Tony and Drama Desk Award winner and theatre and television star Kelly Bishop (best known for her roles in A Chorus Line, Dirty Dancing, Becky Shaw, and "Gilmore Girls") will host the Huntington Theatre Company's 2009 Spotlight Spectacular! gala benefit on Monday, May 4, 2009 at the Sheraton Boston Hotel and Towers. The evening will feature musical performances by Grammy Award-winning pop icon Maureen McGovern ("The Morning After") and OBIE and Theatre World Award winner Euan Morton.
Proceeds from Spotlight Spectacular! support the Huntington's programs, including its award-winning youth, education, and community initiatives. Last year the event raised more than $700,000.This year's event honors John Cornish, Co-Trustee of the Calderwood Charitable Foundation, which has generously supported the Huntington, as well as many of Greater Boston's other leading cultural organizations. Cornish was the driving force behind the Huntington's naming grant for the creation in 2004 of the first new theatre building in Boston in more than 75 years - the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts.Chaired by Huntington Trustee Carol Deane and Huntington Overseer Neal Balkowitsch, Spotlight Spectacular! will feature an elegant cocktail reception where guests can bid on unique silent auction items while enjoying hors d'oeuvres and mingling with high-profile VIPs including stars of recent and upcoming Huntington productions. A seated dinner, live auction, and entertainment follow.Videos