Betty Buckley, Brian Stokes Mitchell and More Will Perform at Dramatists Guild Foundation Gala

Today, the Dramatists Guild Foundation (DGF) announced critically acclaimed performers for its annual DGF Gala on Monday, November 4 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in NYC. Hosted by Emmy and Golden Globe nominee and Tony Award Winner Jason Alexander (Seinfeld, Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Merrily We Roll Along), the fundraising evening will feature special performances by Tony Award Winner Betty Buckley (Cats, Sunset Boulevard, Pippin), Tony Award Winner Brian Stokes Mitchell (Kiss Me, Kate, Ragtime, Man of La Mancha), Oscar, Grammy and Tony Award winning songwriting duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land, The Greatest Showman), Tony nominatee Michael Arden (Once On This Island, Spring Awakening, Big River ), Tony Nominee Liz Callaway (Anastasia, Baby, Miss Saigon), Tony Nominee Christiane Noll (Ragtime; Jekyll & Hyde, Urinetown), Betsy Wolfe (Falsettos, Waitress), and Charlotte Maltby (Les Miserables, The Sound of Music national tour).

2019 DGF Gala to include inaugural presentations of Alan Jay Lerner Awards to pay tribute to the Foundation's founder, Alan Jay Lerner, and be given to individuals with outstanding legacies of supporting writers across the country. 2019 DGF Honorees: Tony Award-winning songwriting duo Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime, Once On This Island), the President of Concord Theatricals, Sean Patrick Flahaven, along with TodayTix Founders Brian Fenty and Merritt Baer. DGF's highest honor, these Awards are named after the legendary dramatist who founded DGF in order to create a resource that supports the lives and artistry of writers.

DGF's annual Gala celebrates artists and honors patrons of the American theater community in gratitude of their continued support of emerging writers and creators. The 2019 evening's program will be directed by three-time Tony winner Kathleen Marshall.

The evening will include a special acknowledgement of DGF board member, Roe Green, in celebration of the renaming of the Foundation's Traveling Masters program to the Roe Green Traveling Masters program. Ms. Green has served on the Board of Directors of the organization for five years, helping grow the scope and impact of its programs.

The newly renamed Roe Green Traveling Masters is a national education program providing students, professionals, and theater lovers with free master classes, workshops, and public events on the craft of writing. This supplements arts education for students and adults who might otherwise have limited access. Ms. Green remarked: "I have traveled the entire world, and I am always amazed by the people I meet. Sadly, many of these wonderful, smart people are never given the proper tools to fully express their unique stories. I love this program because by training writers outside of major cities, DGF is broadening the horizon of theater and helping to shape a more diverse, rich, and skilled artistic future." The renaming of the program coincides with another programmatic milestone. DGF will have taken Roe Green Traveling Masters to all 50 states by the end of this year.

The Dramatists Guild Foundation supports the future of American theater by supporting the writers who create it. DGF's programs and initiatives help propel playwrights, composers, lyricists, and book writers to their full potential by providing arts education and resources across the country.

For tickets to DGF's 2018 Gala, please visit: https://dgf.org/gala, email: dgf@total-managment.com, or call: 212-878-6646. For more information about the Dramatists Guild Foundation, please visit: www.dgf.org, and follow on social media: @dgfound.

Photo Credit: John Boal