillers Accomplice and Solitary Confinement set box office records for the Pasadena Playhouse and Kennedy Center and enjoyed runs on Broadway, while the musical Curtains starring David Hyde Pierce (written with the legendary team of Kander and Ebb) won Holmes the Drama Desk award for Best Book of a Musical as well as two further Tony nominations. In 2012, Holmes collaborated as author and lyricist with the late musical giant Marvin Hamlisch for the award-winning premiere of The Nutty Professor Musical. Hamlisch and Holmes also contributed to the score of Steven Soderbergh's 2013 Liberace biopic, Behind the Candelabra. His book for Secondhand Lions with songwriters Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner had its first major production at Seattle's Fifth Avenue Theatre and is slated for Broadway in 2015. He most recently adapted John Grisham's A Time to Kill for Broadway and is also finishing the first book in a series for Simon and Schuster: The McMasters Guide to Homicide -Murder Your Employer. For TV, Holmes created, wrote and scored the critically hailed AMC series "Remember WENN."

He has arranged, conducted and written platinum recordings for Barbra Streisand, including her classic Lazy Afternoon album and his songs for the Golden Globe-winning, quadruple Platinum Billboard #1 LP score of A Star is Born. As a pop tunesmith, his work has been recorded by hundreds of the leading vocalists of our time, from opera star Renée Fleming to pop star Britney Spears, from balladeer Barry Manilow to rapper Wyclef. Yet despite all the above, Holmes is still best known to the public as the singer and songwriter of several Billboard Top Ten hits, including his #1 multi-platinum smash "Escape" aka "The Pina Colada Song" ...heard in such recent films as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Grownups, Bewitched, Wanted with Angelina Jolie, The Sweetest Thing, Shrek, the TV shows "Las Vegas," "True Blood," and most recently performed by Jimmy Fallon and Blake Shelton with The Legendary Roots.

Photo by Walter McBride