Photo Flash: 'Gamm 25: A Silver Celebration' Fundraiser

The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm) celebrated a quarter-century of Gamm Theatre/Alias Stage history at Gamm 25: A Silver Celebration, on Saturday April 10 in the drill hall of the Pawtucket Armory Center for the Arts. The non-profit theater's eighth annual fundraising party netted $97,000 toward the theater's artistic and educational programming, with an online auction earning more than $17,500 of the total cash and in-kind revenue. What opened as an elegant dinner by Russell Morin Fine Catering for nearly 250 guests concluded with a full-on rock concert by local musicians David Tessier and Spider #3 (now appearing at Perishable Theatre in Hedwig and the Angry Inch.) Extraordinary lighting effects were provided by Silver Celebration lead sponsor East Coast Lighting & Production Services.

The evening included remarks by U.S. Senator ShelDon Whitehouse who, along with his wife Dr. Sandra Whitehouse, served as the event's honorary chairs. Gamm Artistic Director Tony Estrella, on behalf of the 25th Anniversary Committee, introduced the evening's special honorees including Gamm Board President Coline Covington, Gamm Board Member and Resident Actor Samuel F. Babbitt, and Alan Shawn Feinstein & The Feinstein Family Foundation. A commemorative video and a re-cap of the theater's season-long celebration of 25 pivotal players throughout the theater's history rounded out the reminiscences. "The evening was an incredibly entertaining and deeply moving celebration of the rich history of the theater, including both the heralded and unheralded artists and supporters who have helped bring us to this point in time," said Gamm Artistic Director Tony Estrella. "In looking back at so many obstacles overcome and artistic milestones reached, the stage was set for what is hopefully an equally intense, surprising and ultimately successful future."
Other major sponsors of A Silver Celebration included Alice I. Sullivan Foundation of Collette Vacations, NBC 10 and Artinium Inc. Additional sponsors: Focus Business Solutions, Newport Storm, Pawtucket Armory Center for the Arts, Pawtucket Credit Union, Troy Pires & Allen Insurance, The Providence Phoenix, Stone Blossom Floral & Event Design, Ten31 Productions, The Times of Pawtucket and 95.5 WBRU.

About The Gamm Theatre
Founded in 1984 as Alias Stage, the non-profit Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre creates the finest of live theater, engaging the audience intensely in current and recurrent issues of consequence. The Gamm further serves the public with educational outreach programming designed to support the theatrical experience, and help sustain and enhance the intellectual and cultural life of its community. The Gamm is a member of New England Area Theatre (NEAT), a bargaining unit of the Actors Equity Association.

For more information, visit www.gammtheatre.org.

Photo Credit: Tim Barmann