Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana Headline Huntington Theatre Company's 2013 Spotlight Spectacular

Huntington Theatre Company's 2013 Spotlight Spectacular will feature entertainment from Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana, stars of Broadway's Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, and a sneak peek of the Huntington's upcoming new musical The Jungle Book with Music Director Doug Peck and acclaimed Indian musician Shivalik Ghoshal.

To be held Monday, April 22 at 6pm at the Boston Park Plaza Castle, the Huntington's annual Spotlight Spectacular raises money for the Huntington's programs, including its award-winning youth, education, and community initiatives that reach more than 25,000 annually. Designed by Rafanelli Events, this year's event will feature a cocktail reception, silent and live auctions, entertainment, a seated dinner, and presentation of the Wimberly Award to longtime supporters Trustee Judi Krupp and her husband Douglas and visionary Our Town director David Cromer.

Additional funds will be raised through an online auction that will open for bidding on Friday, April 5 at huntingtontheatre.org/auction. Available items will include a Broadway get-away, one week at a private home in the heart of Paris, Red Sox tickets in a Fenway Park luxury box, and much more. Guests will also have the opportunity to "Sponsor Our Students" in support of the Huntington's youth and education programs.

Table prices range from $7,500 to $50,000, and individual ticket prices range from $500 to $2,500. For more information about the event, to sponsor a table, or to purchase tickets, contact Alli Engelsma-Mosser at 617 273 1536 or aemosser@huntingtontheatre.bu.edu.

Huntington Trustee Susan B. Kaplan, who helped to establish the annual Spotlight Spectacular and chaired the first event in 2003, serves as event Chair. Nancy & Mark Belsky and Liz & George Krupp chair the Leadership Committee, and Deborah Lewis chairs the auction. The 2012 Spotlight Spectacular sold out and raised over $730,000 for the Huntington.

ABOUT Santino Fontana

Santino Fontana's Broadway credits include The Importance of Being Earnest, Brighton Beach Memoirs, for which he received a 2010 Drama Desk Award, Billy Elliot: The Musical, and the 2007 revival of Sunday in the Park with George. Off Broadway credits include Roundabout's acclaimed production of Sons of the Prophet (directed by Peter DuBois) for which he received the 2012 Obie Award, and Matt in the 2006 Off Broadway revival of The Fantasticks.

ABOUT Laura Osnes

Laura Osnes was nominated for the Tony Award for her performance in Frank Wildhorn's Bonnie & Clyde (Bonnie Parker, San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award). She also starred as Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and appeared in the recent revival of Anything Goes. She made her Broadway debut as Sandy in Grease, having won NBC's reality competition "Grease: You're the One That I Want." In addition to portraying Rodgers + Hammerstein's Nellie Forbush and Cinderella, she recently appeared in their musical Pipe Dream at New York City Center ENCORES! and starred in The Sound of Music in concert at Carnegie Hall.

ABOUT Doug Peck

Doug Peck (Music Director, The Jungle Book) previously served as music director of Candide at the Huntington. He is the winner of five Joseph Jefferson Awards for musical direction) (Porgy and Bess; Caroline, or Change; Carousel; Fiorello!; and Man of LaMancha) and two After Dark Awards (Guys and Dolls and Hello, Again). Favorite regional credits include Animal Crackers, Dreamgirls, Shenandoah, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Oh! Coward, Sweet Charlity, James Joyce's The Dead, A Catered Affair, Hair Sweet Charity, Grey Gardens, My Fair Lady, Beauty and the Beast, and Raisin. He can be heard on the recordings Bright Young People: The Songs of Noël Coward, Foiled Again: Live, and Frank Galati and Stephen Flaherty's Loving Repeating: A Musical of Gertrude Stein. He studied at Northwestern University and Interlochen Center for the Arts. He is a creative partner with the Goodman Theatre, an artistic associate with Porchlight Music Theatre, and a faculty member of the National High School Institute of the Arts.

ABOUT SHIVALIK GHOSHAL

Shivalik Ghoshal performed all of the tabla drumming for the soundtrack of Academy Award-winning documentary Born into Brothels (2004) as well at Lincoln Center with santoor maestro Sri Satnaam Singh. He has accompanied many maestros including Pandit Manilal Nag, Smt Girija Devi, Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Phalguni Mitra, and Ustad Ali Ahmed Hussain and numerous visiting Indian artists. He has received grants from New Jersey Council of Arts (NJ), Namashkar Foundation (CT), and Asian Arts Initiative (PA), as well as a citation from the New Jersey state legislature. He is currently working with Mary Zimmerman and Doug Peck on reorchestrating the jazz/classical Indian-based music of The Jungle Book for productions at the Goodman Theatre and Huntington Theatre Company. He is a student of tabla maestro Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri and comes from a renowned musical family.

ABOUT JUDI AND DOUGLAS KRUPP

Judi and Douglas Krupp chaired the 2005 Spotlight Spectacular and have been Huntington supporters for more than a decade. In support of Our Town, they issued the Make Our Town Your Town Challenge, a dollar-for-dollar match of all new and increased gifts to the Huntington's Annual Fund up to $50,000.Burnt Umber, Judi's Production Company with partner Bill Gerber, was a member of the producing team of the recent Off Broadway production of Our Town, and Judi was instrumental in bringing the production to the Huntington.

"Judi and Douglas Krupp are champions of great artists in many realms, from the visual arts to theatre, where their influence reaches from Boston's non-profit theatre to Broadway," says Huntington Managing Director Michael Maso. "They are the epitome of style, and their philanthropy extends from the arts to social justice. We are fortunate to count them among the Huntington's family of great supporters and friends.

ABOUT David Cromer

MacArthur Fellow David Cromer's production of Our Town generated widespread critical and audience acclaim during its runs in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and at the Huntington, which were hailed as once-in-a-lifetime events and the Our Town of a generation. The Off Broadway run lasted more than 600 performances, making it the longest-running production in the history of the play.

"David Cromer's production of Our Town is at once reverent and ground-breaking," says Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois. "His creative genius and innovative story-telling make him among the most exciting artists working in the American theatre today." Terry Teachout of The Wall Street Journal said of the Huntington production, "You'll never see a better staging of Our Town, or anything else, as long as you live."

Mr. Cromer's Broadway credits include The House of Blue Leaves and Brighton Beach Memoirs. Off Broadway credits include Our Town, Tribes, and Orson's Shadow (Barrow Street Theatre), Adding Machine (Minetta Lane), and When the Rain Stops Falling (Lincoln Center Theater). Chicago credits include Rent (About Face Theater / American Theater Company), A Streetcar Named Desire, Picnic, Booth, and Oscar Remembered (Writers Theatre), The Hot l Baltimore and Mojo (Mary-Arrchie Theatre), Come Back, Little Sheba (Shattered Globe), The Cider House Rules (Famous Door), and Angels in America, Parts 1 and 2 (The Journeymen). For his work as a director, Mr. Cromer has received two Obie Awards, three Lucille Lortel Awards, four Joseph Jefferson Awards, and a 2010 MacArthur Fellowship.

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