ABINGDON: WHERE THE STARS ALIGN Gala Honors Dick Cavett Tonight ; Klea Blackhurst and More to Perform

Abingdon Theatre Company - which has produced more than 83 new American plays in its 22-year history - is set to celebrate its 2014-2015 Season with ABINGDON: WHERE THE STARS ALIGN, its annual benefit gala and dinner, tonight, October 20 at Espace (635 West 42nd Street in Manhattan). Emmy and OBIE award-winning actor John Cunningham, whose credits include 19 Broadway productions (Titanic, Love Letters), is set to emcee the event, which begins at 6:00pm.

The entertaining evening honors Emmy Award-winning talk show host and actor Dick Cavett, star of Hellman v. McCarthy at Abingdon last season, and philanthropist Dr. Vijay K. Anand, a world-renowned endoscopic sinus surgeon and avid supporter of the arts.

Proceeds benefit Abingdon Theatre Company's mission to develop and produce new American plays. Abingdon Theatre Company's 22nd Annual Benefit Gala features tributes to both honorees, plus entertainment, silent and live auctions, and exciting surprises throughout the night.

Directed by Donald Brenner (March Madness), performers include Paul Binotto (Starlight Express), Klea Blackhurst (Everything the Traffic Will Allow) and Natalia Lepore Hagan (The Mapmaker's Opera), with presentations by CNBC Senior Contributor Lawrence Kudlow and WNET's CEO Neal Shapiro, and musical direction by Joshua Zecher-Ross (Rescue Rue).

Dick Cavett was the host of "The Dick Cavett Show," which won three Emmys and aired on ABC from 1968 to 1975 and on PBS from 1977 to 1982. He also hosted talk shows on the USA, HBO, and CNBC cable networks. He is the co-author of two books, Cavett (1974) and Eye On Cavett (1983), with Christopher Porterfield. He also wrote Talk Show: Confrontations, Pointed Commentary, and Off-Screen Secrets (2010). He has appeared on Broadway in Otherwise Engaged, Into the Woods and as narrator in The Rocky Horror Show, and has made guest appearances in movies and TV shows including Forrest Gump, Beetlejuice, "The Simpsons," HBO's "Bored to Death" and TBS's "Are We There Yet?" His latest book, Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic Moments, and Assorted Hijinks, will be released in October 2014. Since 2007, he has written an online opinion column for The New York Times. He starred, opposite Roberta Maxwell and Marcia Rodd, in last season's world premiere of Hellman v. McCarthy, which is set to air on WNET/Channel 13 on October 9 as part of its Theater Close-Up series.

Philanthropist Dr. Vijay K. Anand is a long-time supporter of the arts, especially theatre and independent film. Dr. Anand is a world-renowned endoscopic sinus surgeon who was instrumental in developing image guidance in endoscopic sinus surgery and anterior skull base surgery. He is widely published in the field of Rhinology and has written textbooks on practical endoscopic sinus surgery. He is a much sought-after speaker in the field of Rhinology, and recently appointed to the staff of Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital in New York.

Veteran actor, Emmy and OBIE award-winner John Cunningham has appeared in 19 Broadway shows, including Titanic, Company, The Sisters Rosensweig, Six Degrees of Separation, Zorba, Design for Living, 1776, and Cabaret. He has numerous regional and Off-Broadway credits, most notably Painting Churches, Some American Abroad, Sylvia, Camping with Henry and Tom, A Cheever Evening, The Naked Truth, The Perfect Party, Love Letters, Quartermaine's Terms, and The Fantasticks.

Since 1993, Abingdon Theatre Company has developed and produced new plays by American playwrights exclusively. Their actors, directors, designers, producers and dramaturgs have collaborated with more than 200 playwrights to develop original plays. Under the guidance of Artistic Director Jan Buttram and Managing Director Heather Henderson, the company provides a safe home where playwrights collaborate with other theatre artists and receive audience feedback through readings and workout labs, culminating in full productions.

Abingdon Theatre Company's upcoming 22nd Season includes the world premiere of Catherine Butterfield's It Has to Be You, directed by Stuart Ross (October 3-26); the Off-Broadway premiere of Iddo Netanyahu's A Happy End, directed by Alex Dmitriev (February 27-March 29, 2015); and the world premiere of Sheldon Bull's Mallorca, directed by Donald Brenner (May 29-June 21, 2015).

ABINGDON: WHERE THE STARS ALIGN, Abingdon Theatre Company's 22nd Annual Benefit Gala, is Monday, October 20 at Espace (635 West 42nd Street), 6pm-10pm. Tickets begin at $500. To purchase tickets, please contact Heather Henderson at Abingdon Theatre Company, 212-868-2055. For more information, www.abingdontheatre.org.

Photo Credit: Kim T. Sharp

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