Tony Winner Kelli O'Hara to Headline Long Wharf Theatre's 2016 Gala

Broadway's Anna is headed to Connecticut this summer! Long Wharf Theatre will welcome Tony Award-winning THE KING AND I star Kelli O'Hara at its annual Gala on Monday, June 6, 2016.

The 2016 Gala begins at 6 p.m. with an elegant cocktail reception featuring a sumptuous sampling of fine foods. This will be followed Kelli O'Hara's concert featuring her Broadway showstoppers and selections from the Great American Songbook in Long Wharf's intimate 400-seat Claire Tow Stage in the C. Newton Schenck II Theatre. The evening's festivities conclude with a delectable dessert reception.

"We are extraordinarily excited that Kelli O'Hara will be performing at our Gala. She is, unequivocally, one of the great sopranos gracing our stages today. Kelli's performance will certainly continue our tradition of amazing Gala performers, including Audra McDonald, Mandy Patinkin, and John Lithgow," said Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein.

Her portrayal of Anna Leonowens in the critically acclaimed revival of The King and I recently garnered her the 2015 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, along with Drama League and Outer Critics nominations.

Her performance as Francesca in the musical adaptation of The Bridges of Madison County earned her Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle nominations. She made her Broadway debut in Jekyll & Hyde and followed it with Sondheim's Follies, Sweet Smell of Success opposite John Lithgow, and Dracula. In 2003 Kelli committed to a production of The Light in the Piazza at Seattle's Intiman Theatre. The show landed on Broadway in 2005 and earned Kelli her first Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations. She moved from one critical and commercial success to another when she joined Harry Connick on Broadway in the 2006 Tony award-winning production of The Pajama Game, for which Kelli received Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Award nominations. Kelli starred in the Tony Award-winning revival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center, enrapturing audiences and critics alike with her soulful and complex interpretation of Nellie Forbush, and garnering Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Award nominations. She later teamed up with Matthew Broderick in Broadway's musical comedy Nice Work if You Can Get it, earning Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle nominations, as well as the Fred Astaire Nomination for dance.

For more information or to reserve tickets for the gala, contact Kathy Cihi at kathy.cihi@longwharf.org or by calling 203.772.8234. For more information about Long Wharf Theatre or to inquire about tickets, visit www.longwharf.org or call 203-787-4282.

More about KELLI O'HARA: Kelli O'Hara has unequivocally established herself as one of Broadway's great leading ladies. Her portrayal of Anna Leonowens in the critically acclaimed revival of The King and I recently garnered her the 2015 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, along with Drama League and Outer Critics nominations.

The year before was an exceptionally busy year. Her performance as Francesca in the musical adaptation of The Bridges of Madison County earned her Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle nominations. Additionally, she starred as Mrs. Darling in NBC's live telecast of "Peter Pan" alongside Allison Williams and Christian Borle, and on New Year's Eve, Kelli made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the production of The Merry Widow with Renee Fleming.

A native of Oklahoma, Kelli received a degree in opera, and after winning the State Metropolitan Opera Competition, moved to New York and enrolled in the Lee Strasberg Institute. She made her Broadway debut in Jekyll & Hyde and followed it with Sondheim's Follies, Sweet Smell of Success opposite John Lithgow, and Dracula. In 2003 Kelli committed to a production of The Light in the Piazza at Seattle's Intiman Theatre. The show landed on Broadway in 2005 and earned Kelli her first Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations. She moved from one critical and commercial success to another when she joined Harry Connick on Broadway in the 2006 Tony award-winning production of The Pajama Game, for which Kelli received Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Award nominations. Kelli starred in the Tony Award-winning revival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center, enrapturing audiences and critics alike with her soulful and complex interpretation of Nellie Forbush, and garnering Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Award nominations. She later teamed up with Matthew Broderick in Broadway's musical comedy Nice Work if You Can Get it, earning Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle nominations, as well as the Fred Astaire Nomination for dance.

Kelli has worked regionally & Off-Broadway in Far from Heaven at Williamstown Theater Festival & Playwrights Horizon, King Lear at the Public Theater, Bells Are Ringing at City Center Encores, Sunday in the Park with George at Reprise, My Life With Albertine at Playwright's Horizons & Beauty at the La Jolla Playhouse. Kelli received critical acclaim for her performances at the New York Philharmonic's productions of Carousel & My Fair Lady as both Julie Jordan & Eliza Doolittle respectively. She has sold out her solo show at Carnegie Hall & Town Hall and performed with symphonies and orchestras across the country. She is a frequent guest artist on the PBS Memorial Day and July 4th telecast and has performed several times as part of the Kennedy Honor tributes for Barbara Cook, Jerry Herman and Barbra Streisand.

Among her film and television credits are Sex & The City 2, Martin Scorsese's short The Key to Reserva opposite Simon Baker; The Dying Gaul, Blue Bloods (NBC pilot), All Rise (NBC pilot), Alexander Hamilton (Maria Reynolds) starring Brian F. O'Byrne (PBS), NUMB3RS (CBS), All My Children, the animated series Car Talk, and numerous live performances on national television shows. Kelli's voice can be heard on many cast album recordings including The Bridges of Madison Country, Nice Work if You Can Get it, South Pacific (Sony), The Light in the Piazza (Nonesuch records; Grammy nomination), The Pajama Game (Sony; Grammy nomination), The Sweet Smell of Success (Sony), My Life with Albertine (PS Classics), Dream True (PS Classics), Jule Styne Goes Hollywood (PS Classics). She has released two solo albums including Always & Wonder in the World.

More about Long Wharf: Long Wharf Theatre began in the unlikeliest of places in the unlikeliest of ways. Located in a food terminal facing the New Haven Harbor, the theatre's original founders, Jon Jory and Harlan Kleiman, shared the dream of starting a resident professional theatre company in New Haven.

Assisted by an avid group of community leaders and patrons of the arts, they made that dream a reality in 1965 when Arthur Miller's The Crucible opened for a two-week engagement.

Named for the Long Wharf port along New Haven Harbor, the theatre was built in a vacant warehouse space in a busy food terminal, with its Mainstage originally stocked with seats borrowed from a retired movie house. The first year's budget was $294,000, and the theatre played to more than 30,000 patrons.

Entering its 51st season, Long Wharf Theatre is an organization of international renown producing an annual season of six plays on its two stages, along with children's programming, new play workshops and a variety of special events for an annual audience exceeding 80,000.

Under the watch of Arvin Brown and Edgar Rosenblum for over 30 years, Long Wharf Theatre established itself as an important force in the regional theatre movement. Under the current leadership of Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein and Managing Director Joshua Borenstein, Long Wharf Theatre continues to be a leader in American theatre, revitalizing classic and modern plays for a contemporary audience, discovering new resonance in neglected works and premiering new plays by new voices that both investigate and celebrate the unique circumstances of our time.

Throughout its history, Long Wharf Theatre has created a unique home in New Haven for theatre artists from around the world, resulting in the transfer of more than 30 Long Wharf productions to Broadway or Off-Broadway, some of which include The Glass Menagerie, My Name is Asher Lev, Satchmo at the Waldorf, Wit (Pulitzer Prize), The Shadow Box (Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award/Best Play), Hughie, American Buffalo, Requiem for a Heavyweight, Quartermaine's Terms (Obie Award/Best Play), The Gin Game (Pulitzer Prize), The Changing Room, The Contractor and Streamers.

Long Wharf Theatre has received New York Drama Critics Awards, Obie Awards, the Margo Jefferson Award for Production of New Works, a Special Citation from the Outer Critics Circle and the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1978.

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