New Group Tributes Ruth & Stephen Hendel on Oct.15

The New Group will hold a Gala on Monday October 15 at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers. The event will be a tribute to Ruth and Stephen Hendel and include an appearance by Ethan Hawke along with a performance by Kiki & Herb. 

THE NEW GROUP 2007 GALA
A tribute to Ruth and Stephen Hendel
Monday, October 15, 2007
The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers - Pier 61 (23rd Street And West Side Hwy)

6:30PM Cocktail Reception
7:30PM Dinner
8:00PM Live Auction, Tribute And Performances

Ruth Hendel started in the theater as a technical apprentice at the Goodspeed Opera House. Now she is a producer and serves on several not-for profit theater boards. She is currently represented on Broadway by Legally Blonde, The Musical. She has also been involved in: Kiki and Herb: Alive on Broadway, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Barefoot in the Park, 'night Mother, Steel Magnolias, Caroline or Change, A Raisin in the Sun, Frozen, Golda's Balcony and Metamorphoses. Off-Broadway shows include: Altar Boyz (in its third year), Red Light Winter, Our Lady of 121st Street, The Exonerated, and …tick, tick…BOOM! These productions have earned numerous Tony nominations, Drama Desk, and Lortel nominations and awards.

Ruth is vice chair of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT and serves on the boards of the LAByrinth Theatre Company, Play Company, and Emelin Theatre in Mamaroneck, NY.  She is also on the leadership committee of the Yale School of Drama.  Ruth has a B.F.A in Theater with honors from the University of Connecticut and earned a Master's degree in Communications from Northwestern University. In 2006, Ruth was honored with the University of Connecticut School of Fine Arts Alumni award. Last year she received the Westchester Jewish Conference Julian Y. Bernstein award for distinguished service for serving on the library board of the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Stephen Hendel is a founder and Managing Partner of Hess Energy Trading Company LLC, an international energy trading company.  Previously, he was a partner of Goldman Sachs & Co. responsible for their energy trading activities and other parts of their commodity trading division.  From 1978 to 1980 he worked as a corporate lawyer at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison.  He received his BA from Yale University (1973) and his LL.B from the University of Connecticut School Of Law (1978). 

Stephen serves on the board of The New Group as well as the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center as treasurer, and the Culture Project.  He is also on the Board of Visitors of the Yale School of Music.  He has enjoyed participating with Ruth in the theater.

Previously, the Hendels have been honored by the Westchester Crohn's and Colitis foundation and the Westchester Jewish Center of Mamaroneck, NY.  Ruth and Steve currently reside in Larchmont, NY and are active community members.  They have three children and a son-in-law, Abby and Guy, Sam, and Joe – all grown up and busy in their respective fields.

The New Group is currently represented by Jonathan Marc Sherman's Things We Want, directed by Hawke.  Up next is the US premiere of Mike Leigh's Two Thousand Years (January) and Kevin Elyot's Mouth to Mouth (Spring).