Primary Stages to Fete Jeanine Tesori, Einhorn School of Performing Arts at 2017 Spring Fling

Primary Stages announced today that the Primary Stages 2017 Spring Fling will celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Einhorn School of Performing Arts (ESPA) on Thursday, May 11, 2017 at 6:00 pm. The event, which will be held at The Highline Ballroom (431 West 16th Street), will honor Jeanine Tesori with the Einhorn Mentorship Award.

Tickets and sponsorship packages are available now at primarystages.org.

The Einhorn Mentorship Award was established to recognize a leader who inspires and advocates for the next generation of artists, embodies the values and exuberant energy Annie and Marvin Einhorn were known for, and serves as an extraordinary mentor in our community.

Additional honorees from the ESPA community will be celebrated, including Tanya Barfield, Jimmy Carbone, and Cusi Cram. The evening will feature performances and tributes from Joshua Allen, Ayodele Casel, Casey Childs, Tessa LaNeve, Melissa Ross, Leigh Silverman, Chesney Snow, Shaina Taub, and Ellen Einhorn Zerkin. The evening will be directed by Michelle Bossy.

The evening will begin with a VIP cocktail reception at 6:00pm and performances will begin at 7:00pm. An after party will begin at 9:00pm.

Spring Fling is generously supported by The Durst Organization. The Honoring Committee includes Janet Reed Ahearn, Brooke Berman, Sue Breger, Casey Childs, Cusi Cram, Elliot Fox, Ken and Lori Einhorn, Steve Einhorn and Kate Power, Ellen Einhorn Zerkin and Allen Zerkin, Willy Holtzman, Lisa Kron, Rogelio Martinez, Edwin Sanchez, and Leigh Silverman.

The Primary Stages Einhorn School of Performing Arts (ESPA)'s multidisciplinary classes have trained playwrights, actors, and directors in all stages of their development and from all corners of the globe. Our focus is on nurturing, advocating, and honoring emerging artists by providing them countless developmental opportunities, space to write and rehearse, and a family of collaborators. Students benefit from a kaleidoscope of perspectives and methods from our award-winning family of instructors-all working theater artists in NYC and around the country. Through building these connections and a body of work at ESPA, our playwrights have received workshops and productions, won awards, and garnered professional attention among artistic leaders across the country. Our actors and directors have built relationships that now extend far beyond our walls. Having provided a home for over 2,500 artists, ESPA has become a trailblazer in performing arts education, new play development, and collaboration within the Primary Stages and greater New York Theater community. ESPA is open to all artists, in all stages of their careers.

Currently in performances as part of Primary Stages' 2016/17 season is DANIEL'S HUSBAND, written by Michael McKeever (Moscow) and directed by Joe Brancato (Miracle on South Division Street), running through April 28 at the Cherry Lane Theatre. The season began with THE ROADS TO HOME, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Horton Foote (Harrison, TX) and directed by Michael Wilson (The Trip to Bountiful); followed by Tanya Saracho's FADE, directed by Jerry Ruiz.

Primary Stages is an Off-Broadway not-for-profit theater company dedicated to inspiring, supporting, and sharing the art of playwriting. We operate on the strongly held belief that the future of American theater relies on nurturing playwrights and giving them the artistic support needed to create new work. Since our founding in 1984, we have produced more than 125 new plays, including Donald Margulies' The Model Apartment (1995 premiere and 2013 revival); David Ives' Lives of the Saints and All in the Timing (original 1993 production and 2013 revival); Billy Porter's While I Yet Live; Kate Fodor's Rx; Charles Busch's The Tribute Artist and Olive and the Bitter Herbs; A.R. Gurney's Black Tie; Horton Foote's Harrison, TX and Dividing the Estate (Two 2009 Tony Award nominations); Theresa Rebeck's Poor Behavior; Deborah Zoe Laufer's Informed Consent; Terrence McNally's Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams and The Stendhal Syndrome; Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter's In the Continuum (which went on to tour the U.S., Africa, and Scotland); and Conor McPherson's St. Nicholas (which marked the playwright's U.S. debut). Our productions and artists have received critical acclaim, including Tony, Obie, Lortel, AUDELCO, Outer Critics' Circle, Drama League, and Drama Desk awards and nominations. Primary Stages supports playwrights and develops new works through commissions, workshops, readings, and our education and training programs: The Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group, the Marvin and Anne Einhorn School of Performing Arts (ESPA), the Fordham/Primary Stages MFA in Playwriting, and the newly launched Primary Stages Off-Broadway Oral History Project. Through these programs, Primary Stages advocates for our artists, helping them make important-and often transformative- connections within the theater community.