Uzo Aduba, Reed Birney & More Set for BU's Reception Honoring Stewart F. Lane & Bonnie Comley

Boston University College of Fine Arts will bring together alumni and friends in the New York area and members of the Broadway community for a reception celebrating the newly established Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley Musical Theatre Fund, this Sunday, March 8, 2015 at the Rialto Room at Remi Restaurant (144 West 54th Street.) Among the notable Boston University alumni expected to participate in the celebration are Emmy Award winner Uzo Aduba ("Crazy Eyes" in the Netflix series "Orange is the New Black"), Sara Chase (starring in the new Netflix series "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt"), actor Greg Hildreth (Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, Peter and the Starcatcher, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson), Tony nominated actor David Garrison (The Visit, Wicked, Married with Children) and Tony nominated Reed Birney ("House of Cards"; Casa Valentina)

The Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley Musical Theatre Fund is a generous commitment from the Tony Award winners to launch and endow a new course sequence exploring Music Theatre that includes production of an annual large-scale musical. Sunday evening's reception marks the culmination of a series of special events celebrating the endowment in the 2014-2015 academic year including a New York showcase of BU School of Theatre seniors on Monday. The annual event, funded in part by The Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley Fund for Theatre Artist Development, invites members of the professional theatre community to experience the work of the School of Theatre's graduating MFA and BFA students.

Stewart F. Lane (Class of '73, Co-Chair of the Campaign for the College of Fine Arts, member of the Boston University Board of Overseers, and the College of Fine Arts Dean's Advisory Board), and Bonnie Comley are long-time supporters of the College of Fine Arts. When combined with previous gifts, the endowment for the Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley Musical Theatre Fund moves the couple into the ranks of $1 million-plus lifetime donors to Boston University. "It fills us with enormous pride and satisfaction to provide the resources needed to create this new program for BU School of Theatre," said Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley. "It's an honor to impact the students' growth and development as artists, and this enhancement in musical theatre studies will only make for more versatile actors and more possibilities for them in the field. We look forward to seeing the students and the program develop."

"We are very proud and honored to count Stewart Lane and Bonnie Comley as loyal champions of the College of Fine Arts," says Benjamín Juárez, Dean of the College of Fine Arts at Boston University. "They are truly passionate about the craft and about supporting young artists preparing for the profession. It is in this spirit of innovation that the Lane-Comley Musical Theatre Fund will help CFA to provide a more in-depth experience in this area of theatre and open up new opportunities for our students."

Six-time Tony winner Mr. Lane and three-time Tony winner Ms. Comley have collectively produced more than 40 Broadway productions, taking home the 2014 Tony Award for "Best Musical" for A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder. Mr. Lane is the author of the recently released and critically acclaimed book Black Broadway: African Americans on The Great White Way, as well as Let's Put on a Show! and Jews on Broadway.

Photo by Jennifer Broski