Stephen Adly Guirgis Honored At RLT's Spring Gala

Stephen Adly Guirgis, freshly nominated for a 2011 Tony Award®, will appear in Buffalo on Saturday, May 14th, to celebrate, share, and be honored at Road Less Traveled Productions' (RLTP's) 2011 Spring Gala. Mr. Guirgis, whose play, The Motherf*cker With The Hat, received six Tony nominations May 3rd, is RLTP's 2011 American Theatre Master and author of RLTP's current on-stage production, The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot. Guirgis is RLTP's 4th American Theatre Master, following Eric Bogosian in 2008, James Rebhorn in 2009, and Edward Albee in 2010.

On May 14th, Mr. Guirgis will speak to local playwrights and theatre artists at 2 PM at the Road Less Traveled Theater in a Q&A session moderated by RLTP Co-Founder and Resident Playwright Jon Elston. Guirgis then will attend a 7:30 PM performance of his play, The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot,at the Road Less Traveled Theater, and subsequently attend the RLTP Spring Gala reception, immediately following the performance, at Shea's Intermission Lounge. Tony Award-nominated actor Stephen McKinley Henderson, who starred in the 2005 Off-Broadway world-premiere of The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot and who recently appeared in Buffalo on RLTP's behalf, also will attend the May 14th Gala.

Guirgis' The Motherf*cker With The Hat - his first play on Broadway -received Tony Award nominations May 3rd for Best Play, Best Actor, Best Featured Actor, Best Featured Actress, Best Director, and Best Scenic Design. The play stars actor/comedian Chris Rock in a darkly funny tale of addiction and betrayal. The Tony nominations were preceded by an April 29th Drama Desk nomination for Best New Play.

Guirgis' The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot premiered Off-Broadway in 2005 and currently is on stage at the Road Less Traveled Theater through May 22nd. The highly lauded play finds history's most notorious traitor, Judas Iscariot, in Hell, where he awaits his final judgment; meanwhile, historical and Biblical figures alike - Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene, Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas the Elder, Mother Theresa, Sigmund Freud, and Satan, among others - testify in a court of cosmic law to determine his fate. The RLTP production stars a diverse cast of WNY actors including Matt Witten, RLTP Resident Actress Lisa Vitrano, Brian Riggs, Jay Pichardo, David Oliver, Jim Maloy, Rolando Gomez, Philip Davis, David Hayes, Adrienne Lewis, Victoria Perez, Kristen Tripp Kelley, Verneice Turner, and Barry Williams. RLTP Co-Founder and Executive & Artistic Director Scott Behrend helms the production.

Mr. Guirgis' other plays include Jesus Hopped The "A" Train, In Arabia We'd All Be Kings, The Little Flower Of East Orange, Our Lady Of 121st Street,and Den Of Thieves (produced as a staged-reading by RLTP in 2010). Mr. Guirgis also has written for "NYPD Blue" and "The Sopranos" and starred in the feature film, Palindromes, directed by Todd Solondz.

Tickets to the May 14th Spring Gala - inclusive of the 7:30 PM play performance and reception - are $125 and available by phone at (800) 745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Individuals interested in attending the 2:00 PM Q&A session via $20 General Admission (cash/check only) may contact the Road Less Traveled Theater Box Office at (716) 629-3069 for seating availability.