Ariana DeBose, Lorna Luft, and More Join Laurie Beechman Theatre Reopening Event
The event will be held on Monday, April 14 at 7PM, and will raise funds for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
By: Stephi Wild Apr. 10, 2025
Additional performers including Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose, Tony Award nominee Andrea McArdle, Lorna Luft, and Nina West, have been added to the lineup for Renaissance Gala, marking the reopening of New York City’s most prominent cabaret venue, The Laurie Beechman Theatre. The event will be held on Monday, April 14 at 7PM.
These performers join the previously announced Chip Zien, Tony Award winner André De Shields, Tony Award winner Lillias White, Tony Award winner Matt Doyle, Tony Award winner Lauren Patten, Jak Malone, Bryan Batt, Christine Pedi, Joe Iconis, Jelani Remy, Emma Pittman, and JJ Niemann.
The event will raise funds for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and will reveal the historic venue’s renovation, currently being completed by Tony Award winner and renowned architect and theater designer David Rockwell.
Renaissance Gala features Music Direction by Benjamin Rauhala and Stage and Venue Lighting Design Aiden Bezark with Brendan McCann as Creative Consultant.
Since its opening in 1983, The Laurie Beechman Theatre, previously known as the “Downstairs Theatre Bar,” has welcomed legends such as Joan Rivers, The Who, André De Shields, Tony Shalhoub, Aaron Sorkin, Jinx Monsoon, and many more. In the theatre’s first 14 years, more than 1,500 one-act plays were performed at the theatre. When the venue was scheduled to close in August 2024 after financial difficulties following the COVID-19 pandemic, Tom D'Angora, Michael D'Angora, Tim Guinee, and Joe Iconis joined forces to raise nearly $1 million to save the café and theatre.
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