Lyricist/Composer Sheilah Rae to be Honored by The Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation

The board of The Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation will honor lyricist/composer Sheilah Rae at a private reception on April 20, 2023 at The Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park South. Sheilah Rae is a member of the board of directors of the foundation, and was a client of the late Bret Adams, as well as a close personal friend of both Bret Adams and Paul Reisch.

Rae will be presented with a Special Vivace Award at the April 20 reception directed by Joe Barros, Artistic Director of New York Theatre Barn, where Sheilah is a co-founder. Writer Timothy Huang (American Morning) and Tony Award-winning producer Elizabeth Williams (Crazy for You, The Secret Garden) will speak at the ceremony, and there will be performances from writer Debra Barsha (Radiant Baby) and actor Jennifer Apple (The Band's Visit). While the Foundation's Vivace Award typically given annually to a lyricist or composer for a new work, this special Vivace Award will be given for Rae's exemplary commitment to the advancement of the foundation, in addition to her body of work as a theatre artist.

"We're excited to take this opportunity to celebrate Sheilah's artistry, as well as her unsung contributions to the field of theatre," says Bruce Ostler, another member of the board of the directors. "The work she has done with The Bret Adams & Paul Reisch Foundation, as well as other organizations like the League of Professional Theatre Women and Maestra, demonstrate her lifelong commitment to mentorship and philanthropy.

The Bret Adams & Paul Reisch Foundation was established with a legacy gift from the agent Bret Adams and his partner Paul Reisch. The Boards of Advisers are made up of industry professionals from all walks of life for three different awards that fund the development of idea-driven theatre.

About The Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation

Theatrical Agent Bret Adams and his partner Dr. Paul Reisch loved the theatre with great passion. As a theatrical agent, Bret shepherded the careers of many actors, writers and directors and designers, including Phylicia Rashad, Judy Kaye, Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Sherman Helmsley, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Eve Arden, Christine Ebersole, Kathleen Marshall, Jayne Wyman, Andre DeShields, Kathy Bates, Susan H. Schulman, Jack Heifner, Philip McKinley and Robert Harling, among many others. After Bret and Paul's passing, in 2006 and 2015 respectively, their eponymous foundation was created at their bequest. The Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation champions visionary theatre writers in their creation of expansive, illuminating, and idea-driven theatre. Embracing diversity in all its forms, The Foundation encourages artists with fresh perspectives - particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds - to create idea-driven new plays and musicals reflecting on multivalent themes. Nominations for all three awards are accepted exclusively from The Foundation's Board of Artistic Advisors. For more information, visit www.BretnPaulFoundation.org.

About The Honoree, Shelia Rae

Sheilah Rae has had an extensive career in the Theatre and the Music Business. She has been a performer in such Broadway musicals as Fiddler On the Roof , Applause, The Rothschilds, and Company, and on the production teams of Rupert Holmes' Broadway thrillers, Accomplice and Solitary Confinement. As a partner in her own music production company, she produced original music and/or lyrics for such clients as Time, People, Doritos, Beechnut Baby Food, Ben Gay, etc. As a songwriter she has written numerous pop songs for both New York and Nashville recording artists, been a recording artist on RCA, performed in nightclubs, sung back-up for Barry Manilow, and written several theme songs for TV. She co-created Funny, You Don't Look Like A Grandmother, with Lois Wyse and Robert Waldman, which she also produced in Los Angeles where it ran for 1½ years, and continues to play all over the country, published by Samuel French/Concord Theatricals. She is lyricist and co-book writer of The Belle of Tombstone (f/k/a I Married Wyatt Earp), with Thomas Edward West, and composer, Michele Brourman, a musical based loosely on the life of Josephine Sarah Marcus, the third wife of Wyatt Earp. It has had readings and productions in Los Angeles and NY, and productions at Bristol Riverside Theatre, The Hartt School (twice), Cal State Fullerton, Oklahoma City University, South Dakota State University, off-Broadway at 59E59, and most recently in May 2022 at the New Works Series of The Phoenix Theater Co. Her musicals have been seen at the Metropolitan Theater, The Cherry Lane Theater, The Prospect Theatre Company, and in the Eight Minute Madness Festival. She created the songs and incidental music for Fengar Gael's The House on Poe Street, which won outstanding production for its presentation in Detroit, and was presented at the 14th Street Y. With Debra Barsha she has created two Edna Ferber one act musicals, part of Five by Ferber at NJ Rep, and published by Smith and Kraus. Their latest project is a musical TV pilot called Lost in New Jersey. She created the songs and incidental music for Fengar Gael's The House on Poe Street, which won outstanding production for its presentation in Detroit.

Other awards include being a five-time finalist for the Heideman Award of the Humana Festival, in 2005 for her short musical play 'Lovelines', 2006 for What Goes Around, and 2010 for The Waiter, all with Brourman, as well as Single and Active in 2011, On the Page in 2012 and was a NAMT grant writer's recipient with Debra Barsha for The Helena Project. Sheilah has won songwriting awards from Billboard, Music City Song Festival, Variety, and the Rising Star Galaxy Award 1999 from the NY Women's Agenda for outstanding work in the theater. She was the recipient of the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award from NY Theatre Barn, and the 2021 Special Award from the League of Professional Theatre Women.

Sheilah is a graduate of the University of Michigan, trained in London at the Royal Academy of Music, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She is a member of AEA, SAG, AFTRA, AFM Local 802, The Dramatist Guild, a past President of the League of Professional Theatre Women, past Council of the Songwriters Guild, and Founding President Emeritas of NY Theatre Barn. She currently serves on the Board of the Bret Adams/Paul Reisch Foundation. www.sheilahrae.net

 

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