Transport Group Benefit Gala to Honor Christian Borle, Sue Frost and Paul Huntley, 12/10

Transport Group presents GIMME A BREAK! an evening of performances honoring Christian Borle, Sue Frost, and Paul Huntley at it's benefit gala on December 10, 2011 at the Asia Society and Museum, 725 Park Avenue. The GIMME A BREAK! performance features Broadway stars sharing their "big break" moments in story and song.

The evening features award presentation to Christian Borle, Sue Frost, and Paul Huntley who will each receive the "Transporting American Theatre" Award for their outstanding contributions to the American theatre. Rick Ellis, Two-time Tony Award Nominated Playwright, will present Christian Borle with his award; Joe DiPietro, Two-time Tony Award Winning Lyricist and Book Writer, will present Sue Frost with her award; and William Ivey Long, Five-time Tony Award Winning Costume Designer, will present Paul Huntley with his award. The evening’s host will be Julie Halston.

Christian Borle received the 2012 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance as Black Stache in the Broadway hit Peter and the Starcatcher. He also appeared in both the La Jolla Playhouse and New York Theatre Workshop productions of Peter and the Starcatcher, earning a Lucille Lortel Award as well as Drama Desk and Drama League Award nominations for his performance. He currently stars as composer Tom Levitt in NBC's acclaimed new drama series, Smash. Other Broadway credits include Mary Poppins, Legally Blonde: The Musical (Tony, Drama Desk, and Drama League Award nominations), Spamalot (Clarence Derwent Award, Drama Desk Award nomination), Thoroughly Modern Millie, Armour, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Footloose. Off-Broadway credits include Angels in America (Signature Theatre Company), On America (Signature Theatre Company), On the Town (Encores!) and Elegies: A Song Cycle (Lincoln Center). Regional credits include Just So (North Shore Music Theatre), The Three Musketeers (American Musical Theatre of San Jose), West Side Story (national tour), and The Who's Tommy (Offenbach, Germany). Television and film credits include Legally Blonde: The Musical, Johnny and the Sprites, Law & Order, Ghost Stories, and The Bounty Hunter.

Sue Frost is a Tony Award-winning producer, most recently for Memphis which received four 2010 Tony Awards including Best Musical. Ms. Frost was the Associate Producer at Goodspeed Musicals for 20 years where she produced more than 50 new musicals at both the Goodspeed Opera House and the Norma Terris Theatre, many of which have gone on to Broadway, off-Broadway, and regional theatres around the country. Prior to Goodspeed she worked as a company manager on several Broadway shows and tours including A Chorus Line, Dancin' and The Rink. Ms. Frost was recognized by the Association of Authors' Representatives for her dedication to new writers of new musicals, and was also honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Spirit of Broadway Theatre. A graduate of Smith College, Ms. Frost is Past President of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, currently serves as a Tony nominator, and is a founding partner of Junkyard Dog Productions, a theatrical producing organization dedicated to the development and production of new musical theatre. Since its inception in 2006, Junkyard Dog has produced Memphis, Make Me a Song: The Music of William Finn, Party Come Here, and Vanities.

Paul Huntley London born, Paul Huntley is the recipient of a Special Tony Award for Excellence in the Theatre as well as a Special Drama Desk Award for Lifetime Achievement. Mr. Huntley has worked on hundreds of Broadway projects since arriving in the U.S. in 1973 including Nice Work if You Can Get It, Other Desert Cities, Master Class, War Horse, Anything Goes, All My Sons, Sweeney Todd, Cats, Amadeus, Kiss Me Kate, The Producers, and Hairspray. For Transport Group, Mr. Huntley has designed Queen of the Mist, All the Way Home, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, Being Audrey, and Marcy in the Galaxy. He has also worked with some of the most talented leading ladies of the American cinema including Bette Davis, Vivien Leigh, Mae West, Glenn Close, Angela Lansbury, and Jessica Lange. Movies include Christopher Plummer in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and The Last Station, and Willem Dafoe in Cirque du Freak. Mr. Huntley also donates his time and talents to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy by providing custom wigs that bolster patients’ health and spirits.

Julie Halston is one of the busiest actress/comediennes working today. She was recently seen in the hit off-Broadway play Love, Loss and What I Wore, written by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron. On network television, she starred in the CBS sitcom The Class, but is most recognized as Bitsy Von Muffling from Sex and The City. Younger viewers may know her as Antigone Carruthers on the new PBS show The Electric Company. Well-known to theatre audiences, she was last seen on Broadway in Hairspray after receiving rave reviews (as well as receiving Drama Desk and Drama League nominations) for her performance in William Hamilton’s White Chocolate. She received an Outer Critics Circle nomination for her performance in The Roundabout’s production of Twentieth Century. Other Broadway credits include Gypsy, The Women, and The Man Who Came to Dinner. Off-Broadway credits include acclaimed performances in The Vagina Monologues, The Butter and Egg Man and The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told. Miss Halston’s one woman show, Julie Halston’s Lifetime of Comedy which was developed from her wildly successful club act, ran off-Broadway for six months and received an Outer Critics Circle Nomination for Best Comedy. CBS developed a pilot based on the play. She is also a regular at the Bay Street Theatre appearing most recently in the Charles Busch comedies Shanghai Moon and The Lady in Question. Last year Ms. Halston, with the assistance of the director Daniel Goldstein, developed the play Miss Margarida’s Way. It was produced by Bay Street Theatre, with a subsequent presentation at New York Theatre Workshop. Her smash one woman comedy show has extended at Birdland in NYC four times. Her film credits include The Juror, Joe Gould’s Secret, Addams Family Values, Dottie Gets Spanked, Celebrity, and David Searching. She can be seen in Charles Busch’s latest film A Very Serious Person which was selected for the Tribeca Film Festival. In January of 2008, Julie co-authored the well-received book of original monologues, Monologues for Show-Offs, published by Heinemann Press. Last year, she starred in Charles Busch’s new comedy The Divine Sister at the Soho Playhouse for which she received a Drama Desk Award nomination.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.