The Play Company Presents CABARET GOURMET 2012; Peter Dinklage Hosts Tonight, 4/30

Off-Broadway's The Play Company will feature a cornucopia of food prepared by some of NYC's top chefs at its 9th annual benefit gala CABARET GOURMET 2012, set for tonight, April 30th at 7PM at the American Airlines Theatre Penthouse (227 West 42nd Street). Lauren Worsham, who most recently appeared as Amy in the City Center Encores! production of Where's Charley, will perform. Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winner Peter Dinklage ("Game of Thrones") will serve as emcee for the event.

CABARET GOURMET 2012 offers theatergoers and gourmet-food aficionados alike the opportunity to mingle and taste epicurean dishes prepared by well-known chefs from around the city. Participating chefs in CABARET GOURMET 2012 come from such notable restaurants as Alison 18, Gramercy Tavern, Mehtaphor, Four & Twenty Blackbirds, Tacombi and Salumè, and the evening also features delicacies by Valrhona Chocolate and Guss' Pickles.

Official sponsors of CABARET GOURMET 2012 include lead sponsor Verdura, along with Brooklyn Brewery, Red Tail Ridge Winery, and La Colombe Torrefaction coffee.  CABARET GOURMET 2012 also includes a silent auction offering tickets to Broadway's hottest shows, exclusive dining and spa packages, behind the scenes fashion experiences and much more.

Victoria Reese and Greg Kennedy are Gala Chairs with the Gala Committee comprised of Eric Case, Trip Cullman, Warren Fraser, Phillip Guttmann, Christine McNamara, Marianne Mills, Samira Nanda and Lela Rose.

Since his breakout role in The Station Agent, Peter Dinklage has appeared in Elf, Underdog, Find Me Guilty, Death at a Funeral, and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Recent stage work includes Things We Want directed by Ethan Hawke at The New Group.  Since 2011 he has starred in the HBO series "Game of Thrones," which earned him the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series as well as the Golden Globe Award. 

Lauren Worsham's favorite roles in New York, in addition to Amy In Where's Charley for Encores!,include Lisa in Dog Days at NY City Opera's VOX, Cunegonde in Candide at New York City Opera, and Jerry Springer the Opera at Carnegie Hall. Lauren started her professional music theater career playing Olive in the first national tour of The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.  Selected regional credits include Lili in Carnival! at the Goodspeed Opera House, Cinderella in Into the Woods as directed by Moisés Kaufman at Kansas City Rep, Sophie in Master Class at Paper Mill Playhouse, and Clara in The Light in the Piazzaat Weston Playhouse. Lauren performs in concert frequently, including shows at Roulette with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Oregon Bach Festival with Jamie Bernstein, Joe's Pub, Henry's with Steven Blier, The Canal Room, and Galapagos Art Space.  She is the second place 2009 Lotte Lenya Competition winner. Charles Isherwood named Lauren his 2011 pick for "Should Have Been Nominated for a Tony" for Best Actress in a Musical in Where's Charley. You can see Lauren performing around town with her husband in their indie-rock band Sky-Pony (www.sky-pony.com).  She will appear in The Mikado at Carnegie Hall to benefit The Collegiate Chorale on April 10^th, and also be premiering David Little's new opera Dog Days at Montclair Peak Performances in October 2012.

An Off-Broadway company dedicated to advancing an international view of contemporary playwriting,The Play Company most recently presented the OBIE Award-winning U.S. premiere of Jonas Hassan Khemiri's play Invasion!, Eliza Clark's Edgewise and The  Ugly One. Other recent productions include the American premiere of Toshiki Okada's play Enjoy and the world premiere of Kia Corthron's play A Cool Dip In The Barren Saharan Crick. Linking NYC artists and audiences to a whole world of plays, and placing American work in a global context, Play Company produces unusual, ambitious work that reflects and responds to the issues and events that shape our time. Past productions include the NY premiere of Lloyd Suh's American Hwangap, the U.S. premieres of Przemyslaw Wojcieszek's Made In Poland (Poland); Robert Farquhar's Bad Jazz (England), Vijay Tendulkar's Sakharam Binder (India); Yoji Sakate's The Attic (Japan); and The Presnyakov Brothers' Terrorism (Russia); as well as world premieres of the American plays Smashingby Brooke Berman and High Dive by Leslie Ayvazian. Play Co. received a 2007 Obie Award for its "unique contribution to the theatre community." The Play Company is under the guidance of Kate Loewald, Founding Producer, and Lauren Weigel, Executive Producer.

The Play Company's Board of Directors includes Carmine Boccuzzi, Trip Cullman, Michael Dweck, Ruth Hendel, Lawrence Kaplen, Kate Loewald, Victoria Reese, George Sheanshang, Jeffrey Sine and Christian Yegen. 

Tickets to CABARET GOURMET 2012 are $150 and $275 and can be reserved by calling The Play Company at 212/398-2977 or via email at cabaretgourmet@playco.org.  Tables are also available for $5,000-$10,000.  

For additional information visit the company's website at www.playco.org or call 212/ 398 2977.