Brooklyn Acting Lab Celebrates 10-Year Anniversary With Spring Gala

Brooklyn Acting Lab began as a labor of love a decade ago: founders Kristen Lynch and Murat Ozcan shared a vision of teaching local youth and adults to create innovative, inspired and heart-filled work that reflects Brooklyn's global community. The theater company is celebrating their 10th anniversary with their first annual Spring Gala on Thursday, April 19, at the Prospect Park Picnic House.

Hosted by comedian Joe Larson and featuring performances by Ayodele Casel, Pyeng Threadgill and Sherine Kathoun, BAL has planned an evening of entertainment to celebrate a decade of teaching children and adults to look at the world with a wider lens through theatrical works that reflect their diverse surroundings. All proceeds raised at the event will go directly to providing scholarships to BAL's youth programs.

"Murat and I are thrilled to celebrate our 10-year anniversary with the community that has continually supported the work of BAL," Artistic Director Kristen Lynch said. "BAL has grown over the last 10 years thanks to the belief, talent, hard work and support of an incredible creative team and the joyful creativity of hundreds of youth ensembles. The future looks bright!"

This year's honoree is Jacqueline Hart, vice president for strategic learning, research, and evaluation at American Jewish World Service. With years of experience in national and international program and policy development and implementation, Hart is responsible for leading AJWS's efforts to measure its impact on realizing human rights and ending poverty in the developing world.

She previously served as director of planning, research and evaluation at Planned Parenthood of New York City and created STEPS, a web-based toolkit that applies a social justice and human rights framework to planning, evaluating and monitoring programs promoting social change. In 2007, Brooklyn Acting Lab founders Kristen Lynch and Murat Ozcan began offering youth theater programs through Young Players Theater.

Formally established as the not-for-profit Brooklyn Acting Lab in 2011, the theater company offers comprehensive training programs to youth and adults. BAL seeks to create works that bring communities and different Brooklynites together, to give them an opportunity to see each other, to mirror each other, to respect each other's differences, to notice each other's similarities and to celebrate humanness - together. It is an exciting time for Brooklyn Acting Lab as they continue to develop new and interesting programming that responds to the world surrounding them. The Spring Gala will take place April 19 at the Prospect Park Picnic House from 7-10 p.m. More information about the gala and tickets can be purchased on the Brooklyn Acting Lab website.

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