Deaf West Theatre to Host First-Ever New York City Gala

Deaf West Theatre will present The 35th Anniversary Gala – One Night in New York on Monday, September 28 at Joe’s Pub, honoring Academy Award-winning actor Troy Kotsur, five-time Tony Award-winning producer Eva Price, and Tony Award-winning directors Bill Rauch & Zhailon Levingston.

Marking Deaf West’s first-ever New York City gala, the event will celebrate 35 years of innovation, collaboration, education, and social change led by Deaf West since the theater’s 1991 founding. The gala also solidifies the continued expansion of Deaf West’s Los Angeles roots to the East Coast:

Most recently, Deaf West’s world premiere musical Elephant Shoes concluded its run in a co-production at Two River Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey as the best-selling production in the theater’s history.

Later this month, Deaf West will present a developmental concert reading of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Whistle Down the Wind, reimagined with Tony Award-winning director Bill Rauch (CATS: The Jellicle Ball). Three performances on July 31, August 1, and August 2 mark the final event of New York Stage & Film’s 2026 season. Tickets are available at www.newyorkstageandfilm.org/whistle-down-the-wind.

This fall, Deaf West will co-produce a new comedy show off-Broadway, with details to be announced. Beginning at 6:30pm, the gala will be co-directed by Henry Gottfried (The Lost Boys, Cabaret) and Sandra Mae Frank (Deaf West’s Spring Awakening, New Amsterdam), music directed by Meghann Zervoulis Bate (SIX, Cabaret), with casting by Spencer Gualdoni, CSA, Rico Froehlich as production stage manager, and feature a lineup of artists and performers to be announced at a later date. Tickets will go on sale soon.

Troy Kotsur

Troy Kotsur has been acting and directing for over 20 years. Deaf since birth, he was raised in Mesa, AZ. Though his awards-run in 2022 seemed to come out of nowhere, it was no surprise to his numerous fans in the theater world and the Deaf Community who have followed his work for decades.

In 2022, Troy became the first Deaf male to win an Oscar for his supporting role in the film, CODA. Troy also won the BAFTA, SAG Award, Indie Spirit Award, Critics Choice Award, Gotham Award and others for his performance.

In TV, Troy made headlines for his acting role in “The Mandalorian” on Disney+ because along with acting, he created an adapted form of sign language for that series and “The Book of Boba Fett.” He also recently gained Emmy buzz and an Astra Award for his role in “Black Rabbit.” And in 2025, he joined the critically acclaimed Apple/Skydance series “Foundation,” which received a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Much of Troy's success has stemmed from his highly respected work on stage, and his relationship with Deaf West Theatre spans more than three decades. Beginning in 1994, it encompasses some of the most celebrated productions in the company's history. He originated roles across an extraordinary range of the dramatic canon: Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire, Lennie in Of Mice and Men, Prince Hamlet in Ophelia, and the title role in Cyrano, a co-production with The Fountain Theatre. He starred in Edward Albee's At Home at the Zoo at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, and his performance as Adult Men in Deaf West's Spring Awakening earned a 2015 LA Drama Critics Circle nomination. His turn as Pap Finn and The Duke in Deaf West’s Big River carried him from the Mark Taper Forum all the way to Broadway's Todd Haimes Theater (formally the American Airlines Theatre). And it was a Deaf West staging of Our Town at Pasadena Playhouse that caught the eye of filmmaker Siân Heder, planting the seed for what would become his Oscar-winning performance in CODA.

Eva Price

Eva Price is a four-time Tony Award-winning and two-time Olivier Award-winning theatrical producer. A passionate advocate for bold, artist-driven storytelling, she has produced acclaimed productions across Broadway, the West End, touring, and beyond.

Her productions have earned 20 Tony Awards, 6 Olivier Awards, 2 Grammy Awards, and 2 Emmy Awards. Current productions include & Juliet (Broadway and National Tour) and Titaníque (Broadway, the West End, Canada). Upcoming projects include Liberation - West End, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Live on Stage! - National tour.

Select producing credits include the Tony Award-winning Liberation (Best Play, 2026); Redwood (Broadway, La Jolla Playhouse); Take the Lead (Paper Mill Playhouse); The Hip Hop Nutcracker (National Tour and Disney+); SHIT. MEET. FAN. (MCC Theater); A Transparent Musical (Center Theatre Group); Jagged Little Pill; the Tony Award-winning revival of Oklahoma!; TINA – The Tina Turner Musical; What the Constitution Means to Me; the Tony Award-winning revival of Angels in America; the Tony Award-winning Dear Evan Hansen; Peter and the Starcatcher; and numerous acclaimed concerts and solo productions featuring artists including The Temptations & The Four Tops, Kathy Griffin, Lewis Black, Colin Quinn, and Hershey Felder.

Beyond her work as a producer, Eva is a dedicated advocate for the arts and social justice. She has been honored by the NYCLU/ACLU for her commitment to using theater as a platform for empathy, dialogue, and change. 

Bill Rauch

Bill Rauch is the inaugural Artistic Director of the Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC), at the World Trade Center. His work as a theater director has been seen across the nation, from community centers to Broadway in the Tony Award-winning production of All The Way, its sequel The Great Society, and most recently co-directing Cats: The Jellicle Ball, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical. From 2007 to 2019, Bill was Artistic Director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the country’s oldest and largest rotating repertory theater. Bill co-founded Cornerstone Theater Company where he served as artistic director from 1986 to 2006, directing collaborations with diverse rural and urban communities nationwide.

Zhailon Levingston

Zhailon Levingston is the 2026 Tony Award winner for Best Direction of a Musical for CATS: The Jellicle Ball. The immersive reimagining of the classic musical premiered in 2024 at New York City’s Perelman Arts Center and earned him an Obie Award and nominations for a Drama Desk, two Drama League Awards and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Direction of a Musical alongside co-director Bill Rauch. The Broadway production won three Tony Awards and received 9 Tony Award nominations (including Best Revival of a Musical).

A Louisiana-raised director, storyteller, and activist, Zhailon’s first “Broadway” job was selling tickets to Broadway shows in Times Square. In 2017, he sold concessions for multiple Broadway theaters. At 27 years old, he became the youngest Black director in Broadway history by directing the Broadway production of Chicken and Biscuits to critical acclaim. Zhailon’s other most recent directing credits include Wonderful Town at New York City Center Encores; Reconstructing at Brooklyn Academy of Music (co-directed with Rachel Chavkin); Little Miss Perfect (Olney Theatre Center); Patience at Second Stage Theatre; and Table 17 at the MCC Theater (Lortel Award nominee for Outstanding Director), The Geffen Playhouse LA (NAACP nominee for Best Director ) and the upcoming West End production premiering in London, Fall 2026. 

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