Urban Stages to Honor Henry Buhl & KT Sullivan at Annual Benefit

Urban Stages' Board of Directors and founding artistic director Frances Hill will hold their annual benefit at the Boathouse in Central Park at 6:30PM on May 18th. This event will honor philanthropist Henry Buhl for his contributions to Urban Stages and the New York Community as the Founder of the Association of Community Employment for the Homeless (ACE). Brilliant singer and actress, KT Sullivan will receive the first Musical Theatre Award for her work with Urban Stages and as director of the Mabel Mercer Foundation which produces the New York Cabaret Convention.

Henry Buhl, philanthropist, community activist and art collector was the first member of the Urban Stages board of directors in 1985. He was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. After attending Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, he worked as a stock analyst and institutional salesman on Wall Street for ten years. In 1961, he moved to Geneva to manage mutual funds for Investor's Overseas Services, eventually becoming the IOS Executive Director. He returned to the United States in 1972 and continued his career in investment banking until 1980, when he began pursuing photography and art collection, developing The Buhl Collection which concentrates on HANDS. In 1992, Henry encountered a neighborhood homeless man who inspired him to create the SoHo Partnership, a non-profit organization to help other homeless and recovering homeless men and women secure full-time jobs and permanent housing. Later the TriBeCa and NoHo Bowery Partnership were established under the umbrella of the ACE (Association of Community Employment) Programs for the Homeless, now known simply as ACE. His art collection of photographs, painting, and sculptures of HANDS is world famous and exhibited internationally. HANDS is the theme for this years benefit - HELPING HANDS!

Urban Stages is also proud to honor KT Sullivan, who has been a "Helping Hand" to Urban Stages performing and advising them on their annual benefit musical Series. Ms. Sullivan has starred on Broadway, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center in Cabarets and concert halls all over the world. She starred annually at the Oak room of New York's Algonquin Hotel, and also at the Neue Galerie's Café Sabarsky on Fifth Avenue. She appeared at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C with Brian Stokes Mitchell in "Broadway Today" and is a regular at London's newest cabaret Crazy Coqs where she will return with Jeff Harnar in Sondheim show. KT has headlined at Carnegie Hall, Town Hall, and the Caramoor Festival. She also performed at The Spoleto Festival, The New York Historical Society, La Nouvelle Eve in Paris, he Chichester Festival in the U.K, The Adelaide Festival in Australia, and two tours of China and the Manhattan Symphony. She was a guest star on Garrison Keillor's "Prairie House Companion". KT has seven albums on the DRG label, including "Crazy World" (voted #1 on the vocals category of Tower Records' Pulse Magazine") and "Live from Rainbow and Stars": The Songs of Bart Howard," which won Backstage magazine's Bistro Award. She was twice named one of the top 100 Irish Americans by Irish American magazine. On that note, KT is proud to be married to outstanding Irish American Steve Downey, President of the New York Browning Society. In March 2012, she became Artistic Director of the Mabel Mercer Foundation producers of the New York Cabaret Convention, which returns to The Town hall to celebrate the Foundation's 30th Anniversary on October 13-16, 2015,

Urban Stages has worked very hard to foster a creative community of talented artists, on stage and off. We are very proud to honor Henry Buhl, who has been a great supporter of Urban Stages over the years and KT Sullivan for her magnificent career on the musical stage. Guests at Urban Stages' anniversary gala will enjoy lakeside cocktails, gondola rides and scenic Central Park. Dinner, dancing and music will fill most of the night. Philae Knight of Phillips Auction Gallery will take the stage as auctioneer for exclusive items including vacations, golf adventures and hard-to-get theatre tickets.

The fundraiser benefits Urban Stages' season of developing and producing new plays and musicals at their Off Broadway theatre. Also funded by the event is Urban Stages' Outreach Program which brings over 25 different programs to libraries and schools in all five boroughs of NYC. The theatre serves over 8,000 New Yorkers from pre-school to senior adults with its touring programs, along with theatre residencies in community centers and schools.

Ticket Information: "HELPING HAND" Benefit Tickets are as follows: General Tickets are $375.00, Patron's Tickets $700.00, Junior tickets at $175.00 are available for those under 35 years old. Go to www.urbanstages.org for tickets. For further information call Urban Stages 212 421-1380.