Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty To Be Honored At Gingold Theatrical Group's 2024 GOLDEN SHAMROCK GALA

Gingold Theatrical Group has announced that their 2024 Golden Shamrock Gala will be held on Monday September 23 at 6pm at Robert Restaurant (2 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10019) atop the Museum of Arts & Design. The evening will honor Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty with the Golden Shamrock Award for their tireless work as supporters of human rights and their artistic excellence in musical theater writing.

The 2024 Gala will transport attendees to a 1930s deco nightclub featuring a live dance orchestra and musical performers. Guests are asked to dress in their best black and white deco finery. Costumes optional! The 2024 Gala will support GTG's upcoming production of Shaw's The Devil's Disciple which will enjoy a limited run at Theatre Row from October 15 through November 23, 2024.

Held each year in honor of Shaw's Irish heritage, GTG's Golden Shamrock Gala is a festive and fabulous celebration of all that GTG does. Featuring a sparkling cocktail hour and dinner; a silent auction with items that will include rare collectibles, Broadway tickets, spa vouchers, fine wines, and extremely rare Shaviana; and a musical program by some of New York's finest performers, the Golden Shamrock Gala is an event not to be missed!

GTG's Golden Shamrock Award is given annually to celebrate artistic and cultural contributions to society, as inspired by Shaw's fiercely activist humanitarianism. Previous recipients of the Golden Shamrock Award include Charles Busch, Tyne Daly, Judith Ivey, Kenneth Lonergan, Kate Mulgrew, Brian Murray, Robert Osborne, Martha Plimpton, Stephen Schwartz, Pamela Singleton, and Tom Viola.

“Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's work embraces all that Gingold Theatrical Group stands for: human rights, free speech, self-empowerment, and the soaring power of the human heart,” said David Staller, GTG's Artistic Director. “GTG is thrilled to celebrate this incredible duo ahead of New York City Center's presentation of their epic and brilliant Ragtime this October, and we join in their excitement as we prepare for our upcoming production of Shaw's The Devil's Disciple, beginning the same month.”

The renowned writing team of Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty has received theater, film and music's highest honors—the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Olivier Awards, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes and four Grammys. They serve on the Council of the Dramatists Guild of America and founded the DGF Fellows Program for Emerging Writers. In 2014 they received the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement and in 2015 they were inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.

Tickets for the GTG Golden Shamrock Gala begin at $450 for a single ticket, $800 for a pair, and $6000 for a table of 10. Tickets can be purchased at tinyurl.com/GTG2024GALA or by contacting the Gingold office at 212-355-7823 or info@gingoldgroup.org. 

Performances of GTG's upcoming production of George Bernard Shaw's The Devil's Disciple begin this fall in Theater Two at Theatre Row (410 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036). Previews begin October 15 for a run through November 23, 2024.

The Devil's Disciple, set during the American Revolution, embraces authentic events from 1777. This new production will completely reimagine the Shaw classic from a large cast of 13 to an ensemble of 5 actresses. This charged adaptation emphasizes the need for individuals to embrace their responsibility to keep democracy alive and well. Shaw wrote the play as a thinly veiled call for a Free Ireland, which accounts for it being banned in Britain for years. The Devil's Disciple features a colorful group of characters doing everything they can to stand up for what they truly believe. As with all of Shaw's plays, it offers a reminder of how important it is to challenge everything, to live the person you want to be as fully as you can, and to always be an active, engaged and contributive member of one's community.

ABOUT GINGOLD THEATRICAL GROUP

Gingold Theatrical Group, now in its 19th year, creates theater that supports human rights, freedom of speech, and individual liberty using the work of George Bernard Shaw as our guide. All of GTG's programs are inspired by Shaw's humanitarian values. Through full productions, staged readings, new play development, and inner-city educational programs, GTG brings Shavian precepts to audiences and artists across New York, encouraging individuals to breathe Shaw's humanist ideals into their contributions for the future. Shaw created plays to inspire peaceful discussion and activism and that is what GTG aims to accomplish. GTG's past productions include Man and Superman (2012), You Never Can Tell (2013), Major Barbara (2014), Widowers' Houses (2016), Heartbreak House (2018), Caesar & Cleopatra (2019), Candida (2022), and Arms and the Man (2023).  

Founded in 2006 by David Staller, GTG has carved a permanent niche for the work of George Bernard Shaw within the social and cultural life of New York City, and, through the Project Shaw reading series, made history in 2009 as the first company ever to present performances of every one of Shaw's 65 plays (including full-length works, one-acts and sketches). GTG brings together performers, critics, students, academics and the general public with the opportunity to explore and perform theatrical work inspired by the humanitarian and activist values that Shaw championed. All comedies, these plays boldly exhibit the insight, wit, passion and all-encompassing socio-political focus that distinguished Shaw as one of the most inventive and incisive writers of all time.

Through performances, symposiums, new play development, and outreach, as well as through our discussion groups and partnerships with schools including SUNY Stony Brook, Regis, the De La Salle Academy, and The Broome Street Academy, GTG has helped spark a renewed interest in Shaw across the country, and a bold interest in theater as activism. Young people are particularly inspired by Shaw's invocation to challenge the strictures society imposes, to embrace the power of the individual, to make bold personal choices and to take responsibility for these choices. GTG's new play development lab, Speakers' Corner, created to support playwrights inspired by Shaw's ideals, is now in its second cycle. Through monthly prompts and feedback, writers develop work inspired by or in response to a specific Shaw text. Plays developed through Speakers' Corner will be nurtured in workshops and readings with the expectation that GTG will publish or produce them. GTG encourages all people to rejoice in the possibilities of the future. All of GTG's programming is designed to inspire lively discussion and peaceful activism with issues related to human rights, the freedom of speech, and individual liberty. This was the purpose behind all of Shaw's work and why GTG chose him as the guide toward helping create a more tolerant and inclusive world through the exploration of the Arts.

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT: www.gingoldgroup.org.