TheatreWorks Celebrates 45 Years With Special Gala, Featuring EMMA Concert, Donald Kennedy and More Tonight

TheatreWorks, the nationally-acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, presents its 45th Anniversary Celebration, a gala event featuring dinner, dancing, and a special concert version of the most popular show in TheatreWorks history, Emma. The event will honor Donald Kennedy, esteemed teacher, scientist, Stanford president emeritus, former FDA commissioner, and longtime TheatreWorks supporter, who will be recognized for his contributions to the arts and the community. The theme of the event is "Original and Timeless," reflecting TheatreWorks' ongoing commitment to supporting new and innovative work, as well as its role as a fixture in the Bay Area theatre community.

TheatreWorks 45th Anniversary Celebration will take place tonight, November 8 at Hotel Sofitel, 223 Twin Dolphin Dr, Redwood City. For tickets ($500 for individuals and $10,000 to $45,000 for tables) visit www.theatreworks.org/give/45/ or call (650) 463-7135.

In addition to the one-night-only concert adaptation of Paul Gordon's original musical Emma, based on the Jane Austen novel, TheatreWorks 45th Anniversary Celebration will feature a live auction of exclusive luxury arts items, dancing, and a three-course gourmet dinner. Sponsor benefits include premiere table location, a photo shoot with the honoree, a complimentary commemorative ad in the event program, year-round listing as a producer in TheatreWorks production programs, and for Platinum Level sponsors, an exclusive trip for two to Chicago for the premiere of Paul Gordon's latest musical, Sense and Sensibility. Funds raised at the event support TheatreWorks' outstanding performances and innovative education, community, and new works programs.

Honoree Donald Kennedy has enjoyed a wide-ranging career as a biologist, professor, journalist, and public servant. After earning his A.B. and PhD in biology at Harvard, he went on to join the faculty of Stanford, where he served as Chair of the Department, Provost, and then President of the University. His background in biology also expanded beyond the lab, and he served as Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, as well as the Editor-in-Chief of leading research journal Science. An active patron of the arts, Kennedy is a long-time TheatreWorks supporter as well as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

With nearly 8,500 subscribers and 100,000 patrons per year, TheatreWorks has captured a national reputation for artistic innovation and integrity, often presenting Bay Area theatregoers with their first look at acclaimed musicals, comedies, and dramas, directed by award-winning local and guest directors, and performed by professional actors cast from across the country. A home for artists developing new works, it was at TheatreWorks that Memphis, the 2010 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, was first workshopped and received its world premiere. TheatreWorks was launched by a young Stanford grad named Robert Kelley, who was hired by the City of Palo Alto to create a theatre where local youth could express their reactions to the changing times. Its first show, Popcorn, was an original musical highlighting the clash between generations, the on-going anti-war movement, and other issues pertinent to the Palo Alto community. It was followed by other original shows, staged in various local settings that included the Boy Scouts Fire Circle at the Lucie Stern Community Center, which made a stunning starlit amphitheater; City Hall's subterranean parking garage, re-christened Alice's rabbit hole for one production; and a deserted fire station. The company created new musical versions of a political cartoon (Dan O'Neill's Odd Bodkins), a Moliere comedie (a lilting Learned Ladies) and Commedia del Arte (The Servant of Two Masters set to music), as well as many plays and musicals from scratch. The company produced 13 wholly original works for the stage in its first three years. Now TheatreWorks is a LORT-D professional company, considered one of the nation's leading theatres creating new works. It launched its 45th season in July 2014 with the company's 64th world premiere production, with Robert Kelley still at the helm in what is believed to be the longest tenure of a founding artistic director at any regional professional theatre in America.

Pictured: Lianne Marie Dobbs will reprise her role of Emma. Photo by David Allen.