TN Shakespeare Co. Announces Indoor/Outdoor JACK JONES CHILDREN'S LITERACY GALA, April 23

Tennessee Shakespeare Company will host its indoor/outdoor Jack Jones Children's Literacy Gala on Saturday, April 23 at 6:00 pm.

Generously sponsored by The Jones Family and Pat and Ernest Kelly, the Gala will feature buffet dining, a unique live auction, open bars, the chance to enter and win a Broadway trip for two, and a whirlwind performance of guests' favorite classical authors brought to life from the page to the Tabor Stage.

Named in honor of the late John Paul (Jack) Jones, TSC Board member Emeritus and a longtime supporter of Memphis youth athletics and literacy, the Gala supports TSC's Education Program expansion to create over 40,000 points of contact with Memphis area children by activating the works of William Shakespeare and other classical authors.

All Gala proceeds will go toward TSC's Jack Jones Children's Literacy Fund and the Barbara B. Apperson Angel Fund.

TSC annually works with children ages 5-18, primarily in Title 1 schools, as well as incarcerated youths and military veterans in near-daily programming that develops students' literacy, desire to read, and compassion.

The performance portion of the Gala will be simulcast digitally and will feature TSC Producing Artistic Director Dan McCleary as well as company artists Stephanie Shine, Michael Khanlarian, Nic Picou, Cara Geissler, Carmen-maria Mandley, and others.

TSC's new Shakespeare Garden also will be unveiled as guests will be welcome to roam indoors and outdoors during the buffet and bar hour.

Seating will be limited to 150 guests.

Guests may choose from three Sponsorship levels to secure a dining table and theatre seats:

Platinum Sponsorship ($5,000)

Provides an eight-seat dinner table, a $200 gift box, the best seats in the theatre, a choice of one classical author to be performed, and the open bars. Platinum Sponsors include The Camp Tabor Family, Nancy R. Copp, Davis Commodities, Dorothy O. Kirsch, The Sims Family Charitable Trust, and Pat and Thane Smith.

Gold Sponsorship ($2,500)

Provides an eight-seat dinner table, the best seats in the theatre after the Platinums, and the open bars. Gold Sponsors include E.F. and Brenda Bluestein, Louise and Jim Calandruccio, Elise and Richard Jordan, Hon. Sheri Lipman and Dale Anderson, and W. Reid and Chris Sanders.

Silver Sponsorship ($1,500)

Provides a four-seat dinner table, the best seats in the theatre after the Golds, and the open bars. Silver Sponsors include Rhea Clift, Blanche and Mike Deaderick, and Pete Pranica.

To reserve a Platinum/Gold/Silver Sponsorship today, guests may contact Stephanie Shine at (901) 759-0620 or stephanieshine@tnshakespeare.org.

Single Bronze Ticket ($250)

Guests also may purchase single Bronze Tickets for $250 each. Bronze Tickets provide the buffet (no table), open bars, and side-seating in the theatre. Reserve one or more Bronze Tickets by going to tnshakespeare.org or calling TSC at (901) 759-0604.

A portion of purchased sponsorships and tickets is a tax-deductible gift to TSC, which is located at 7950 Trinity Road, Memphis, TN 38018-6297.

Gala Sponsors

Title Sponsors: The Jones Family, Pat and Ernest Kelly

Buffet Dinner Sponsor: TSC's Board of Directors

Live Auction Sponsor: Nancy R. Copp

Broadway Trip Drawing Sponsors: Pat and Thane Smith

Open Bar Sponsors: Susan and RJ Moskop

Potential Authors for the Evening

Platinum Sponsors may choose from the below list an author from whom TSC will select a book, curate a segment, and act for the first time during the Gala:

Amiri Baraka
Anais Nin
Ann Sexton
Aphra Behn
Arthur Conan Doyle
Barbara Kingsolver
Carson McCullers
Charlotte Bronte
Dorothy Parker
Edith Wharton
Edmund Rostand
Ernest Hemingway
Eudora Welty
Flannery O'Connor
Frank O'Connor
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Herman Melville
Henry Miller
Jack Kerouac
James Baldwin
Jane Austen
JK Rowling
John Steinbeck
Joyce Carol Oates
Kate Chopin
Langston Hughes
Louisa May Alcott
Mary Shelley
Maya Angelou
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Octavia Butler
Oscar Wilde
Ralph Ellison
Toni Morrison
Virginia Woolf
Walt Whitman
W.E.B. Du Bois
William Shakespeare
Zora Neale Hurston

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