Sutton Foster, Aaron Tveit, et al. Participate in Playwrights Horizons Auction

Acclaimed Off-Broadway theater company Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced initial details for its 2011 special online Auction in connection with its annual Spring Gala Benefit. Bidding for the auction, which will feature an eclectic array of items and unique opportunities, begins tomorrow, Tuesday, April 26 at 8AM at www.biddingforgood/playwrightshorizons. Online bidding will continue for three weeks through Wednesday, May 18 (with items staggered to close at 8PM and 9PM).

Celebrating its 40th Anniversary Season, Playwrights Horizons is one of New York's most acclaimed theater companies. A writer's theater dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American Playwrights, composers and lyricists, it has presented the work of over 375 writers. The 2010/2011 Season has boasted productions of Edward Albee's Me, Myself & I, Amy Herzog's After the Revolution, Adam Bock's A Small Fire, Bathsheba Doran's Kin, David Greenspan's current Go Back to Where You Are and the upcoming new musical The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World. The Off-Broadway institution is the recipient of numerous awards and last week was honored with its fifth Pulitzer Prize for Drama, for Bruce Norris' Clybourne Park, which had its World Premiere at the theater last season.

The categories and items for Playwrights Horizons' online Auction include:

CELEBRITY EVENTS
Including a deluxe backstage visit to the set of 30 Rock featuring a photo with the cast, signed script, DVD set and attending an episode taping with director Don Scardino; dinner with Kate Mulgrew and Reed Birney before attending a performance of the upcoming new musical The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World; an on-set visit for 2 to NCIS: Los Angeles including lunch with cast member Barrett Foa; tickets and backstage visits for Anything Goes (with star Sutton Foster), Sister Act (with star Victoria Clark), Memphis (with star Chad Kimball), Catch Me If You Can (with star Aaron Tveit) and The Addams Family (with Roger Rees plus drinks with composer Andrew Lippa); Power Lunch for 4 with former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Robert E. Rubin and former Office of Management and Budget Director for the Obama Administration Peter Orszag; lunch for 2 with President of Equality Matters and former Clinton White House Advisor Richard Socarides.

ONE-OF-A-KIND EXPERIENCES
Including accommodations for an eight-day, seven-night Puerto Vallarta getaway; one-week internship at Marc Jacobs in the Accessories Division; admission for 30 to NY Skyride at the Empire State Building; VIP tour of Theodore Roosevelt's birthplace for 8; 2-hour private Hudson River cruise for 6; private Improv Class for up to 20; private guided tour of Governors Island; 15-minute professional family documentary; private in-depth Casting consultation with the Playwrights Horizons casting department; spend a "Day in the Life" with Fast Company magazine Articles Editor Jeffrey Chu; and the chance to be "Artistic Director for a Day" alongside Playwrights Horizons' Tim Sanford.

MEMORABILIA
Including signed copies of six Edward Albee plays, signed copy of Bruce Norris' Pulitzer Prize-winning Clybourne Park as well as a poster signed by Norris, director Pam MacKinnon and the entire World Premiere cast; a signed first edition of the 1953 Sci-Fi novel The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester; and a rare 1918 boxed set of Oscar Wilde's Ballade de la Geole de Reading (written under the pseudonym C.3.3.).

TICKETS
Yankees tickets (for 2 down the first base line for Yankees vs. Indians on Hat Day, Saturday, June 11); Chicago Theater package (including shows at The Goodman Theatre and Steppenwolf plus the annual Jeff Awards); Playwrights Horizons Opening Night (including 2 tickets to each of the 6 Opening Night performances and after-parties for the 2011/2012 season); special packages for Joe's Pub, Celebrate Brooklyn!, Humana Festival, 92nd Street Y Jazz in July Series; plus membership to the New York Public Library at the Young Lions Level; and many Broadway shows.

Many more items include those in the categories of Fitness and Dining and a second round of major items, to be announced, will be added online soon.

All interested bidders must go to www.biddingforgood.com/playwrightshorizons to register to bid.

The Playwrights Horizons Online Auction is generously sponsored, in part, by HBO.

Playwrights Horizons' annual Gala evening, this year titled "A Play in Forty Acts", will be held Monday evening, May 2nd at 583 Park Avenue. The evening will celebrate the theater company's 40th Anniversary and honor Board Chair Judith O. Rubin for her 25 years with the organization. It will also feature performances by five veteran Playwrights Horizons performers (Tony Award winner LaChanze and Tony Award nominees Stephen Bogardus, Chad Kimball, Kelli O'Hara and Mary Testa). Cocktails and a Silent Auction will begin at 6PM, followed by dinner at 7:45 PM and the evening's entertainment. Ticket prices for the Gala Benefit start at $800 and can be reserved by calling Michelle Kiefel at 212-564-1235, extension 3143.

Playwrights Horizons, celebrating its 40th Anniversary Season, 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, Playwrights Horizons continues to encourage the new work of veteran writers  while nurturing an emerging generation of theater artists. Writers are supported through every stage of their growth with a series of development programs: script and score evaluations, commissions, readings, musical theater workshops, Sharp and Mainstage productions. In its 40 years, Playwrights Horizons has presented the work of over 375 writers and is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. Notable productions include five Pulitzer Prize winners: Bruce Norris' Clybourne Park (2011 winner), Doug Wright's I Am My Own Wife (2004 Tony Award, Best Play), Wendy Wasserstein's The Heidi Chronicles, Alfred Uhry's Driving Miss Daisy and Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Sunday in the Park With George, as well as Annie Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation (three 2010 Obie Awards, Best American Play), Doug Wright, Scott Frankel and Michael Korie's Grey Gardens (three 2007 Tony Awards), Edward Albee's Me, Myself & I, Adam Bock's A Small Fire and The Drunken City, Bathsheba Doran's Kin, Melissa James Gibson's This, Amy Herzog's After the Revolution, Craig Lucas' Prayer for My Enemy and Small Tragedy (2004 Obie Award, Best American Play), Adam Rapp's Kindness, Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's Assassins, Sarah Ruhl's Dead Man's Cell Phone, 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, William Finn's March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, Christopher Durang's Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You and Betty's Summer Vacation, Richard Nelson's Goodnight Children Everywhere and Franny's Way, 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. Playwrights Horizons was founded in 1971 by Robert Moss, before moving to 42nd Street where it has been instrumental in the revitalization of Theatre Row. André Bishop served as Artistic Director from 1981 to 1991, followed by Don Scardino, who served through 1995. Playwrights' auxiliary programs include the Playwrights Horizons Theater School, which is affiliated with NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, and Ticket Central, a central box office that supports the Off-Broadway performing arts community.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos