Neuwirth, Bart, Etc. Honored at Inside Broadway Benefit

Inside Broadway, the innovative and acclaimed children's theater organization founded in 1982 by Michael Presser to create the audiences of tomorrow, will celebrate its Twenty-Fifth Anniversary with a Benefit Concert on Monday October 15, 2007 at 7:30 PM at the McGraw-Hill Auditorium, Avenue of the Americas and 49th Street in Rockefeller Center.

The evening, preceded by a 6 PM cocktail reception, will feature TV's Pia Lindstrom as Master of Ceremonies, casts of several Broadway shows in performance (TBA), and the organization's annual Broadway Beacon Awards. These are given to individuals in the theatre industry who have been advocates for increasing the audience for live theatre in New York City, particularly in helping to develop new young audiences for Broadway. This year's honorees will include such Tony Award-winning and nominated performers as Bebe Neuwirth, star of stage and screen, Roger Bart, star of Broadway's upcoming Young Frankenstein, and Broadway couple Rebecca Luker of Mary Poppins and Danny Burstein of The Drowsy Chaperone. Previous Broadway Beacon winners, many of whom have participated in Inside Broadway productions and events, have included Carol Channing, Joel Grey, Tovah Feldshuh, Karen Ziemba, Sutton Foster, and Karen Mason.

In addition, special Beacon awards will be presented by the Board of Directors of Inside Broadway to Michael Presser, the Founder & Executive Director of the organization, for 25 Years of Distinguished Service, and to William Tung, a member of the Board of Directors, and a Managing Director of the Rockefeller Group Development Corporation, who has also served Inside Broadway for almost 7 years

The company celebrated its 25th anniversary with a Broadway performance last November at the Winter Garden Theatre, for both school groups and the public, with excerpts from Broadway shows. Guest speakers at the event included Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer, New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, Shubert Organization Chairman Gerald Schoenfeld and many other officials and theatre artists. The 25th Anniversary Season will continue in the fall with school workshops, a special "Creating the Magic," a behind-the-scenes look at a Broadway show and the various careers in theater, and the spring production of the hit You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown.

Inside Broadway began its unique programs in 1982, at the request of Shubert Organization President Bernard Jacobs, by creating the first Broadway student ticket program, for the musical Cats. The organization also created the first educational video showing the behind the scenes at the Winter Garden Theater and created 50 minute versions of hit Broadway shows that travel to schools to introduce young people to musical theatre.

Tickets are $350.00, from Inside Broadway, (212) 245-0710, or at insidebroadway@jaffemanagement.com. More information can also be found at www.insidebroadway.org.

Photo of Bebe Neuwirth by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

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