PS122's Annual Gala to Honor Claire Danes

Lead by the capital campaign co-chairs Alan Cumming, Stella Schnabel, and PS122's Board Vice President Charles Kerr, PS122's 2015 Spring Gala celebrates homecomings by honoring actor and dancer Claire Danes - whose history of performing at PS122 includes her 1985 performance debut at the age of six along with critically-acclaimed dance pieces in 2005 and 2007. The April 20th Gala also expands PS122's Give Performance Space capital campaign and celebrates PS122's anticipated return to its newly renovated East Village building, the organization's home for 30 plus years.

A City of New York led renovation of PS122's beloved home at 150 First Avenue is currently underway with an expected completion in 2016. The funds raised during the 2015 Spring Gala and PS122's capacity campaign, Give Performance Space (GPS), will ensure that PS122 can successfully navigate the institutional and physical growth necessary to take full advantage of the buildings renovation. Unlike funds from a bricks and mortar campaign, the GPS campaign gives PS122 the flexibility to take risks, adapt, and grow as a leader within the cultural ecology of New York City. PS122 is invigorated by the boundless possibilities in returning to its custom designed theaters. Larger, column-free, flexible theater spaces will open up a world of programming opportunities that enable artists to thrive through technological capability, flexible configuration, and vastly improved stage space. This moment provides PS122 with a unique opportunity to increase its organizational capacity and create a physical hub for bold new work of contemporary performance.

Hosted by Alan Cumming, PS122's 2015 Spring Gala will take place on Monday, April 20th at Capitale (130 Bowery) and begin at 7:00 PM with cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and a silent auction. Dinner, performances, presentations and a live auction conducted by powerhouse auctioneer Ck Swett will begin around 8:00 PM. The after-party, with DJ and additional performances, will start at 10:00 PM. The Gala producer is once again Tanya Selvaratnam, this time with additional production by Jacob Langfelder. Individual tickets, starting at $400, and table sponsorships, starting at $2,500, can be purchased via Lori Vroegindewey at PS122 at 212-477-5829 x 302 and lori@ps122.org or online at PS122.ORG/GALA beginning February 12th.

Dinner and dessert are designed by notable chef and author Gabrielle Hamilton of Prune. Honoree awards are provided by Swarovski.

Performances by special guest artists, award presenters, and a highlight of auction offerings will be announced March 4th.

The 2015 Spring Gala Committee includes co-chairs Alan Cumming, Stella Schnabel, and Charles Kerr; Marie Abma and Dike Blair, Louise Allen, Justin Vivian Bond, Winsome Brown and Claude Arpels, Sammy Chadwick, Andrew Cohen, Gaby Darbyshire, Olga Garay-English and Kerry English, Gillian Fallon and Ross Mollison, Suzanne Geiss, Eileen Guggenheim, Melinda Hackett, Dena Hammerstein, Simon Hammerstein, Jesse Hernreich, Thomas O. Kriegsmann and Shanta Thake, Matthew Kwatinetz, Josephine Linden, Jennifer Lim and Gary Wilmes, Kathryn Lynch, Sean and Rachelle MacPherson, Ivan Martinez, Hilary McMahon, Tom Moore, Adam Whitney Nichols, Sherwin Parikh MD, Russell Piccione, Michael Rich, Tamar Rogoff, Daryl Roth, Eli Scheier, Kambiz Shekdar, Timothée Verrecchia, Arden Wohl, and Lucien Zayan.

Claire Danes is an American actress known for her roles as "Angela Chase" in the ABC series My So-Called Life, "Temple Grandin" in the HBO television film Temple Grandin, and "Carrie Mathison" in the Showtime series Homeland. She has received three Emmy Awards (5 nominations), four Golden Globe Awards (5 nominations), and two Screen Actors Guild Awards (8 nominations).

Ms. Danes made her stage debut on the Performance Space 122 stage at the tender age of six. "I was a duck, and I quacked!", she recalls of that initial performance. Ms. Danes also performed at PS 122 in choreographer Tamar Rogoff's 'Christina Olson, American Model' (2005) and 'Edith & Jenny' (2007) to critical acclaim. Hear Claire Danes speak on her first performance at PS122 on the Mark Marin WTF Podcast: http://www.ps122.org/claire-danes-first

Ms. Danes first came to major public attention in the critically acclaimed television series My So-Called Life (1994), for which she received an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe Award. A successful film career followed with roles in such notable films as Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (1996) with Leonardo DiCaprio, Francis Ford Coppola's The Rainmaker (1997) with Matt Damon, Stephen Daldry's The Hours (2002) with Meryl Streep, Anand Tucker's Shopgirl (2005) with Steve Martin, Thomas Bezucha's The Family Stone (2005) with Diane Keaton, and Temple Grandin (2010) with David Strathairn for which she won an Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award.