Soho Rep Spring Gala 2011 To Honor Marian Seldes

Blythe Danner, Ted Danson, Parker Posey, Peter Dinklage, Lili Taylor, Michael Stuhlbarg and more to perform at the Soho Rep SPRING GALA 2011 honoring Marian Seldes. Hosted by Tim Blake Nelson the evening will also feature musical performances by Jomama Jones & The Lisps. The stage performance will feature scenes and songs from past and upcoming Soho Rep shows. Special musical guest will be Jomama Jones - who had a critically acclaimed run at Soho Rep earlier this season - in addition to The Lisps, performing a song from their new musical FUTURITY. Doors open on Monday, May 2nd at 6:30pm at the Highline Ballroom (431 West 16th Street) in Manhattan; for tickets please visit the Soho Rep website - www.SohoRep.org or call 212-647-1828.

The Soho Rep 2011 Spring Gala will honor Marian Seldes for her long and illustrious career as one of the American theatre's most accomplished and beloved actresses. A prominent figure in the theatre community for more than 50 years, Ms. Seldes made her Broadway debut in 1947 in Judith Anderson's MEDEA directed by John Gielgud, and her most recent appearance on Broadway in Terrence McNally's DEUCE in 2007, with Angela Lansbury. Her other Broadway turns - they count twenty-four to date - include: Edward Albee's A DELICATE BALANCE, for which she won her first Tony Award; Albee's TINY ALICE; FATHER'S DAY (Tony Nomination), the original production of EQUUS, RING ROUND THE MOON (Tony Nomination), the revival of DINNER AT EIGHT (Tony Nomination), and DEATHTRAP (Tony Nomination). DEATHTRAP also won Ms. Seldes her place in Guinness's book of world records for playing every performance during the shows run from 1978 to 1982, that's a total of 1,809 performances. Ms. Seldes received her second Tony Award only last year, when she was honored with the 2010 Lifetime Achievement Tony Award. Her numerous Off-Broadway credits include the Pulitzer Prize-winning THREE TALL WOMEN, PAINTING CHURCHES (Outer Critics Circle Award), THE GINGER MAN (OBIE Award), Albee's THE PLAY ABOUT THE BABY, etc.

Ms. Seldes has also appeared frequently in film and on television - she was the president of Wellesley in Mona LiSA SMILE, she was MURPHY BROWN's aunt, Mr. Big's mother in SEX AND THE CITY, HOME with Marcia Gay Harden, etc. In addition to her work on stage and in front of the camera, Ms. Seldes had a hand in molding many aspiring actors - from 1969 to 1992 she was on staff at the Juilliard School, teaching the craft of acting to such pupils as Kevin Kline, Robin Williams, Patti LuPone and Laura Linney.

On board to help honor Ms. Seldes will be host Tim Blake Nelson ("The Incredible Hulk," "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"), Emmy and Tony Award-winner Blythe Danner ("Meet the Parents," BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE), Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winner Ted Danson ("Damages," "Cheers"), Parker Posey ("Best in Show," "Superman Returns"), Peter Dinklage ("The Station Agent," "Death at a Funeral"), Lili Taylor ("Mystic Pizza," "I Shot Andy Warhol"), Michael Stuhlbarg ("Boardwalk Empire," THE PILLOWMAN), and more to be announced later.

Additional details - including additional luminaries and the 2011/2012 Soho Rep Dorothy Strelsin Playwrighting Fellow - will be announced in the coming months.

The Soho Rep 2011 Spring Gala committee members are: Faisal Al-Juburi (co-chair), Asha Talwar (co-chair), Edward Albee, Olympia Dukakis, Allison Ecung, Jeanne Donovan Fisher, Anne Hamburger, C.C. Hirsch, Young Jean Lee, Anne Kauffman, Jared Longhitano, Joseph V. Melillo, Emily Reifel, Laura Russo, Jenny Schwartz & Aaron Stone, Gretchen Shugart, Cator Sparks and Soho Rep Founder, Marlene Swartz.

Now in its 34th year, Soho Rep's 2010-11 Season is the fourth under the leadership of Artistic Director, Sarah Benson, and the third for Executive Director, Tania Camargo. Soho Rep is dedicated to cultivating and producing visionary, uncompromising, and exuberant new plays. They perform to one of the youngest adult audiences in New York City, with over three-quarters of its audience aged 18-40.

Critics continue to herald Soho Rep as the go-to theatre destination for new and original works. New York Magazine states, "this indispensable theater offers more excitement per chair than any space in town," Time Out New York says, "Soho Rep is the best theater in NYC (official)," Variety exclaims "[Soho Rep] has claimed an increasingly vital spot...the venue has suddenly become one to watch for Manhattan theatergoers starved for new work," and the New York Times declares Soho Rep to be "the downtown powerhouse ... one of the most daring companies."

Dan Le Franc was recently awarded the New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award for the Soho Rep production of his play SIXTY MILES TO SILVER LAKE in 2009. Over the last decade, Soho Rep productions have garnered eleven OBIE Awards -- for Sarah Benson (director) and Louisa Thompson (set designer) for the critically acclaimed New York premiere of Sarah Kane's BLASTED and Nature Theater of Oklahoma's NO DICE; six Drama Desk nominations, two for BLASTED (Outstanding Director of a Play - Sarah Benson and Outstanding Actor in a Play - Reed Birney) and four for their critically acclaimed production of FRANKENSTEIN, the Oppenheimer Award for EVERYTHING WILL BE DIFFERENT, and two Kesselring Awards for Melissa James Gibson and Mark Schultz. In recent years, Soho Rep has presented plays by established and emerging theatre artists such as Richard Maxwell, Mac Wellman, Dan LeFranc, Nature Theater of Oklahoma, Young Jean Lee and The Flying Machine.

The Soho Rep Spring Gala 2011 honoring Marian Seldes will be held on Monday, May 2nd at the Highline Ballroom (431 West 16th Street), with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres at 6:30pm, dinner at 7:30pm and honoree presentation and stage performances at 8:30pm. For tickets please visit the Soho Rep website - www.SohoRep.org or call 212.647.1828.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos

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