Taye Diggs Sits as Honorary Chairman of Alvin Ailey Dance Gala, Nov, 30

By: Nov. 03, 2005
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Taye Diggs, who is currently featured in off-Broadway's A Soldier's Play, will serve as the Honorary Chairman of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Opening Night Gala on Wednesday, November 30, 2005. Diggs will lead guests in celebrating the opening of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's annual season at New York's City Center which runs through January 1, 2006. The performance will begin at 7:00pm at City Center, West 55th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues) and will be followed with dinner and dancing at 9:30pm in the Metropolitan Ballroom of the Sheraton New York (811 7th Ave. at 53rd Street).

The one-night-only gala performance "will feature the world premiere of Reminiscin', a new ballet choreographed by Judith Jamison who takes her inspiration from the great female jazz artists Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Roberta Flack, Regina Carter and Diana Krall along with artist Edward Hopper's Nighthawks. The program will also include Alvin Ailey's timeless masterpiece Revelations, performed with live music," according to press notes.

An elegant dinner dance at the Sheraton's Metropolitan Ballroom will follow the performance. Katherine Farley and Jerry I. Speyer, Patricia and Philip Laskawy, Marion Fischer Lenihan & Lawrence D. Lenihan, Jr. and Joan and Sandy Weill are co-chairs of the event.

Proceeds from the gala will "help to ensure the continued growth and vitality of all of Ailey's important programs – from the creation of new works to scholarships for talented young dancers to innovative outreach programs."

Taye Diggs will reprise his Broadway performance as Benjamin Coffin III in the soon-to-be-released film version of Rent. His other theatre credits include Carousel, Chicago and Wicked (to whose original star, Idina Menzel, he is married). Digg's film credits include Malibu's Most Wanted, Chicago, Brown Sugar, The Way of the Gun, House on Haunted Hill, The Best Man, The Wood, and How Stella Got Her Groove Back, his film debut.

Prices for the performance and the reception range from $400 to $2,500 per ticket. The opening night performance is underwritten by Morgan Stanley. Citigroup, Ernst & Young, The Lenihan Family Foundation and Tishman Speyer are the sponsors for the evening. Those who attend the gala are encourage to wear black tie or festive dress.

For gala tickets, call Lesley Gholston at (212) 405-9031. Tickets for the performance only are $15-$25; call CITYTIX (212) 581-1212, order online at www.alvinailey.org or www.citycenter.org or visit the City Center box office at West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues.





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