Phylicia Rashad Among Honorees at NCTF Awards Gala, April 10

The National Corporate Theatre Fund (NCTF) has announced its Annual Chairman's Awards Gala and benefit, which will take place Monday, April 10 at New York's Tavern On The Green (Central Park at West 67th Street).

This year, NCTF Chairman James E. Buckley (KPMG) will honor Joe Dowling (Artistic Director of Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater), Phylicia Rashad (Tony Award-winning actress, currently starring in Bernarda Alba) and Cisco Systems. Accepting the award on behalf of Cisco will be Nick Adamo, Vice President – US Service Provider.

Dixie Carter will serve as Master of Ceremonies for this black-tie event. Her husband is NCTF Honorary Chairman Hal Hobrook. The awards to the evening's honorees will be presented by Todd Haimes, Roundabout Theater Artistic Director, Kenny Leon, Broadway director (Gem of the Ocean, A Raisin In The Sun), and James S. Turley, Chairman/CEO of Ernst & Young. Cocktails will begin at 6:30 PM followed by dinner at 7:30 PM. The gala will feature a silent auction filled with prize packages.

"We are especially pleased this year to recognize these artists and partners in our efforts," said Bruce E. Whitacre, NCTF Executive Director. "The opening of the new Guthrie Theater, which would not have been possible without Joe Dowling's leadership, is a landmark event in American theater. Phylicia Rashad's great performances and her service to the community demonstrate her commitment to enriching our lives through her roles on and off the stage. And Cisco's support of technology projects in the arts, including here at NCTF, as well as its role in building connections in today's Internet age, warrant recognition. Cisco's team in New York, especially Nick Adamo and our Board member Edison Peres, has been a great support to our theaters."

Phylicia Rashad will be honored with this year's Theatre Artist Award. Rashad is currently appearing in Lincoln Center's Bernarda Alba, running through April 9. Past Broadway credits include Gem Of The Ocean, A Raisin in the Sun (Tony and Drama Desk Awards), Jelly's Last Jam, Into the Woods, Dreamgirls, The Wiz and Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death. She is best-known to TV audiences as Claire Huxtable on "The Cosby Show."

Joe Dowling will be honored with this year's NCTF Leadership Award. Appointed as artistic director of the Guthrie Theater in 1995, Dowling's directing credits there include The Cherry Orchard, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Blithe Spirit, The Playboy of the Western World, Much Ado About Nothing, Molly Sweeney, The Invention of Love, Amadeus, The Three Sisters, The Pirates of Penzance, Death of a Salesman (toured to the Dublin Theatre Festival 2004) and most recently, Hamlet.

Cisco Systems, recipient of this year's Corporate Leadership Award, is dedicated to building strong and productive global communities in which everyone has the means to live, the opportunity to learn and the chance to help others. "Cisco's work is driven by a simple vision: to help build stronger, more productive global communities," state press notes.

Corporate co-chairs of this year's Annual Chairman's Awards Gala are Altria Group, Inc., Ernst & Young and American Express.

NCTF is an association of ten of America's finest not-for-profit theatres dedicated to increasing the participation of corporations and their employees in the support of theatre across the country and in New York. NCTF member theatres include: Actors Theatre of Louisville, American Conservatory Theater, American Repertory Theatre, Center Theatre Group, The Cleveland Play House, Guthrie Theater, Long Wharf Theatre, The Old Globe, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Trinity Repertory Company.

For reservations, please call Lucia Gajda (212) 750-6895. Individual tickets are $1,000 and reserved tables are $10,000 – $25,000. For more information, please visit www.nctf.org.