Playwrights Horizons' Annual Auction Opens Today: Bid for HAMILTON Meet & Greet, People's Choice Awards Tickets & More!

Acclaimed Off-Broadway theater company Playwrights Horizons has announced details for its 2016 Online Auction. Bidding for the auction, which will feature an eclectic array of items, getaways, theater tickets, sports items, celebrity meet and greets, celebrity experiences and unique opportunities, begins today, Tuesday, May 3 at 12 Noon at www.CharityBuzz.com/PlaywrightsHorizons. Online bidding will continue through Thursday, May 19.

Celebrating its 45th Anniversary Season, Playwrights Horizons is one of New York's most prized non-profit theater companies. Proceeds from the Auction benefit the company's six annual productions and programs, the development of new work, access to the arts for all and training the next generation of theater managers and artists. A writer's theater dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers and lyricists, it has presented the work of over 400 writers. It has also been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including six Pulitzer Prizes.

Some of the many top items include house seats to Hamilton and meet cast member Javier Muñoz, join "Orange Is the New Black" star and PH alumna Adrienne C. Moore (Milk Like Sugar, 2011) for ping pong, a Yamaha FG800 Guitar signed and personalized by James Taylor, lunch with former United States Secretary of the Treasury Robert E. Rubin and former Undersecretary for International Affairs Lawrence H. Summers, lunch with Bill Moyers, two VIP Tickets to the 2017 People's Choice Awards, two tickets to a show at iHeartRadio Theater in New York City, Take Me Out to Citi Field and have the chance to meet Fred Wilpon and baseball signed by Travis d'Arnaud and one week in Palm Springs.

A second wave of additional items will be up for bidding begin on Thursday, May 19.

All interested bidders must go to www.CharityBuzz.com/PlaywrightsHorizons to register to bid.

For 45 years, Playwrights Horizons has been the only major Off-Broadway theater dedicated solely to producing new American work. It's a mission that's always timely, always crucial and it sets the organization apart from every other theater in the country. As Jesse Green of New York Magazine recently wrote, "A brilliant incubator of new plays and voices, Playwrights Horizons has an enviable track record of terrific new work."

Six annual productions are the public face of the organization. Writers are also served by the New Works Lab, which includes script evaluations, readings, workshops and commissions. Playwrights Horizons operates Ticket Central, a box office service, as well as affordable rehearsal and performance spaces at 440 Studios. The next generation of artists, arts managers and theatergoers are cultivated through a Theatrical Residency Program, the Playwrights Horizons Theater School at NYU and audience development initiatives.

The 2015/2016 Season has been one of the most acclaimed in the theater company's history, with a total of 25 nominations recently announced from such organizations as the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel and Drama League awards organizations. These include Outstanding Play for THE CHRISTIANS (Drama Desk, Lortel, Outer Critics Circle), Outstanding Play for HIR (Drama League), Outstanding Play for MARJORIE PRIME (Drama League), Outstanding Play for FAMILIAR (Outer Critics Circle) and Outstanding Musical for IOWA (Lortel, Drama League).

The season will conclude with INDIAN SUMMER, the world premiere of a Playwrights Horizons commission by Gregory S. Moss, directed by Carolyn Cantor. Previews begin next Friday, May 13.

Playwrights Horizons recently announced the six productions of its 2016/2017 Season. In season order, they are: AUBERGINE, the New York premiere of a new play by Julia Cho, directed by Kate Whoriskey (previews begin August 19, 2016); A LIFE, the world premiere of a new play by Obie Award winner Adam Bock, directed by two-time Obie Award winner Anne Kauffman; RANCHO VIEJO, the world premiere of a Playwrights Horizons commissioned new play by Dan LeFranc, directed by three-time Obie Award winner Daniel Aukin; THE LIGHT YEARS, the world premiere of a new play written by Drama Desk Award winner Hannah Bos and Obie Award winner Paul Thureen, directed and developed by Obie Award winner Oliver Butler, made by The Debate Society; THE PROFANE, the world premiere of a new play by Zayd Dohrn; and BELLA: AN AMERICAN TALL TALE, the co-world premiere of a Playwrights Horizons commissioned new musical with book, music and lyrics by Obie Award winner Kirsten Childs, directed by two-time Obie Award winner Robert O'Hara.

RANCHO VIEJO was commissioned by Playwrights Horizons with the support of the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.

BELLA: AN AMERICAN TALL TALE was commissioned by Playwrights Horizons through the Musicals in Partnership Initiative with funds provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This production will first be staged at Dallas Theatre Center this fall.

Playwrights Horizons' season productions are generously supported in part by The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Playwrights Horizons is supported in part by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. In addition, Playwrights Horizons receives major support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation and the Time Warner Foundation.

Playwrights Horizons is a writer's theater dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers and lyricists and to the production of their new work. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Tim Sanford and Managing Director Leslie Marcus, Playwrights Horizons continues to encourage the new work of veteran writers while nurturing an emerging generation of theater artists. In its 45 years, Playwrights Horizons has presented the work of more than 400 writers and has received numerous awards and honors, including a special 2008 Drama Desk Award for "ongoing support to generations of theater artists and undiminished commitment to producing new work." Notable productions include six Pulitzer Prize winners - Annie Baker's The Flick (2013 Obie Award, 2013 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize); Bruce Norris's Clybourne Park (2012 Tony Award, Best Play); Doug Wright's I Am My Own Wife (2004 Tony Award, Best Play); Wendy Wasserstein's The Heidi Chronicles (1989 Tony Award, Best Play); Alfred Uhry's Driving Miss Daisy and Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Sunday in the Park with George.