Broadway's Bryce Pinkham Headlines TN Shakespeare Company's 10th Anniversary Gala

Tennessee Shakespeare Company today announced its Broadway headliner for the Tenth Anniversary Gala: Bryce Pinkham, Broadway's young Tony Award nominee and star of Holiday Inn, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, The Heidi Chronicles, Ghost the Musical, and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.

To celebrate ten years of Shakespeare performance and education in the Mid-South, this year's Gala moves to the luxurious Hilton Memphis on Saturday, April 7 at 6:00 pm.

All proceeds benefit TSC's innovative Education Program.

The Gala is generously sponsored by the Board of Directors of Tennessee Shakespeare Company.

Mr. Pinkham will perform a special, one-hour show as the Gala centerpiece. He will sing from his own Broadway shows, as well as favorite standards and songs from other award-winning musicals.

Bryce Pinkham is a Grammy and Tony Award-nominated American stage and screen actor. He is perhaps best known for originating the role of Monty Navarro in the Broadway production of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. The performance earned him a Grammy Award nomination as well as a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. Mr. Pinkham played the role on Broadway for more than 700 performances, and the show was named Best Musical of 2014. Mr. Pinkham went on to star in the Broadway revival of The Heidi Chronicles as Peter Patrone, for which he was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award, as well as the Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance in 2015. In the fall of 2016, he returned to Broadway leading the cast of Roundabout Theater and Universal Pictures' Holiday Inn, performing in the role originally played by Bing Crosby in the classic 1942 movie. Mr. Pinkham also originated roles in Ghost the Musical and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson on Broadway.

His recent film and television appearances include the Robert DeNiro comedy The Comedian and Baz Lurman's Netflix drama, The Get Down, as well as a regular role in the PBS series Mercy Street. Previously, Mr. Pinkham appeared on The Good Wife, Person of Interest, and the PBS miniseries God in America. In 2012, he was awarded the prestigious Leonore Annenberg Fellowship, which is given to "a limited number of exceptionally talented young dancers, musicians, actors, and visual artists as they complete their training and begin their professional life."

In 2012, Mr. Pinkham and fellow actor Lucas Caleb Rooney co-founded Zara Aina, a non-profit organization devoted to helping at-risk children expand their capacity for achievement through theatrical performance and storytelling. Mr. Rooney and Mr. Pinkham regularly travel to Madagascar to help empower at-risk students through theatrical story-telling techniques and performance and to provide them with much-needed medical and educational assistance. Mr. Pinkham also performs regularly with the theatre company Outside the Wire, which takes performances of Greek tragedy to American-military audiences around the world to foster discussion about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and soldier suicide. Mr. Pinkham is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama and Boston College.

The evening in the Hilton Memphis includes a lavish buffet dinner and cocktails, Shakespeare performances breaking out all over the ballroom, TSC's singular live auction, a fun silent auction, and a post-show dessert reception where Platinum and Gold sponsors and their guests get to meet Mr. Pinkham and have their photo taken with him.

Patrons may purchase Platinum ($5,000), Gold ($2,500), and Silver ($1,500) seating packages, each with tiered benefits. Each seating package accommodates ten guests.

Sponsorships and more information are available by calling TSC's Gala Coordinator Stephanie Shine today at (901) 759-0620. All sponsorship purchases include a tax-deductible gift to TSC. Preferred seating is available in the order in which calls are received.

Single Tickets are now on sale for $100 per ticket through February 28. After February 28, Single Tickets are $125. Patrons may purchase Single Tickets on-line now at www.tnshakespeare.org or by calling TSC's Box Office at (901) 759-0604.

The Broadway Weekend Trip for Two drawing tickets are now available at TSC for a suggested donation of $20.

The winner of the Drawing, announced from the stage during the Gala, wins round-trip airfare for two to New York City; a weekend 3-day, 2-night stay (Friday night and Saturday night) at a first-class theatre district hotel; dinner at an intimate theatre district restaurant; and two reserved seat standard admission tickets to a Broadway play or musical of the winner's choice. The trip may only be redeemed for the services outlined here and is non-transferable. The retail value of the trip will not exceed $2,500 and must be booked at least two months in advance (certain black-out dates will apply). The trip must be completed by December 1, 2019. The winner need not be present at the Gala to win and must be at least 18 years of age.

"We want to give Memphis and our supporters a really fun, celebratory tenth anniversary party," says TSC founder and Producing Artistic Director Dan McCleary. "We are expecting a larger than usual number of guests for this once-in-a-lifetime event, and also because Bryce Pinkham has a huge fan base - and rightly so. He is tremendously talented and so much fun on stage. His show is personal, and he loves being out in the audience. Not all singers in Broadway musicals are also outstanding actors, but Bryce is. He also does extraordinary education and humanitarian work around the world, and I know he is inspired to join us because he is aware of the ground-breaking work TSC is doing in our school systems. We will mix professional Shakespeare, the best of Broadway, and our young students into a joyous evening that I hope inspires the entire Memphis area."

Tennessee Shakespeare Company is a professional 501(c)(3) theatre and education organization which performs the plays of William Shakespeare seasonally; performs classical and Southern writers seasonally; and provides innovative, year?round educational and training programming.

TSC was founded in 2008 as the city's first and only professional, classical theatre and education organization. On August 31, 2017, TSC purchased outright the former home of Ballet Memphis, which TSC will remodel into the state's first and only permanent home for professional, year-round Shakespeare performance, education, and training.

Now in the midst of its tenth season, TSC has produced 40 site-specific plays and events for over 45,000 patrons in its nine years. Its innovative Education program has reached 175 schools across seven states, totaling over 132,000 student interactions.

TSC now performs and teaches every month of the year, and annually plays to over 10,000 patrons annually, tours to 5?6 southern states with its education shows, and is welcomed into at least 80 schools. TSC's education program has achieved a high regional and national profile. The program has been endorsed by Shelby County Schools, Germantown Municipal Schools, Collierville Municipal schools, and the National Endowment for the Arts (one of just 40 U.S. theatres to be acknowledged).

TSC's generous season sponsors include FedEx; The Family of Ernest and Pat Kelly; Nancy R. Copp; Independent Bank; Tennessee Arts Commission; Ann and Wellford Tabor; Barbara B. Apperson Angel Fund; International Paper; Evans/Petree, P.C.; International Paper; Jaguar Bluff City; Arts Memphis; Arts Midwest; and The National Endowment for the Arts.

TSC's season is funded under a Grant Contract with the State of Tennessee.

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