LPTW Honors Rachel Reiner and Ann Roth at June Awards Luncheon Today, 6/7

Today, June 7, 2012, the League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW), a non-profit organization committed to promoting visibility and increasing opportunities for women in the professional theatre, recognizes the talents of two outstanding women: the LPTW Lucille Lortel Award and accompanying grant will be presented to Rachel Reiner, Artistic Director of Resonance Theatre; and the Ruth Morley Design Award will be given to multi-award nominated costume designer Ann Roth.

These awards will be presented at the League’s 2012 Awards Luncheon, featuring special guest, Tony Nominee Elizabeth A. Davis, to be heldfrom 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. today, June 7 at Sardi’s Restaurant (Sardi’s Restaurant is located at 234 West 44th Street, and the event will be held in the Eugenia Room on the 4th floor). Tickets are available here.

The Ruth Morley Design Award was initiated in 1998 in honor of costume designer Ruth Morley, one of the profession's leading designers for theatre and film who also served on the LPTW Board of Directors. Ann Roth won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for The English Patient and has received five Tony nominations.

In April 1999, the LPTW received a bequest from the Lucille Lortel estate to establish a fund, which would annually provide a grant to an aspiring woman in any discipline of theatre who is showing creative promise and deserves recognition and encouragement. The recipient of this year’s Lucille Lortel Award is Rachel Reiner, the Artistic Director of Resonance Ensemble, the goal of which is to weave a thread between the theatre’s past, present and future; the company celebrates is 10th anniversary this year.

Elizabeth A. Davis (Raffle Emcee) has appeared in numerous Off-Broadway and regional theatre productions, including the Off-Broadway production of Wolves as Kay at the 59E59 Theatre. She played the role of Sister James in Doubt at the Gulfshore Playhouse in Naples, Florida and starred as Blanche Dubois in a production of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Cleveland Playhouse. Davis also starred as Emily Dickinson in Emily at Theatre Row for which she won the New York Innovative Theater Award for Outstanding Actress in a Lead Role.

Davis is best known for creating the role of Réza, the Czech roommate in Once, a stage musical version of the Academy Award winning film of the same name. She has played this role in the regional and Off-Broadway productions. Once opened on Broadway on March 18, 2012 and received 11 Tony Nominations, including Best Musical. For this role she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

Rachel Reiner (Lucille Lortel Award) is the Managing Director of Resonance Ensemble, a theatre company dedicated to producing classic plays and new work inspired by the timelessness and universalism of the classics. Her Production Company, Rachel Reiner Productions LLC, has also produced numerous plays off-Broadway. Additionally, she is the Senior Manager of Membership Services and Education Programs at The Broadway League, where she has worked since 1996. Rachel graduated summa cum laude from the Theatre Department at Brandeis University and is Chair of the New York City Alumni Performing Arts Network. She served a two-year term as co-President of the League of Professional Theatre Women (2009-2011), and has been co-Secretary, co-producer of the New Play Festival, and chair of the Networking Committee.

Ann Roth (Ruth Morley Design Award) won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for The English Patient, and received the following Broadway nominations: 2011 Tony Award (The Book of Mormon), 1997 Drama Desk Award (Present Laughter), 1986 Tony Award (The House of Blue Leaves), 1985 Drama Desk Award (Design For Living), 1979 Tony Award (The Crucifer of Blood), 1976 Tony Award (The Royal Family), 1976 Drama Desk Award (The Royal Family), 1965 Tony Award for Best Producer of a Play (Slow Dance on the Killing Ground).

Tickets to attend the luncheon and awards ceremony are $65 for members $70 for non-members, and are available online or by phone: 1-800-838-3006 option 1 (use event code 175569). All service charges are included in the ticket price. Online and Phone Purchases must be made by Friday, June 1st at 6:00PM. Sardi’s Restaurant is located at 234 West 44th Street. The event will be held in the Eugenia Room, 4th floor.

The League of Professional Theatre Women is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization. It presents numerous events each year as part of its mission to promote visibility & increase opportunities for women in the field.