Christine Ebersole, Norm Lewis, Andrew Rannells & More to Headline York Theatre Company Gala

The York Theatre Company, “Where Musicals Come to Life”, has revealed the roster of performers for a concert celebration at the 31st Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala, which will honor musical theater legend Patti LuPone (Company, Evita, Gypsy, Anything Goes) with the 2023 Oscar Hammerstein Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theater and producer Jamie deRoy with The York Theatre Company Founders’ Award, to be held on Monday evening, November 13, 2023 at The Edison Rooftop (223 West 46th Street).

Currently scheduled to headline the 31st Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala are special guests Charles Busch, Christine Ebersole, Bridget Everett, Norm Lewis, Andrew Rannells, and more! The evening’s music director is Deniz Cordell and the director and host will be The York Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director Gerry McIntyre.

Diamond, Gold, Silver, Sapphire, and Pearl tickets are now on sale and available here. For further information, including sponsorship opportunities, please email Marie Grace LaFerrara at mlaferrara@yorktheatre.org.

James Morgan, The York’s Producing Artistic Director said, “We are—to quote our award’s namesake, Oscar Hammerstein II—simply ‘bustin’ out all over’ with pride that Patti LuPone is this year’s Hammerstein Award recipient. What an extraordinary career Patti has had, and how fitting that she’ll join the roster of musical theater luminaries who have received this honor, beginning with Stephen Sondheim in 1988. We’re thrilled that Gerry McIntyre is putting together the evening for this Broadway legend, and to have Jamie deRoy as our Founders’ Award honoree makes this gala even more exciting and meaningful. Please join us on Monday, November 13, an unforgettable evening.”

The Oscar Hammerstein Award is named in honor of the legendary lyricist and librettist who helped shape American musical theatre through his collaborations with a number of different composers and writers. His contributions to such landmark musicals as Show Boat, Oklahoma!, South Pacific, and Carousel are a legacy for all time. The award was created in 1988 by Janet Hayes Walker, Founding Artistic Director of The York Theatre Company, and is presented with the endorsement of the Hammerstein family and the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization. Its purpose is to recognize significant lifetime achievement in musical theatre and is presented at a gala evening held for the benefit of The York Theatre Company.

Past recipients of the Oscar Hammerstein Award include Stephen Sondheim, Betty Comden & Adolph Green, Harold Prince, Cy Coleman, Charles Strouse, Arthur Laurents, Jerry Herman, Stephen Schwartz, Peter Stone, David Merrick, John Kander & Fred Ebb, Terrence McNally, Cameron Mackintosh, Carol Channing, Tony Walton, Joseph Stein, George S. Irving, Jerry Bock & Sheldon Harnick, Thomas Meehan, Barbara Cook, Paul Gemignani, Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty, Angela Lansbury, Joel Grey, Tom Jones & Harvey Schmidt, Susan Stroman, André De Shields, Richard Maltby, Jr. & David Shire and most recently Leslie Uggams.

Patti LuPone (2023 Oscar Hammerstein Award Recipient), who recently received critical acclaim for her performance opposite Joaquin Phoenix in Ari Aster’s latest film Beau Is Afraid, is a three-time Tony Award winner for her performances as Joanne in Marianne Elliott’s award-winning production of the Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical Company, Madame Rose in the most recent Broadway revival of the Jule Styne-Stephen Sondheim-Arthur Laurents classic Gypsy, and the title role in the original Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Evita. Her NY stage credits include War Paint (Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations), Shows for Days, The Seven Deadly Sins (NY City Ballet), Company (NY Philharmonic), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Tony, Drama Desk, and OCC Award nominations), Sweeney Todd (Tony, Drama Desk, and OCC nominations), Noises Off, The Old Neighborhood, Master Class, Anything Goes (Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award), Oliver!, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, The Water Engine, and The Robber Bridegroom (Tony and Drama Desk nominations). London: Company (Olivier and WhatsOn Stage Awards), Master Class, Sunset Boulevard (Olivier nomination), Les Misérables, and The Cradle Will Rock (Olivier Award for her performances in both productions). Opera: The Ghosts of Versailles (LA Opera), To Hell and Back(SF Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra), The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (LA Opera debut), Regina (Kennedy Center). Her other film credits include The School for Good and Evil(Netflix), Last Christmas, Cliffs of Freedom, The Comedian, Parker, Union Square, Driving Miss Daisy, and Witness. TV/Streaming: Marvel’s “Coven of Chaos” (upcoming), “Hollywood,” “Pose,” “Mom,” “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “Penny Dreadful” (Critics Choice Award nomination), “Girls,” “American Horror Story” (“NYC” and “Coven”), “30 Rock,” “Glee,” “Frasier” (Emmy nomination), and four seasons as Libby Thatcher on ABCs “Life Goes On.” She is a founding member of both the Drama Division of the Juilliard School and John Houseman’s The Acting Company and the author of the NY Times best-seller Patti LuPone: A Memoir.

The York Theatre Company Founders’ Award recognizes individuals who have made a significant impact on the sustainability of the arts.

Past recipients of the award include The York’s Founding Artistic Director Janet Hayes Walker, W. David McCoy, Sarah Tod Smith, Molly Grose, Robert Goldberg, Gerald F. Fisher, Betty Cooper Wallerstein, Riki Kane Larimer, Elisa Loti Stein, and Ted Chapin.

Jamie deRoy (2023 York Theatre Company Founders’ Award Recipient) started producing theater by accident, which has led to 12 Tony Awards and credits on 100+ Broadway and Off-Broadway shows including Parade, Good Night Oscar, Leopoldstadt, New York, New York, Grey House, and Peter Pan Goes Wrong, among others. Additional awards include nine MAC Awards, 12 Drama Desk awards, four Audience Choice Awards, 11 Drama League Awards, three GLAAD Awards, four Back Stage Bistro Awards, numerous Telly Awards, and CaB Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award. She has been honored by TheaterWorks/USA, Albert Einstein Spirit of Achievement, The Ruth Kurtzman Benefit Award, and Primary Stages—twice! A frequent presence on the New York nightlife scene, Jamie has produced nine CDs for the Jamie deRoy & Friends series on Harbinger and PS Classics. Her long-running variety shows have benefitted the Entertainment Community Fund (formerly the Actors Fund) and she also hosts a TV variety show which has been on the air for over 30 years. Onstage, she appeared with René Auberjonois in The Threepenny Opera, in The Drunkard with music by Barry Manilow, and as McTrix in Someone’s Kissing Daddy. Jamie’s television producing credits include “CityArts” and the documentaries Broadway: The Golden Ageand Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age.

Gerry McIntyre (Director, 2023 Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala) is Associate Artistic Director of The York Theatre and has been connected to the theatre for 30+ years. He made his York directing debut with the 2018 Musicals in Mufti presentation of Hallelujah, Baby! and also choreographed their productions of Anything Can Happen in the Theatre and Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation. His other credits as director and/or choreographer include Spamalot (off-Broadway), Kinky Boots (Hangar Theatre), Soon of a Mornin’ (NYMF) Once on This Island (five productions; Robby Award for Best Director, Ovation nomination for Best Choreography), Ain’t Misbehavin’(ATL, Gateway, Theatre by the Sea), The Cher Show, Jersey Boys, and Chicago (Ogunquit), Joseph… (Lyric Theatre of OK), Dreamgirls, Nina Simone: Four Women, Songs for a New World, A Chorus Line, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, Side by Side by Sondheim, Tommy, and My Fair Lady(Berkshire Theatre Festival), A Saint She Ain’t (Westport), Laura Comstock’s Bag-Punching Dog (LA Weekly nomination for Best Choreography), The Color Purple, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Ragtime, and The Wiz (Music Circus), Priscilla… (Gateway Playhouse), “After The Storm”. Performer: original company of Once on This Island, Anything Goes (with Patti LuPone), Joseph…Dreamcoat (Toronto), and more. gerrymcintyre.net

Deniz Cordell (Music Direction) was last seen behind a York piano for the OH Gala honoring Maltby and Shire, as well as Lolita, My Love, Panama Hattie, Celebration, and a multitude of virtual events and performances, including the Reunion on the Roof in June 2021. An expert on American film composer Leonard Rosenman’s music, he also works in film music advocacy and restoration. He has written liner notes for various record labels and is a one-time “Jeopardy!” loser.

For additional information, please visit www.yorktheatre.org.

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