Jason Sudeikis, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro & More Set for Soho Rep Gala This Month

Hosted by actress Gretchen Mol, Spring Fête, Soho Rep.'s Spring 2016 Gala, will honor actor, writer and director Tim Blake Nelson on March 14th at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers. Nelson is being recognized for his longstanding dedication to the theater, which began in 1994 as an actor and deepened shortly thereafter when he joined Soho Rep.'s Board of Directors. Spring Fête features appearances and performances by Golden Globe-winner Steve Buscemi, actor and comedian Jason Sudeikis, performer Martha Graham Cracker, actor Seth Gilliam (The Wire), actor Michael Stuhlbarg (Boardwalk Empire) Emmy-winner John Turturro (Monk), Golden Globe-winner Sam Watertson (Law & Order), actress Amber Gray (An Octoroon), Obie award-winning director Daniel Aukin, actress Sammy Tunis (Futurity), and rock band The Spring Standards. As the theater's most important fundraiser of the year, all proceeds from the event benefit Soho Rep. productions, the Writer and Director Lab for emerging artists, as well as new play commissions.

"I feel incredibly lucky to have worked at Soho Rep. early in my career," said Tim Blake Nelson. "Doing so truly changed me by introducing me to new and iconoclastic ways of telling stories. Serving on the board has allowed me to help encourage the furthering of that sort of work as the theater has grown. I'm thrilled to be recognized by this prolific group of men and women dedicated to bringing new kinds of theater to modern audiences."

Nelson's involvement with Soho Rep. began in 1994 when he appeared in Mac Wellman's Dracula as "Jonathan Harker," and received rave reviews from The New York Times for his performance. Since then, Nelson has been an active member of the Board of Directors, focused on upholding the theater's mission of cultivating and producing diverse, visionary, and exuberant new plays.

Soho Rep's Spring Fête will take place on Monday, March 14 at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers (61 Chelsea Piers #300) in Manhattan and will begin at 6:00pm with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. Dinner, performances and live auction will begin at 7:00pm with dessert and honoree presentation following at 8:30 PM. Tickets, starting at $500, and tables, starting at $5,000, can be purchased via Alex Grobman at Soho Rep. at 212.941.8632 x203 and agrobman@sohorep.org.

Founded in 1975, and in its theater on Walker Street since 1991, Soho Rep. has built an outstanding reputation for being at the forefront of new and innovative theatre, serving as a vital center for contemporary theatre artists. Soho Rep. is dedicated to cultivating and producing visionary, uncompromising, and exuberant new plays, performing to one of the youngest adult audiences in New York City, with over half aged 18-40.

Critics continue to herald Soho Rep. as a go-to theatre destination for new and original works. New York magazine has said, "this indispensable theater offers more excitement per chair than any space in town," Time Out New York says, "Soho Rep is the best theater in NYC," and The New York Times declares Soho Rep. to be "a first-class downtown company" and "The downtown powerhouse...regularly outclasses the work done on many of the city's larger stages." In 2013, Time Out New York declared Soho Rep. as the "Best Downtown Theater Institution."

In 2014, Soho Rep. was honored with a Drama Desk Award for Sustained Achievement and was named The Village Voice's Best Theater for New American Plays. Over the last decade, Soho Rep. productions have garnered 18 OBIE Awards; nine Drama Desk nominations, two Kesselring Awards, The New York Times Outstanding Playwriting Award for Dan LeFranc's Sixty Miles To Silverlake and, a special citation in The New York Drama Critics' Circle's 2012-13 awards. In recent years, Soho Rep. has presented plays by established and emerging theatre artists such as David Adjmi, Annie Baker, Lucas Hnath, Branden Jacobs Jenkins, Sarah Kane, Daniel Alexander Jones, debbie tucker green, Young Jean Lee, Nature Theater of Oklahoma and Jackie Sibblies Drury.

Photo by Walter McBride

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