Sierra Boggess, Derrick Davis and Julie Halston Join Primary Stages 38th Anniversary Gala

Primary Stages has announced additional performers for their 38th Anniversary Gala, honoring long-time collaborators Charles Busch and Carl Andress (The Confession of Lily Dare; The Tribute Artist) with the 2022 Einhorn Mentorship Award. The event will take place on Tuesday November 15, 2022, at 6pm at Sony Hall (235 W 46th St).

Performers for the gala will include Sierra Boggess (The Little Mermaid), Derrick Davis (Ragtime) and Julie Halston (The Tribute Artist). They join the previously announced Kate Baldwin (Hello, Dolly!), vocalist Amber Martin ("Amber Martin"), Zakiya Young ("Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin"), and the performance group America's Sweethearts (Kristen Michelle, Traci Bair, Carly Kincannon). Musical direction is by Will Van Dyke (Little Shop of Horrors). The Live Auction will be led by Will Roland (Be More Chill). Program is subject to change.

The Einhorn Mentorship Award is awarded each year to someone in the Primary Stages community who has been a true mentor and inspiration to those who work with them. Past recipients include Jeanine Tesori, Kimberly Senior, Judy Gold, Adam Gwon, and Sharon Washington. As artists that have led the way for so many aspiring performers, held out their hands and inspired others, Primary Stages is thrilled to be honoring playwright and actor Charles Busch and director Carl Andress with the 2022 Einhorn Mentorship Award.

Busch and Andress have a long and celebrated partnership, creating acclaimed comedies Off-Broadway, authored by and starring Busch and directed by Andress. The pair also collaborated on the film A Very Serious Person, which won an honorable mention at the Tribeca Film Festival, and their most recent film project, The Sixth Reel, which premiered at Outfest in Los Angeles in 2021 and received a Special Mention for Ensemble Performance.

The Primary Stages 38th Anniversary Gala is directed by Michelle Bossy (The Oxy Complex), and will include cocktails, dinner and musical performances of songs from Charles Busch and Carl Andress' incredible body of work.

The Gala Benefit Committee includes Sue Breger, Chair; Jamie deRoy; Arlene Goldman; Eleanor Holtzman; Carol Roaman; and Mary Susnjara.

The Gala is Primary Stages largest annual fundraiser, and its income provides critical support for the company's free educational programs benefiting over 1,000 New York City public school students and teachers annually. Single tickets are $1,000, and tables start at $3,000. Proof of COVID-19 vaccination is required for all attendees. For more information, please call 212.840.9705 x214 or visit primarystages.org/gala.

As the Resident Off-Broadway Theater Company at 59E59 Theaters, Primary Stages is currently presenting the New York Premiere of peerless by Jiehae Park. A darkly comedic twist on Shakespeare's Macbeth set in the cutthroat world of elite college admissions, Jiehae Park's clever and incisive adaptation, peerless, is a comedy...until it's not. This new version of the classic story centers on M and L, twin Asian-American siblings who have given up everything to get into The College. When another classmate claims what they feel is rightfully "their spot," the twins find themselves with only one option: murder. Jiehae Park is a 2019/20 Tow Playwright-in-Residence at Primary Stages. peerless is running now through November 6, 2022 at 59E59 Theaters. Purchase tickets at 59e59.org/shows/show-detail/peerless

ABOUT PRIMARY STAGES

Primary Stages is an Off-Broadway not-for-profit theater company dedicated to inspiring, supporting, producing, and sharing the art of playwriting. We operate on the strongly held belief that the future of American theater relies on nurturing playwrights and giving them the artistic support needed to create new work. Since our founding in 1984, we have produced more than 135 new plays, including Theresa Rebeck's Poor Behavior and Downstairs; Kate Hamill's Pride and Prejudice and Little Women; Billy Porter's While I Yet Live; Charles Busch's The Tribute Artist and The Confession of Lily Dare; Sharon Washington's Feeding the Dragon; Leah Nanako Winkler's God Said This; Clarence Coo's On That Day in Amsterdam; In Transit by James-Allen-Ford, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Russ Kaplan, and Sara Wordsworth (on Broadway in 2017); Horton Foote's The Roads to Home, The Day Emily Married, Harrison, TX, and Dividing the Estate (two Tony nominations); Donald Margulies' The Model Apartment (1995 premiere and 2013 revival); David Ives' Lives of the Saints and All in the Timing (original 1993 production and 2013 revival); Deborah Zoe Laufer's Informed Consent; Ike Holter's Exit Strategy; Tanya Saracho's Fade; Michael McKeever's Daniel's Husband; A.R. Gurney's Black Tie; Terrence McNally's Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams and The Stendhal Syndrome; Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter's In the Continuum (which went on to tour the U.S., Africa, and Scotland); and Conor McPherson's St. Nicholas (which marked the playwright's U.S. debut). Our productions and artists have received critical acclaim, including Tony, Obie, Lortel, AUDELCO, Outer Critics' Circle, Drama League, and Drama Desk awards and nominations. Primary Stages supports playwrights and develops new works through commissions, workshops, readings, and our education and training programs: The Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group, the Marvin and Anne Einhorn School of Performing Arts (ESPA), the Echoes Writers Group, Creative Access Grants, and the Primary Stages Off-Broadway Oral History Project. Through these programs, Primary Stages advocates for our artists, helping them make important-and often transformative-connections within the theater community.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT

WWW.PRIMARYSTAGES.ORG

Charles Busch

is the author and star of such plays as The Divine Sister, The Confession of Lily Dare, The Tribute Artist, Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, one of the longest running plays in the history of Off-Broadway, and The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, which ran for nearly two years on Broadway and received a Tony nomination for Best Play. He wrote and starred in the film versions of his plays Psycho Beach Party and Die, Mommie, Die!, the latter of which won him the Best Performance Award at the Sundance Film Festival. Mr. Busch is a recipient of a special Drama Desk Award for career achievement as both performer and playwright, and the Dramatist's Guild has honored him with the Flora Roberts Award for sustained commitment to the theater. charlesbusch.com

Carl Andress

is proud to have staged over 15 original productions of critically acclaimed plays written by and starring Charles Busch, including The Tribute Artist, The Confession of Lily Dare, The Divine Sister, and Die, Mommie, Die!, in addition to many other New York and regional productions, developmental workshops of new works, and numerous galas and benefits, including the NY concert premieres of The Visit, A Wonderful Life, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, and Valley of the Dolls, all to benefit The Entertainment Community Fund on Broadway. carlandress.com