Transport Group Gala Will Honor Donna Lynne Champlin, Mary Testa, and More

Transport Group has announced that the 2023 A Toast to the Artist gala will honor company stalwarts Barbara Andres, Donna Lynne Champlin, Michele Pawk, and Mary Testa with its Transporting American Theatre Award on Monday, April 24, at The Edison Rooftop, 240 West 47 Street.

The evening includes a cocktail party, seated dinner, performances, dessert reception, and silent and live auctions. The Transporting American Theatre Award recognizes significant contributions to the American Theatre. Past recipients include Carmel Dean, Michael Starobin, Dick Scanlan, Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Michael John LaChiusa, Gretchen Shugart, Barbara Whitman, Beth Williams, Sue Frost, Christian Borle, Paul Huntley, Douglas Carter Beane, Lewis Flinn, A.R. Gurney, Liz Smith, Barbara Frietag, Terrence McNally, and Joe Mantello.

"It is an absolute honor to acknowledge the immeasurable contributions of Barbara Andres, Donna Lynne Champlin, Michele Pawk, and Mary Testa, who have been there for us from the beginning," said Transport Group Artistic Director Jack Cummings III. "I've known each of these women since before I began Transport Group in 2002, and they have inspired me for decades. Transport Group was put on the map by titans of the theatre taking a chance on a new company. It is only through the generosity of immensely talented, revered artists like Barbara, Donna Lynne, Michele, and Mary, and their adventurous spirit to say 'yes' to wild ideas, that Transport Group is allowed to flourish, and I can't wait to say 'thank you.'"

Barbara Andres is a Drama Desk nominee who has appeared in four Transport Group productions, including its landmark inaugural revival of Our Town, where she starred as Emily Webb at age 60, and its acclaimed hit revival of I Remember Mama in which she played Mama. Broadway credits include Cabaret, A Delicate Balance, and Kiss of the Spiderwoman, among others.

Perhaps best known for her breakout television role of Paula Proctor on "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," Donna Lynne Champlin has appeared in seven Transport Group productions, receiving an OBIE for her performance in its revival of Bury the Dead. Other credits include Sweeney Todd, Billy Elliott, and Hollywood Arms on Broadway; The Taming of the Shrewat the Delacorte; and "The First Lady" for Showtime.

Mary Testa, a Drama Desk Award winner and three-time Tony Award nominee, recently appeared as Aunt Eller in Oklahoma! on Broadway. She has starred in Transport Group's Queen of the Mist and First Lady Suite. Other Broadway credits include 42nd Street, Xanadu, Guys and Dolls, Chicago, Barnum, Marie Christine, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

Michele Pawk, an OBIE and Tony Award-winning actress, can currently be seen as Madame Morrible in Wicked. She has appeared in two Transport Group productions, most recently as Flo in the revival of William Inge's Picnic. Other credits include on Beautiful, Cabaret, and Crazy for You on Broadway and Heroes of the Fourth Turning, A Small Fire, and Prayer for My Enemy off-Broadway.

Transport Group (Jack Cummings III, Artistic Director; Denise Dickens, Executive Director) is an off-Broadway theatre company whose work has been called "storytelling at its purest" by The New York Times, "at once faithful and irreverent." Since the company was founded in 2001 by Jack Cummings III and Robyn Hussa, Transport Group has produced 33 shows: 17 new works and 16 revivals, including three New York premieres and six commissioned works. The company has received a special New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, three Drama Desk Awards including a special one "for its breadth of vision and its presentation of challenging productions," nine Obie Awards, an Outer Critics Circle Award, three Off-Broadway Alliance Awards, and a Dramatists Guild Award. In addition, Transport Group's productions have received 46 Drama Desk Award nominations, eight Drama League Award nominations, four Lucille Lortel Award nominations, six Outer Critics Circle Award nominations, nine American Theatre Wing Design Award nominations, nine Off-Broadway Alliance Award nominations, four Audelco Award nominations, and a Tony Award nomination.

Transport Group's annual gala benefit takes place Monday, April 24, 2023 at The Edison Rooftop, 240 West 47 Street. Cocktails begin at 6:30pm; seated dinner, performances, and award presentation begin at 7:30pm; dessert reception follows at 10:00pm. Ticket, e-journal tribute ad, contribution, and further information is available at transportgroup.org or phone 212-564-0333.

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