Tony-Winner Jesse Tyler Ferguson To Be Honored At Vineyard Theatre 2024 Gala

Vineyard Theatre Artistic Director Sarah Stern and Managing Director Suzanne Appel are pleased to announce that the Vineyard's Annual Gala will honor Tony Award winning actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Take Me Out). The Gala will be held Monday, February 26, 2024 beginning at 6:00 PM at the Edison Ballroom (240 West 47th Street). 
 
Ferguson has been a friend and supporter of Vineyard Theatre since his 2004 performance in Christopher Shinn's Where Do We Live. Ferguson starred on Broadway in the one-man comedy, Fully Committed, which originally had its world premiere at the Vineyard in 2016. Ferguson won a Drama Desk Award for his performance. Ferguson has also developed projects in collaboration with the theatre and co-hosted the 2005 Annual Gala with Ann Harada (Avenue Q).

Sarah Stern shares, "Jesse is an incredible and beloved artist and colleague, who we first had the joy of working with at the Vineyard nearly 20 years ago. His tremendous talent, creativity and dedication to his craft are matched by his kindness, humor and support for his fellow collaborators. Jesse is an inspiring advocate for our theatre community and for social justice and LGBTQIA+ rights, and has been a champion for the Vineyard's work and artists over two decades. We are truly excited to honor and celebrate Jesse at our Gala -- it's going to be a very fun and special night!"

The Vineyard's Annual Gala will include cocktails, dinner, an auction, and live performance. The event will support Vineyard's 2023-2024 Season, as well as its Good Neighbor ticket accessibility program, which provides free and low-cost tickets to thousands of New Yorkers each season. Gala performers will be announced at a later date.
 
Tickets will be available for purchase later this month at https://vineyardtheatre.org/shows/2024-gala/.

For information on advance table purchase and gala sponsorship opportunities please contact gala@vineyardtheatre.org. 

Jesse Tyler Ferguson is a Tony Award-winning actor, author, producer, and host known not only for his creative work but for his ongoing advocacy in the LGBTQIA+ community. 
 
Ferguson recently wrapped his return to Broadway in the revival of playwright Richard Greenberg's Tony Award-winning play, Take Me Out, opposite Jesse Williams. He earned his Tony Award in the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play, for his role as accountant Mason Marzac. He also received an Outer Critics Circle Award, as well as a Drama League Distinguished Performance Award nomination for this role. 
 
He was recently seen in Universal's Cocaine Bear directed by Elizabeth Banks. The thriller also stars Keri Russell, O'Shea Jackson and Ray Liotta. He was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Most Frightened Performance for his work in the film. 
 
In May 2023, he launched his newest podcast Dinner's On Me where he breaks bread with big-name friends—old and new—for a delicious meal and candid convos that can only happen over a glass of wine. Shot in some of his favorite restaurants across Los Angeles and New York City, his guests range from people like Julie Bowen, Kristen Bell, Fred Armisen, Jesse Williams, Niecy Nash-Betts, and so many more. They'll get vulnerable about everything from relationships and family history, to mental health and imposter syndrome. They'll laugh about Jesse's attempted modeling career and being starstruck by Beyoncé. 
 
His scripted podcast Gay Pride & Prejudice was released exclusively on Spotify in May 2022. This is a modern adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice from Spotify and Gimlet. When same-sex marriage finally becomes legal, Bennet struggles to find belonging when his chosen family suddenly begins coupling off and settling down. Ferguson executive produced and lent his voice to the podcast. 
 
Ferguson also produced the documentary Broadway Rising under his A Kid Named Beckett Productions. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and tells the inspiring journey back to the stage and the toll of the pandemic on the Broadway community after a historic closure. The feature-length documentary follows subjects from all areas of the Broadway community — stage doormen, wardrobe technicians, playwrights, producers, actors, ushers, dancers, and directors — to paint a full picture of the strength and diversity of the people on the stage and behind the scenes & their resilience, hope and dedication of being part of Broadway's reopening. The documentary distribution rights were acquired by Vertical Entertainment in September 2022. 
 
Ferguson served as an executive producer on David France's BAFTA-winning documentary, Welcome to Chechnya, based on the anti-gay purges in Chechnya of the late 2010s. The film was also nominated for an Emmy Award and took home the Grand Jury Prize at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival as well as the Panorama Audience Award at the Berlin International Film Festival. The documentary made the short list in the ‘Documentary Feature' category for the 93rd Academy Awards and received a prestigious Peabody Nomination. 
 
In March 2021, Ferguson and co-author Julie Tanous released his first cookbook, Food Between Friends. Published by Clarkson Potter, the cookbook pays homage to their hometowns as they whip up modern California food with Southern and Southwestern spins. 
 
Ferguson starred as the widely beloved character Mitchell Pritchett on the award-winning ABC comedy "Modern Family," which ran for an impressive 11 seasons. The show earned five Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series, a Golden Globe Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. Ferguson also received five Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and four People's Choice Award nominations for Favorite Comedic TV Actor on behalf of the show. Additionally, Ferguson hosted the reboot of HGTV's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" in 2020 as well as the prestigious James Beard Awards in 2017 and 2019. 
 
Ferguson made his Broadway debut at the age of 21 as Chip in George C. Wolfe's revival of On the Town. He later went on to originate the role of Leaf Coneybear in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Ensemble Performance, Distinguished Performance nominee, Drama League Awards). In 2017, Ferguson won the Drama Desk Award for Best Solo Performance for his outrageous 40-character turn in the Broadway production of Fully Committed. The show also earned him a Drama League nomination for Distinguished Performance. 
 
He has worked extensively with The New York Public Theatre's Shakespeare in the Park in such notable productions as The Merchant of Venice, The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Distinguished Performance nominee, Drama League Awards) and The Comedy Of Errors (Distinguished Performance nominee, Drama League Awards). Other theatre credits include world premieres of Grand Horizons (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Log Cabin (Playwrights Horizons), Where Do We Live (Vineyard Theatre) and Little Fish (Second Stage), as well as Sir Robin in Spamalot and Leo Bloom in The Producers, both at The Hollywood Bowl. 
 
A longstanding advocate for marriage equality and LGBTQIA+ rights, Ferguson co-founded Pronoun, previously known as Tie The Knot, in 2012 with his husband Justin Mikita. Since 2012, Tie The Knot has released a collection of products - in collaboration with some of their favorite fashion and design partners - inspired by their favorite art, fashion, and more – with all proceeds benefitting LGBTQ organizations and causes worldwide. In 2021, after years of progressive awakening in racial, gender and queer movements and beyond, and recognizing the inevitability of intersectionality necessary to equality's progress, Pronoun was born. The organization has proudly raised over 1.5 million dollars and has supported important and impactful LGBTQIA+ orgs across the nation.  
 
Under the artistic leadership of Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern, Vineyard Theatre develops and produces new plays and musicals that push the boundaries of what theatre can be and do. For over 40 years, The Vineyard has nurtured a community of fearless theatre makers whose work has expanded the form, the field, and the larger culture. Vineyard Theatre has transferred eleven shows to Broadway, seven directly after their acclaimed Vineyard premieres: Lucas Hnath's Dana H. and Tina Satter's Is This A Room (both New York Times Best Theatre of 2021); Paula Vogel's Indecent; Nicky Silver's The Lyons; Kander, Ebb and Thompson's The Scottsboro Boys; Bell and Bowen's [title of show]; and Avenue Q by Marx, Lopez and Whitty (Tony Award, Best Musical). In recent years, four additional shows launched at The Vineyard have been revived in their first Broadway productions: Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize-winning How I Learned to Drive; Lanie Robertson's Lady Day at Emerson's Bar And Grill; Becky Mode's Fully Committed; and Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize-winning Three Tall Women.

From our home in NYC's Union Square, The Vineyard develops and premieres new plays and musicals which go on to be seen around the country and the world. Recently, Jeremy O. Harris' play “Daddy” (2019) received its London premiere at the Almeida; Ngozi Anyanwu's Good Grief (2018) and David Cale's Harry Clarke (2017) were recorded by Audible; Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Gloria (2014), a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, transferred to Chicago's Goodman Theatre; Paula Vogel's Tony Award-winning Indecent (2016) aired on PBS's “Great Performances” and was one of the most-produced plays nationwide in 2019; and Colman Domingo's Dot (2016) is being adapted into an AMC series. The Vineyard's first major digital work, Lessons in Survival, was named one of the top theatrical experiences of 2020 by the New York Times and has been viewed by audiences in more than 40 countries.

The Vineyard's Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, Susan Stroman Directing Award, and Colman Domingo Award provide residencies to early-career artists and our education programs serve over 700 New York City public high school students annually, culminating in Developing Artists' REBEL VERSES Youth Arts Festival. The Roth-Vogel New Play Commission is awarded annually to a mid- to late-career playwright to create and develop a new play with The Vineyard. Our work and artists have been honored with numerous awards including Pulitzer Prizes and Tony Awards, and the company is proud to be the recipient of special Drama Desk, Obie, and Lucille Lortel Awards for artistic excellence and support of artists.

Vineyard Theatre's leadership includes Artistic Directors Sarah Stern and Douglas Aibel (on sabbatical 23-24) and Managing Director Suzanne Appel.