2014 Planet Connections Theatre Festivity Awards Show Set for This Sunday

The 2014 Planet Connections Theatre Festivity Awards Show will take place on Sunday, August 3, 2014 at the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater (405 West 55th Street).

Planet Connections' main awards will highlight the individual or group who goes above and beyond the call of duty creating an eco-friendly production and/or raising awareness for an organization. Awards will be given out to music, film and theater participants. Don't miss out on the indie event of the season!

Directed by Shaun Peknic; Planet Connections award-winner and current Associate Director of Once on Broadway. Emceed by Planet Fest award acting winners Russell Jordan and David Stallings. Stage Managed by Jenna Raquel; Sound Design by Jacob Subotnick.

Performances by last year's award winners 9mm America presented by Girl Be Heard, and THIS year's musical nominees Bubba, Dig Infinity!, Pieces, The Lost (or, How To: Just Be), Why Don't I have A Girlfriend? and many more.

Presenters include: Jolly Abraham (Broadway Coram Boy, Bombay Dreams), Jenny Seastone (The Wooster Group and the Obie-Award winning play Stay), Andrew Garman (Salome with Al Pacino on Broadway), Alex Hanna (The Flick at Playwrights Horizons), Kate Benson (Good Person of Szechwan, Public), Co-Artistic Directors Glory Kadigan and Jillian Carucci, Literary Manager Marcus Yi, Film Festivity curator Chandra Thomas, Assistant Artistic Director Rhys McClelland, Rudy Kempinski & Rachel Smith from New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, and more.

The 2014 Planet Activist Award will be presented to:

• Tessa Flannery - performer of Life in Plastic, for her fundraiser at Dempsey's for Urban Justice Center
• Gabrielle Fox - playwright of The Home for taking all raised proceeds for her production and giving them directly to the Alzheimer's Association
• Brian Gillespie - director of Virus Attacks Heart, for organizing and hosting a Blood Drive outside the theater
• Michael Hagins - playwright of The Quest of the Hero for organizing a kickball in the park fundraiser for Safe Horizon
• Bob Jaffe - performer of But for the Grace, for raising considerable funds and awareness regarding the hunger crisis in NYC via NY Foodbank
• Shubhra Prakash - playwright of For Our Own, for getting a great deal of involvement from the South Asian Marrow Association of Recruiters. They provided so many items to give out to the audience, and several audience members signed up to volunteer with the organization after seeing the show
• Adina Taubman - performer of A Line in the Sand, for her on-going research and activism against gun violence

The 2014 Greener Planet Award (given to the group or individual, who goes above and beyond the call of duty implementing Green aspects into their production) will be presented to:

• Neal Utterback - adapter/director of The Picture of Dorian Gray

Red Carpet photos at 6pm; Doors: 6:30pm; Show: 7pm. For a full list of nominees and for tickets visit www.planetconnections.org.

Fostering a diverse cross-section of performances and events, the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity seeks to inspire artists and audiences both creatively and fundamentally, in a festive atmosphere. At the heart of the Festivity are like-minded individuals striving to create professional, meaningful theatre, music and film, while supporting organizations which give back to the community at large. During the Festivity, each show and event partners with a charity and some of the ways they offer support are soliciting donations at shows, holding special benefit performances, fundraisers and/or talkbacks after performances with charity representatives.

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