Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman to be Honored at Primary Stages' Gala; Lane, Tveit & More to Perform

Primary Stages (Casey Childs, Founder & Executive Producer; Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director) has announced that their annual Gala will take place Monday, November 16, 2015 at 583 Park Avenue. The event will celebrate the company and honor Tony and Grammy-winning composer and lyricists Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. The evening will feature musical numbers from Hairspray, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Catch Me If You Can, and the TV show "Smash" and tributes and performances by Tony winner Christian Borle (Something Rotten, "Smash"), Obie winner Bridget Everett (Rock Bottom, Jukebox Jackie), Annie Golden (Violet, "Orange is the New Black"), Tony winner Nathan Lane (The Producers, Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams at Primary Stages), Aaron Tveit (Catch Me If You Can, Next to Normal), and other surprise guests.

"We are thrilled to be honoring Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman for our 2015 Annual Gala. Marc and Scott are true innovators and their body of work speaks directly to our commitment to developing new works," says Primary Stages Artistic Director Andrew Leynse. "This year's gala will prove to be a 'must-see' evening featuring icons from stage, film, and TV."

MARC SHAIMAN has been writing music, lyrics, arrangements, orchestrations and very lengthy emails since entering show business at the age of 16, at the LaMama Annex, in 1976. He has won a Tony (for co-writing the score to Hairspray with co-lyricist Scott Wittman), a Grammy (also for Hairspray), an Emmy (for his work on Billy Crystal's Oscar appearances) and if he hadn't lost each of his five Oscar nominations (for Sleepless In Seattle, Patch Adams, The First Wives Club, The American President, and South Park-Bigger, Longer & Uncut), he could boast of being an EGOT. Till then, he remains an EGT. He has also been nominated for other Tonys, Emmys and Grammys. Many in fact, but lost all of those also. Other film work includes Beaches, When Harry Met Sally, City Slickers, The Addams Family, A Few Good Men, Sister Act, Hocus Pocus, The Bucket List and Parental Guidance to name a few. Millions of more titles are available upon request. Other theatrical ventures include Patti LuPone On Broadway, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, the Tony-winning musical Catch Me If You Can and on London's West End, the current record-breaking, Olivier Award-winning musical version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (coming soon to Broadway!). His television ventures are varied and many: "The Sweeney Sisters" on SNL, countless award shows with Mr. Crystal, Neil Patrick Harris, Jack Black and Will Ferrell, Jenifer Lewis' Jackie's Back, as well as "Smash", but his fondest is his collaboration with Bette Midler for Johnny Carson's penultimate show. He has co-produced recordings for Miss Midler, Harry Connick Jr. and Mariah Carey, among many others. And he is quite fond of his online opus "Prop 8-The Musical". Currently, he and Mr. Wittman are about to write new songs for a film continuation of theMary Poppins stories for Disney and Rob Marshall, for which they are over the moon with happiness. He is also overjoyed to report that two years ago he stopped reading online chat boards, and his life and well-being have improved drastically! He suggests you do the same.

SCOTT WITTMAN co-wrote (with Marc Shaiman) the lyrics for the Olivier Award-winning musicalHairspray, for which the pair received Tony and Grammy Awards. He also served as an executive producer on the hit film starring John Travolta. They teamed up again on Broadway for Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, which he also directed, and Catch Me If You Can, which received a Tony nomination for Best Musical. For their original songs on NBC's musical drama "Smash", Scott & Marc were nominated for two Emmy Awards, a Grammy, and a Golden Globe. On "Smash," they composed songs for Jennifer Hudson, Uma Thurman, Bernadette Peters, and Liza Minnelli. Their original score for the Marilyn Monroe musical Bombshell was released on Sony Records. Scott co-wrote the lyrics toCharlie and the Chocolate Factory, directed by Sam Mendes, currently playing to sold-out houses at The Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London's West End. For Patti LuPone, Scott has created and directed two Broadway shows, three recordings and three sold-out Carnegie Hall concerts. At La Mama, Scott conceived and directed Jukebox Jackie starring Justin Vivian Bond, Cole Escola, Steel Burkhardt and Bridget Everett.

For more information or to purchase, call Primary Stages at 212-840-9705 or visitprimarystages.org/gala. Platinum Tables are $25,000; Gold Tables are $15,000; Silver Tables are $10,000; Bronze Tickets are $1,250; and single tickets are $750.

Photo by Walter McBride

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