Lois Smith Will Be Honored At Playwrights Horizons Spring Gala

Playwrights Horizons (Artistic Director Tim Sanford, Managing Director Leslie Marcus) today announces that its 2019 Spring Gala will honor the beloved and prolific actress Lois Smith, a two-time Tony Award nominee whose six-decade career in theater, film, and television has included memorable performances in numerous Playwrights Horizons productions. The event will convene Playwrights Horizons' diverse community of writers, artists, and supporters on Monday, May 6 at 583 Park Avenue.

The Playwrights Horizons 2019 Spring Gala begins with a cocktail reception at 6pm, followed by dinner and performances at 7:30pm. Tickets start at $1,000 and can be purchased via the Playwrights Horizons website.

At the event, playwrights Jordan Harrison, Amy Herzog, and Craig Lucas, and director Michael Wilson will reflect on Smith's sizable contribution to the American theater. The Gala's Honorary Artistic Committee includes directors Michael Almereyda, Wes Anderson, Carolyn Cantor, Frank Galati, Sam Gold, Anne Kauffman, Tyne Rafaeli, Stephen Root, and Anna Shapiro; fellow actors Noah Bean, Mark Blum, Jeff Bridges, Lisa Emery, Michael Gaston, Russell Harvard, Anna Paquin, Tim Robbins, Jeremy Shamos, Gary Sinise, and Mare Winningham; playwrights Annie Baker, Kate Fodor, and Lily Thorne; and Steppenwolf Theatre Executive Director David Schmitz.

The evening will feature performances by Darlesia Cearcy, Jessica Frances Dukes, Brandon Gill, Olli Haaskivi, Jonathan Hadary, Paolo Montalban, Larry Owens, and Mare Winningham.

Lois Smith began her acting career on Broadway in Time out for Ginger, followed by The Young and the Beautiful, Blues for Mr. Charlie, and Orpheus Descending. Highlights from her vast body of work include Playwrights Horizons productions of I Was Most Alive with You, Marjorie Prime, After the Revolution, and 100 Saints You Should Know; Steppenwolf Theater productions of The Grapes of Wrath (Tony nom.), Buried Child (Tony nom.), The Mesmerist, Mother Courage, The Royal Family and The Tempest; Off-Broadway productions of Defying Gravity (American Place Theater), The Trip to the Bountiful (Signature Theater), The Illusion (Signature), Heartless (Signature), John (Signature), and Peace for Mary Frances (New Group); and, at regional theaters, Uncle Vanya (Mark Taper), The Seagull (Guthrie), The Cherry Orchard (Baltimore Center Stage), The Front Page (Long Wharf), Escape from Happiness (BCS), and The Stick Wife (Hartford Stage). Smith's many television credits include The Apple Tree, Miss Julie, The Master Builder, True Blood, Truman, The Laramie Project, Frasier, Just Shoot Me, Law & Order, ER, and Grey's Anatomy. She has appeared in films including East of Eden, Five Easy Pieces, Marjorie Prime, Lady Bird, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, Please Give, Hollywoodland, Next Stop Greenwich Village, Black Widow, Fried Green Tomatoes, Twister, Larger Than Life, Dead Man Walking, and Minority Report.

The Spring Gala is Playwrights Horizons' largest fundraising event of the year, with donations earmarked to support the organization's productions, the development of new plays and musicals, ticket subsidies and the Theatrical Fellowship Program which cultivates the next generation of artists, arts managers, and theatergoers. Previous fellows have included EGOT winner Robert Lopez, Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah DeLappe, and Playwrights Horizons Artistic Director Tim Sanford.

Serving as Gala Co-Chairs are Playwrights Horizons Board Member David Caplan & Karen Wagner, and Generation PH Leadership Committee Member Nicholas P. Russo.

Lead support for the Playwrights Horizons Spring Gala is generously provided by Goldman Sachs, with additional support provided by Citi, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Horizon Media, and Taconic Capital Advisers L.P.