Photo Coverage: Sara Chase, Greg Hildreth and More Celebrate BU's Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley Musical Theatre Fund

Boston University College of Fine Arts hosted an evening for alumni and friends in the New York area and members of the Broadway community for a reception celebrating the newly established Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley Musical Theatre Fund, on Sunday, March 8, 2015 at the Rialto Room at Remi Resturant (144 West 54th Street.) Scroll down for photos from the event!

Among the Boston University alumni in attendance were Broadway actor Greg Hildreth (Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, Peter and the Starcatcher, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson), Tony nominated actor David Garrison (The Visit, Wicked, Married with Children), Broadway and TV actress Sara Chase (starring in the new Netflix series "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," First Date), Broadway actress Ellen Harvey (The Phantom of the Opera, How to Succeed...), filmmaker PJ Bracco (A Chance Meeting, Goin Down), Lee Sunday Evans (director, choreographer and teaching artist at Huntington Theatre), director Elena Heyman (The Traveling Imaginary), Barbara O'Dwyer (Executive Director, Theater at Saint Jeans), Todd Rosen (Development Director at Kevin Spacey Foundation), David and Sylvia Steiner (owners of Steiner Studios), and actress Kaili Vernoff (The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, Sweet and Lowdown).

The Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley Musical Theatre Fund is a generous commitment from the Tony Award winners to launch and endow a new course sequence exploring Music Theatre that includes production of an annual large-scale musical. Sunday evening's reception marks the culmination of a series of special events celebrating the endowment in the 2014-2015 academic year including a New York showcase of BU School of Theatre seniors on Monday. The annual event, funded in part by The Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley Fund for Theatre Artist Development, invites members of the professional theatre community to experience the work of the School of Theatre's graduating MFA and BFA students.

Stewart F. Lane (Class of '73, Co-Chair of the Campaign for the College of Fine Arts, member of the Boston University Board of Overseers, and the College of Fine Arts Dean's Advisory Board), and Bonnie Comley are long-time supporters of the College of Fine Arts. When combined with previous gifts, the endowment for the Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley Musical Theatre Fund moves the couple into the ranks of $1 million-plus lifetime donors to Boston University. It fills us with enormous pride and satisfaction to provide the resources needed to create this new program for BU School of Theatre," said Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley. "It's an honor to impact the students' growth and development as artists, and this enhancement in musical theatre studies will only make for more versatile actors and more possibilities for them in the field. We look forward to seeing the students and the program develop.

"We are very proud and honored to count Stewart Lane and Bonnie Comley as loyal champions of the College of Fine Arts," says Benjamín Juárez, Dean of the College of Fine Arts at Boston University. "They are truly passionate about the craft and about supporting young artists preparing for the profession. It is in this spirit of innovation that the Lane-Comley Musical Theatre Fund will help CFA to provide a more in-depth experience in this area of theatre and open up new opportunities for our students."

Six-time Tony winner Mr. Lane and three-time Tony winner Ms. Comley have collectively produced more than 40 Broadway productions, taking home the 2014 Tony Award for "Best Musical" for A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder. Mr. Lane is the author of the recently released and critically acclaimed book Black Broadway: African Americans on The Great White Way, as well as Let's Put on a Show! and Jews on Broadway.

Photo Credit: Rossa Cole for Rob Rich/SocietyAllure.com

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