Additional Guests Announced for 'Stella by Starlight' Benefit, Honoring Goldberg, Stritch, Wasser, Shank, and Zier, 10/19

The Stella Adler Studio of Acting has announced the 60th anniversary of its founding. It is one of the oldest actor training schools in the country, founded by the legendary Stella Adler in New York City in 1949. Over the years, the Studio has trained many of the industry's preeminent artists including Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Salma Hayek and Susan Sarandon and today is nurturing the next generation of artists.

"For the past sixty years, The Stella Adler Studio of Acting has contributed to American culture by providing generations of actors with world-class training," says Tom Oppenheim, Stella Adler Studio of Acting Artistic Director. "In the next sixty years and beyond, the Studio will continue to fight for the dignity of humanity by producing strong actors, important theater and public access."

For well over 100 years, the Adler family has been passionately committed to artistic excellence. On this important milestone, the Studio is honoring its past, but also looking to the future. The Stella Adler Studio is currently raising funds to move the studio and transform it into a fully formed arts complex, which will be called the Adler Center for the Arts. This will help the Studio continue to provide superior arts education and instruction of the Adler Technique and expand its programming to include even more performing arts disciplines.

The Stella Adler Studio officially celebrates the 60th Anniversary at the fifth annual Stella by  Starlight Fundraising Gala on October 19th at the home of Antonio "LA" Reid. This year's honorees include Whoopi Goldberg, Elaine Stritch, Suzanne Shank, Debra Wasser and Bennett Zier. First Lady of Wall Street Muriel "Mickey" Siebert will be presenting Ms. Shank with The Harold Clurman Corporate Award for outstanding commitment and contributions to the betterment of community.

 

Also attending will be James Gandolfini (Presenting Stella Adler Award to Ms. Stritch), Ruby Dee (Presenting Marlon Brando Award to Ms. Goldberg), the Rev. Al Sharpton and Mayoral Candidate Bill Thompson. Additional star guests will be announced in the coming days.

Last years attendees included Kathleen Turner, Holland Taylor, Elaine Stritch, Martin Sheen, Laura Linney, Tommy Tune, Jack O ‘Brien, Marian Seldes, Ben Brantley, Dr. Christiane Northrup, David Amram, Sidney Lumet, Sheila Nevins, Sydney Pollack, Christine Ebersole, Dina Merrill and Ted Hartley.

 

Present from the Stella Adler Studio this year will beTom Oppenheim, President and Artistic Director, grandson of Stella Adler and Ellen Adler, Executive Chairman, daughter of Stella Adler.

The event begins at 5:45pm at the home of Antonio "LA" Reid, 515 Park Avenue (at 60th Street), New York, NY on Monday, October 19, 2009. Tables for five are available for $25,000 and $5,000 each, while single tickets are available for $2,500 and $1,000 each. For reservations, contact the Stella Adler Studio at (212) 689-0087.

The Stella Adler Studio's mission is to create an environment that nurtures theatre artists who value humanity, their own and others, as their first priority while providing art and education to the greater community. The Studio's programming centers on the idea that growth as an actor and as a human being is synonymous.

About The Stella Adler Studio of Acting: The Stella Adler Studio of Acting is an acting school based in New York City. The actress and teacher Stella Adler founded the Studio in 1949. Adler founded the Studio on her belief in the seriousness of her art. Adler and the school have trained many of the brilliant actors of our time. The Stella Adler Studio of Acting is a nonprofit organization, which trains over 500 actors annually. The Studio also presents public lectures, poetry readings, concerts, theater performances, dance theater events and an annual arts festival. Check out the newly designed www.stellaadler.com!

Stella Adler Studio of Acting History

1889-Jacob Adler, star of the Yiddish Theater, immigrates to New York City and creates a company of his own, ushering in a new, more serious Yiddish Theater.

1904-The Grand Street Theater, on the corner of Canal Street and Bowery, is built for Jacob Adler and is the first theater dedicated to Yiddish Theater.

1931-Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford, and Lee Strasberg recruit 28 actors to form a permanent ensemble, The Group Theater, which is dedicated to dramatizing the life of their times. Stella is an original member.

1938-Stella Adler travels to Paris to meet with Constantine Stanislavski. They work daily and intensively for five weeks. Stella returns to New York with a fresh perspective on Stanislavski's System. She will be the only American to study with Stanislavski.

1949-Stella Adler starts a school for acting that would last decades and touch every part of American Theatre. Combining what she had learned from the Yiddish Theatre, Broadway, Hollywood, and Stanislavski, she opened the Stella Adler Theatre Studio (later renamed the Stella Adler Studio of Acting).

1969-The Stella Adler Studio of Acting becomes the first professional training school to become affiliated with New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

1993-The Stella Adler Studio of Acting creates The Harold Clurman Lecture Series in an effort to keep students in touch with larger theatrical traditions, uniting professional writers, directors, musicians, dancers and actors with aspiring actors at the Studio. It is free and open to the public.

2000-The Stella Adler Studio of Acting obtains 501(c)(3) status and moves its headquarters to its current location in the heart of Chelsea.

2001-The inaugural Stella by Starlight gala is held and Sidney Lumet, Harold Bloom and Benicio Del Toro are honored with awards.

2003-The Stella Adler Studio implements the Stella Adler Outreach Division, providing free actor training, scholarships and internship opportunities to New York City's low-income youth.

2004-Warren Beatty becomes the Studio's Honorary Chairman, filling the role that had previously been held by Marlon Brando.

2005-In an effort to create future audiences for Dance, Movement Theater, Performance Art and all live performance, the Studio's Center for New Works in Movement and Dance Theater (MAD) implements a residency program.

2006-The Stella Adler Studio of Acting presents the first annual Harold Clurman Festival of the Arts--a four day festival of poetry, music, theatre and artistic discussion--exploring the theme of Art and Social Activism. The Festival benefits the Adler Outreach Division, which to date has provided training to over 1,400 inner-city youth.

2008-The Stella Adler Studio upgrades its facilities and expands to a record 20,000 square feet of training space and over 300 full-time students.