Dixon Place to Honor Deborah Glick at 30th Anniversary Gala

Dixon Place will host their 30th Anniversary annual Gala Dinner on Monday, September 26 at 6pm at the venue (161A Chrystie Street).

The evening will feature a formal dinner, a silent and live auction, and performances by a stellar cast of artists long associated with Dixon Place. All proceeds will be used to support Dixon Place's mission to champion daring new work with another season of important works-in-progress by emerging artists, fully-produced commissions, and artists-in-residence.

New York State Assembly Member Deborah Glick, the first openly lesbian member of the state legislature, will be honored for her inspiring career of political activism and public service. Hosted by Ashley D. Brockington, the hysterical, provocative writer and performer, there will be special appearances by beloved playwright and actor Wallace Shawn, Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III, nationally acclaimed comedic performer Marga Gomez, Helen Hayes award-winning actress and writer Angelica Page, and pioneering transgender choreographer Arrie Davidson and her ground-breaking KineticArchitecture Dance Theatre.

Tickets range from $530-$30. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit dixonplace.org/performances/donor-dinner-2016 or call 212-219-0736, extension #1.

NY State Assemblymember for her 13th term, Deborah Glick is a lifelong resident of NYC, has lived in Greenwich Village for over 40 years. Deborah's political activism began in college and she is still strongly involved in grassroots organizing. Among enumerable accomplishments, she has championed tenants rights, reproductive freedom, lesbian and gay rights, pedestrian and driver safety, air quality, higher education, mass transit improvements, animal rights and funding for the arts. Deborah is the first openly gay member of the NY State legislature. Her legislative victories include passage of the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA), which was finally signed into law in December of 2002, and Assemblymember Glick's Hospital Visitation Bill became law in 2004, providing domestic partners the same rights that spouses and next-of-kin have when caring for a loved one in a hospital or nursing facility. Deborah also serves on the Ways and Means, Rules, Governmental Operations and Environmental Conservation Committees.

Wallace Shawn, an American actor, playwright, essayist and comedian, is best known for appearing in films such as My Dinner with Andre, The Princess Bride, The Haunted Mansion, and Clueless, to name a few: and his voice is recognized in Toy Story, The Incredibles, and Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. He starred in a variety of television series, including Gossip Girl and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. His plays include The Designated Mourner, Marie and Bruce, Aunt Dan and Lemon, The Fever and Grasses of a Thousand Colors. He co-wrote the screenplay for My Dinner with Andre, and he scripted Vanya on 42nd Street. His book "Essays" was published by Haymarket Books. His latest film was A Master Builder based on the play by Henrik Ibsen. Shawn was honored in with the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award as a Master American Dramatist.

Loudon Wainwright III won the 2010 GRAMMY (Best Traditional Folk Album) for High Wide & Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project, which was named 'Best Album of 2009' per NPR's Ken Tucker (Fresh Air & Entertainment Weekly) and named among the year's best per Village Voice, No Depression, FolkWax and fRoots. Stephen Holden of the New York Times wrote "Mr. Wainwright has proved to be far and away the most candid diarist among the singer-songwriters who brought confessional poetry into popular song... Mr. Wainwright wrings more human truth out of his contradiction than any other songwriter of his generation." ?His songs have been covered by Johnny Cash, Bonnie Raitt, Earl Scruggs, Mose Allison, Big Star, Freakwater, Norma Waterson, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Rufus Wainwright, to name a few. Film acting credits include: Knocked Up (for which he also recorded the soundtrack), The 40 Year Old Virgin; Christopher Guest's For Your Consideration; Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown; Martin Scorsese's The Aviator; Tim Burton's Big Fish; 28 Days and Jacknife. TV acting credits include: Parks and Recreation; Undeclared; Grounded for Life; Ally McBeal; a recurring role on M*A*S*H and as the original musician/sidekick on The David Letterman Show.

Marga Gomez is a GLAAD award-winning writer/performer of 12 solo plays which have been presented at Dixon Place, The Public Theater, Brava Theater and internationally. Her solo show Pound, directed by David Schweizer, was described as "hilariously skewed" by the New York Times. Robin Williams called her "Amazing... a lesbian Lenny Bruce." Her newest work will be seen at DP on Sept 13th. Gomez is also a stand-up comedian with appearances on LOGO's One Night Stand Showtime's Latino Laugh Festival, Comedy Central's Out There and HBO's Comic Relief. She is also a Theater LA "Ovation Award" winner and triple winner of the San Francisco Bay Guardian's "Best of The Bay Comedian Award." SF Weekly named Gomez one of "2016's Artists To Watch." Huffpost named her an "Agent of Change" in 2015. Gomez can be seen December 2016 in season two of the Netflix series Sense 8.

Actress/writer Angelica Page most recently starred on Broadway in The Best Man, and is currently touring Turning Page, a new play about her mother, the legendary late actress, Geraldine Page, which is making its NYC premiere at Dixon Place in February 2017. LA Times lauded: "Angelica's virtuosic conjuring of her mother's spirit is something to behold." She received The Helen Hayes Award (Best Actress) for assuming the lead role in the Tony Award-winning "Sideman" at Kennedy Center and was honored with the NY People's Choice Award (Best Supporting Actress) for her portrayal of Patsy, a role she originated for the same production. She's known for her portrayal of Ivy Weston in the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning August: Osage County (Nat'l Broadway Tour). Her award winning solo play "Edge" garnered her an Outer Critics Circle Nomination (Best Solo Performance); press raved: "Sterling performance" New Yorker Magazine; "A resurrected Sylvia Plath" NY Times, and "Scintillatingly tremendous portrayal... superb" London Evening Standard.

Arrie Davidson, founder of Kinetic Architecture Dance Theatre, is a transgender performance artist, choreographer, writer & Feminist Faerie advocate for social evolution. Her performance credits include Seán Curran Company, Ballet Preljocaj's Paysage apres la bataille & Justin Bond's House of Whimsy. Her work has been produced most notably by Fringe NYC, Rochester Fringe, Philadelphia Fringe, Mid-America Dance Alliance, The Box-NYC, DUMBO Dance Festival, NY State Dance Force and the CUNY Dance Initiative. KineticArchitecture Dance Theatre, former Artists in Residence, will premiere a Dixon Place commissioned production of Wonder/Through The Looking Glass-Houses in December 2016.

Host Ashley Brockington came to NYC to perform with Circus Amok, and soon began creating original theater at WOW Cafe Theater, and working with the feminist acrobatic troupe LAVA. Ashley is currently writing short plays and performing with the New York Neofuturists.

The Dixon Place Lounge is open before and after the show (you can drink in the theater!) Proceeds directly support Dixon Place's artists and mission.

Dixon Place is located at 161A Chrystie Street (between Rivington and Delancey), in Manhattan's Lower East Side (By subway: F to 2nd Ave, J/Z to Bowery, 6 to Spring St, M to Essex St).

Dixon Place, an artistic incubator since 1986, is a non-profit institution committed to supporting the creative process by presenting original works of theater, dance, music, puppetry, circus arts, literature and visual art at all stages of development. Presenting over 1000 creators a year, this local haven inspires and encourages diverse artists of all stripes and callings to take risks and summon their imaginations. Artists, such as Blue Man Group, John Leguizamo, Lisa Kron, David Cale & Reno began their careers at DP. In addition to emerging artists, we have been privileged to present established artists such as Justin VivIan Bond, B.D. Wong, Karen Finley, Taylor Mac, Martha Wainwright, Kate Clinton, Mac Wellman, Wallace Shawn, Big Art Group, James Lecesne & Peggy Shaw.

Having created DP as a salon in her Paris apartment in 1985, Artistic Director Ellie Covan pioneered the organization in her NYC living room for 23 years. After organic development & expansion, DP is now a leading professional, state-of-the-art facility for artistic expression. For her service to the community Covan received a NY Dance & Performance Award (BESSIE), an

OBIE, a BAXten Award and the NY Innovative Theater Foundation's Stewardship. DP has also received CUNY's Edwin Booth Award, an Obie and the Alliance of NY State Arts Organization's Celebrate the Arts Award for outstanding contributions to New York City.

For more, visit www.dixonplace.org, or follow on Twitter: @dixonplace and Facebook: facebook.com/dixonplace.

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