NCTF Holds Chairman's Awards Gala

 National Corporate Theatre Fund (NCTF) will hold its Annual Chairman's Awards Gala and benefit on Monday, April 14 at New York's Cipriani's Pegasus (30 Rockefeller Plaza).  This year, NCTF Chairman James S. Turley, Chairman & CEO of Ernst & Young, will honor Angela Lansbury, the Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays and Bank of America.  Accepting the award on behalf of the Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival will be Artistic Director Marc Masterson and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein and accepting for Bank of America will be Rena M. DeSisto, Global Arts & Culture Executive for Bank of America.  All net proceeds of the event will be distributed as the NCTF/Bank of America Fund for New American Theatre.
 
Hosted by Michael McKean with Jerry Herman, Phylicia Rashad and Theresa Rebeck, this black-tie event will begin with cocktails at 6:30 PM followed by dinner and presentations at 7:30 PM.  The gala will feature a silent auction filled with exciting prize packages.
 
In anticipation of this exciting event, NCTF Executive Director Bruce Whitacre remarks, "For the first time, the proceeds of our Gala will go directly and exclusively to support the creation of new work at our member theatres.  To partner on this effort with Bank of America, which is creating a whole new platform for the support of arts and culture, is an extraordinary privilege.  We are also very inspired by the efforts of artists in theatre, including Angela Lansbury, our colleagues at the Humana Festival, and our wonderful Gala Committee, to support this cause in a new way.  The success of the Gala is proof that collaboration between corporations and artists can have an enormous impact on our communities."
 
Honoree Angela Lansbury's illustrious career spans over fifty years.  She first flourished as a motion picture star and later as a four-time Tony® Award-winner for her memorable roles on Broadway and as the star of "Murder, She Wrote," the longest running detective drama series in TV history (1984-1996).  Lansbury has appeared in over 40 films including Gaslight, The Picture of Dorian Gray, National Velvet, The Long Hot Summer, The Manchurian Candidate (for which she received a Golden Globe® Award, the National Board of Review Award and an Academy Award nomination) and Death on the Nile (a second National Board of Review Award).  She also appeared as the voice of Mrs. Potts in the Disney animated feature Beauty and the Beast and the voice of Grand Duchess Marie in the animated movie Anastasia.  She made her Broadway debut in 1957 opposite Bert Lahr in Hotel Paradiso.  In 1960 she returned to Broadway as Joan Plowright's mother in A Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney.  Lansbury triumphed in 1966 as Mame, starring for two years on Broadway and later in Los Angeles and San Francisco.  Mame earned Lansbury her first of four Tony Awards as Best Actress in a Musical.  Her other Tony-winning performances were the Madwoman of Chaillot in Dear World (1968), Mama Rose in the 1974 revival of Gypsy and Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd (1979).  She starred as Mrs. Anna for a limited engagement of The King and I (1978).  In 2007, Lansbury returned to Broadway in Terrence McNally's Deuce, co-starring with Marian Seldes.  For her performance, she received a Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Leading role.  In 1992, Lansbury added to her resume the role of Executive Producer for "Murder, She Wrote."  Always generous with her time and support, her civic involvements include work with the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army.  As a member of the AmFAR National Council, her energies in the war against AIDS have raised several millions of dollars.  Her professional honors include her induction into the Theatre Hall of Fame (1982), being named a Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II (1994), 18 Emmy Award nominations (12 for "Murder, She Wrote"), six Golden Globe Awards (four for "Murder, She Wrote" with a total of 14 Golden Globe nominations), the National Medal of the Arts (presented by President Clinton in 1997) and in 2000, a Kennedy Center Honor in Washington D.C.  This NCTF Theatre Artist Award will be presented by Jerry Herman.
 
Actors Theatre of Louisville, founded in 1964, is acclaimed as one of the country's consistently innovative professional theatre companies.  Led by Artistic Director Marc Masterson and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein, the theatre produces a diverse range of classical and contemporary work in almost 600 performances of over 20 different productions during its 40-week season.  For over three decades Actors Theatre has been a major force in new play development premiering over 300 new works.  The annual Humana Festival of New American Plays is internationally recognized as the premiere event of its kind, drawing theatre lovers from around the world.  Actors launched its 2008-09 season with the Randal Myler and Dan Wheetman's Kentucky roots musical Fire on the Mountain.  Well-known director and writer
George C. Wolfe, a native of Kentucky, was represented at Actors Theatre with a sold-out production of his stage adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston stories, Spunk.  Early January brought
 
Topdog/Underdog, by Suzan-Lori Parks, also a Kentucky native, and former longtime producing director Jon Jory returned to Louisville to stage Sarah Ruhl's The Clean House.  Masterson directed an acclaimed production of Shakespeare's The Tempest and the high-profile 32nd annual Humana Festival produced an outpouring of 11 world premiere productions in March.  Housed in a three-theatre complex in downtown Louisville, Actors Theatre, the State Theatre of Kentucky, has won a host of coveted awards and worldwide recognition for excellence and creativity, and boasts a loyal annual audience of over 200,000 in a metropolitan area of about one million.  This NCTF Achievement in Theatre Award will be presented by Theresa Rebeck.
 
Bank of America is a leading supporter of arts and culture in the United States; committed to building socially and financially healthy communities.  Through its unique arts support programs, its partnerships with national cultural institutions result in broad access to cultural treasures from around the world.  Bank of America provides millions of dollars in grants for a wide range of support, from education and access programs to major investments that help institutions expand their size and their services.  They underwrite national and local exhibitions, programs and performances that require private funding to make them a reality.  Lending their vast art collection to museums globally, Bank of America helps to benefit communities so that American art can be appreciated more broadly.  They donate individual pieces to museums to enhance their Permanent Collections and remain viable.  Bank of America provides volunteer support for cultural events, and their executives serve on boards to bring the benefit of business and marketing insights to those organizations.  Additionally, the company offers customers and associates a range of arts access opportunities.  This Corporate Leadership Award will be presented by Phylicia Rashad.
                                                                                                           
Co-chairs of the Annual Chairman's Awards Gala are Jennifer Bielstein, Cisco Systems, Inc., Citi Private Bank and Ernst & Young.  The Gala Committee includes Hal Holbrook (Chair), Mitchell J. Auslander, Lee Blessing, Norbert Leo Butz, Marla Chandler, Richard M. Ditizio, John R. Dutt, Carmen de Lavallade, Jeffrey Hatcher, Doug Hughes, Kate Mulgrew, Barbara Meek, Anika Noni Rose, Lynn Nottage, Dael Orlandersmith, David Hyde Pierce, Phylicia Rashad, Marian Seldes, Richard Thomas and John Thomopoulos.
 
The evening's entertainment will include award-winning Musical Director Don Pippin.  It will feature Klea Blackhurst and Martin Vinidovic in a tribute to Angela Lansbury arranged by Pippin, along with performances by The Civilians (who recently premiered the acclaimed This Beautiful City at the Humana Festival) and Amy Warren (currently appearing Off-Broadway in Adding Machine, and composer of the upcoming Paris by Night at NCTF member theater Trinity Rep).
 
NCTF is an association of ten of America's finest not-for-profit theatres dedicated to increasing the participation of corporations and their employees in supporting theatre across the country and in New York.  Member theatres include: Actors Theatre of Louisville, American Conservatory Theater, American Repertory Theatre, Center Theatre Group, The Cleveland Play House, Guthrie Theater, Long Wharf Theatre, The Old Globe, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and Trinity Repertory Company.
 
The NCTF Annual Chairman's Awards Gala and benefit will take place Monday, April 14 at Cipriani's Pegasus (30 Rockefeller Plaza, 64th Floor).  For reservations, please call Todd Rosen at (212) 750-6895 or email trosen@nctf.org.  Individual tickets are $1,000 - $2,500 and reserved tables are $10,000 - $25,000.  For more information, please visit www.nctf.org.