Syracuse Stage Gala with Jesse Cook Set for 6/7

The 2014 Syracuse Stage Gala, an annual fundraiser presented by the Syracuse Stage Board of Trustees and the Syracuse Stage Guild, will take place on Saturday, June 7 at the Schine Student Center on the Syracuse University campus. The event will include a performance by Jesse Cook and his band, incorporating elements of flamenco rumba, jazz, and many forms of world music. Cook is known internationally as one of the most influential figures in Nuevo Flamenco music. Click here to watch a performance.

Stage's founding artistic director Arthur Storch (1925 - 2013) will be celebrated at the event with the premiere of a tribute video created by Syracuse University's Office of Electronic Media Communications. The video will include interviews with those familiar with Storch and his legacy, including Alan Alda, Timothy Bond, Jim Clark, John Cullum, Taye Diggs, Jay Harrington, Virginia Kiser, Margaret Ladd, Tom Walsh, Vanessa Williams, and Ralph Zito.

Jim Clark will be honored at the 2014 Gala for his longtime leadership of Stage. The honorary chair of the Gala is Louis G. Marcoccia, President of Syracuse Stage's Board of Trustees, and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Syracuse University. Co-chairs of the Gala are Fran Nichols (Vice Chair of Syracuse Stage's Board of Trustees and Vice Chairman of Eric Mower + Associates) and Jacki Goldberg (Syracuse Stage Guild Board Member).

The evening on June 7 will take place at the Schine Student Center on the Syracuse University campus. Tickets at $200 and $300 include cocktails and silent auction at 6pm, dinner at 7:30pm, and the concert featuring Jesse Cook at 9pm. $300 tickets will also include a private reception with Jesse Cook. Tickets for age 40 & Under are available for $125. Tickets for just the concert portion at 9pm are $30 and will be available at the Syracuse Stage Box Office starting April 14. For more information, visit the Syracuse Stage website.

Arthur Storch, founding artistic director of Syracuse Stage, is remembered as a passionate, colorful and insightful pioneer of the regional theatre movement of the 1960s and 70s, putting Syracuse Stage on the map artistically and leading the 1980 renovation of Syracuse Stage's 500-seat Archbold Theatre. As a professional artist and educator, he was integral in creating the unique relationship between Syracuse Stage and SU Drama, which through his efforts blossomed into a national model for sharing resources and talent between an undergraduate training program and a professional theatre. As the Producing Artistic Director for Syracuse Stage (1974 - 1992), Storch directed 30 plays ranging from Shakespeare to Beckett and supervised the production of more than 100 others.

Syracuse Stage is Central New York's premier professional theatre. Founded in 1974, Stage has produced more than 300 plays in 41 seasons including a number of world, American, and East Coast premieres. Each season 70,000 patrons enjoy an adventurous mix of new plays, and bold interpretations of classics and musicals, featuring the finest theatre artists. In addition, Stage maintains a vital educational outreach program that annually serves more than 20,000 students from throughout Central New York. A solid core of subscribers and supporters helps keep Syracuse Stage a vibrant artistic presence in Central New York. Additional support comes from the government, foundations, corporations and Syracuse University. Syracuse Stage is a constituent of the Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, and a member of the Arts and Cultural Leadership Alliance (ACLA), the University Hill Corporation and the East Genesee Regent Association. Syracuse Stage is a member of The League of Resident Theatres (LORT), the largest professional theatre association in the country.

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