11th Running Of The Red Bulls Gala Benefit Will Honor Daniel Sullivan, Condola Rashad, And American Theatre Wing

Red Bull Theater Founding Artistic Director, Jim Bredeson - Red Bull Managing Director, and the Board of Trustees of Red Bull Theater are pleased to announce that the Eleventh Annual Running of the Red Bulls Gala Benefit on Monday June 3rd, at 6pm, will celebrate the company's 16th Season and honor director Daniel Sullivan, actor Condola Rashad, and the American Theatre Wing with the 2019 Matador Awards for Excellence in Classical Theater. Proceeds from the evening support all of Red Bull Theater's programs including its Off-Broadway productions of The White Devil and Mac Beth, Revelation Readings series, and its Shakespeare in Schools initiative.

This intimate soiree celebrates another successful Red Bull Theater season and offers an evening of live entertainment, fine dining, and great company at the chic Bowery Hotel (335 Bowery at East 3rd Street) with catering by Gemma. Special guests and presenters will include Michael Cerveris, Kathleen Chalfant, Robert Cuccioli, Paige Davis, William Ivey Long, Lynne Meadow, Lynn Nottage, Patrick Page, Jay O. Sanders, Stephen Spinella, Mary Testa, Charlayne Woodard, and more.

Begun in 2009, Matador Awards are given annually to recognize individuals or organizations that have demonstrated extraordinary Talent, Service, or Significant Achievements in the Classical Theater. Previous honorees have included Oscar Isaac, Patrick Stewart, Lynn Redgrave, Lily Rabe, Martha Plimpton, Hamish Linklater, Olympia Dukakis, Jack O'Brien, Michael Kahn, and Liev Schreiber.

This year Red Bull Theater will honor:

Matador Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Classical Theater, presented by Lynne Meadow

Daniel Sullivan is one of the foremost stage directors at work in the American theatre today. His productions of plays by Shakespeare in Central Park have become the benchmark that all others are now measured by. His work there has included The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino, which later transferred to Broadway, Cymbeline, Comedy of Errors, Troilus and Cressida, and this year's upcoming Coriolanus. He has directed more than forty productions on Broadway, in addition to scores of productions Off-Broadway and at regional theaters throughout the United States. From 1981 to 1997, he served as artistic director for Seattle Repertory Theatre, which received the 1990 Tony Award for Regional Theatre. Daniel Sullivan received the 2001 Tony Award for his direction of the Proof, one of seven plays for which he has been Tony-nominated. His honors include the George Abbott Lifetime Achievement Award, Obie, Lortel, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and NAACP Image Awards. He was inducted to the Theatre Hall of Fame in 2011.

Matador Award for Extraordinary Talent in Classical Theater, presented by Lynn Nottage

Condola Rashad recently starred in the title role of Saint Joan on Broadway. In 2014, she made an extraordinary classical theater debut as Juliet opposite Orlando Bloom in a Broadway revival of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. She has received a remarkable four Tony Award nominations, for her performances in Saint Joan, Stick Fly, The Trip to Bountiful, and A Doll's House, Part 2. Ms. Rashad made her off-Broadway debut in Ruined, for which she received a Theatre World Award, and Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Award nominations. She is also known for her work in TV and Film, including roles in Sex and the City 2, Steel Magnolias, and "Billions." She is the daughter of Tony Award-winner and Theater Hall of Fame inductee Phylicia Rashad and she studied at the California Institute of the Arts, where she graduated in 2008.

George Mayer Matador Award for Extraordinary Service to Classical Theater, presented by William Ivey Long

American Theatre Wing invests in brave work, supports creative growth, and celebrates excellence to bring diverse stories to our national culture through theatre. Founded in 1917 on the eve of America's entry into World War I by seven suffragists, American Theatre Wing has spent a century using theatre to advance human experience, empathy and cultural growth like never before. American Theatre Wing invests financial and educational support in creatives destined to make theatre, connects broad audiences to theatre by capturing insight into important work, and honors theatre that impacts the American experience. American Theatre Wing provides grants and scholarships, connects talent at all stages with educational and professional opportunities, and creates content that illuminates and preserves theatre. American Theatre Wing awards excellence and fosters artistry by providing a platform for strong and fearless voices in the American theatre. It has twice recognized Red Bull Theater with National Theatre Company awards.

The Running of the Red Bulls Benefit Gala is Red Bull Theater's most significant annual fundraising event. Matador Awards for Excellence are given annually to recognize individuals or organizations that have demonstrated extraordinary talent, service, or significant achievements in the Classical Theater. Celebrate Red Bull Theater and its 2018-'19 season, honor super contributors to great classic theater, and be the first to hear about the company's 2019-'20 Season plans.

Red Bull Theater, hailed as "the city's gutsiest classical theater" by Time Out New York, brings rarely seen classic plays to dynamic new life for contemporary audiences, uniting a respect for tradition with a modern sensibility. Named for the rowdy Jacobean playhouse that illegally performed plays in England during the years of Puritan rule, Red Bull Theater is New York City's home for dynamic performances of great plays that stand the test of time. With the Jacobean plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries as its cornerstone, the company also produces new works that are in conversation with the classics. A home for artists, scholars and students, Red Bull Theater delights and engages the intellect and imagination of audiences, and strives to make its work accessible, diverse, and welcoming to all. Red Bull Theater believes in the power of great classic stories and plays of heightened language to deepen our understanding of the human condition, in the special ability of live theater to create unique, collective experiences, and the timeless capacity of classical theater to illuminate the events of our times. Variety agreed, hailing our work as: "Proof that classical theater can still be surprising after hundreds of years."

Since its debut in 2003 with a production of Shakespeare's Pericles starring Daniel Breaker followed by the breakout hit production of The Revenger's Tragedy, Red Bull Theater has served adventurous theatergoers with Off-Broadway productions, Revelation Readings, and the annual Short New Play Festival. The company also offers outreach programs including Shakespeare in Schools bringing professional actors and teaching artists into public school classrooms; Bull Sessions, free post-play discussions with top scholars; and Master Classes in classical acting led by veteran theater professionals.

Acclaimed as "a dynamic producer of classic plays" by The New York Times and "the most exciting classical theater in New York" by Time Out NY, Red Bull Theater has produced 17 Off-Broadway productions including the recent runaway hit The Government Inspector starring Michael Urie, and over 150 Revelation Readings of rarely seen classics, serving a community of more than 5,000 artists and providing quality artistic programming to an audience of over 65,000. The company's unique programming has received ongoing critical acclaim, and has been recognized with Lortel, Drama Desk, Drama League, Callaway, Off Broadway Alliance, and OBIE nominations and Awards.

For tickets and more information about Running of the Red Bulls Gala Benefit or any of Red Bull Theater's productions and programs, visit Redbulltheater.com or call (212) 343-7394.

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