Rachel York to Co-Host 15th Annual Column Awards, 2/24

THE COLUMN Awards Board of Directors and Executive Director/Producer/Founder John Garcia have the esteemed honor to announce today that one of Broadway's biggest and most sought after stars, Rachel York will serve as Co-Host for the 15th Annual Column Awards Gala. The gala will be held Monday February 24, 2014 at the Patty Granville Performing Arts Complex with a cocktail reception at 7:00pm, curtain at 8:00pm. For all info and tix info go towww.thecolumnawards.org

THE COLUMN Awards holds the great distinction of being the only awards organization in the United States that serves a major benefit for BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS.

Since its inception, the organization has raised close to $95,000 for BC/EFA.

THE COLUMN Awards honors excellence in theater within the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, both for Equity and Non-Equity.

When reached for comment, Ms. York stated, "I'm very excited to return to Dallas. It was just barely a year ago I was here with the national tour of ANYTHING GOES & now I'm back. I have a great fondness for Dallas/Ft. Worth. The two cities have been very good to me. I've performed Kiss Me Kate, Camelot, and The 101 Dalmatians Musical here in Dallas and I met my husband performing a show in Ft. Worth. I am also a proud supporter of BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS and to know THE COLUMN Awards is a major benefit for this organization sealed the deal for me to Co-host this magical evening."

She laughed and said, "It's fun to think that I will be co-hosting with John Garcia. We first met in NYC years ago when I was performing VICTOR/VICTORIA on Broadway starring Julie Andrews. I remember John because he didn't want to talk about Julie, rather he went on and on about how fabulous Willa Kim's costumes were. Then he appears in my dressing room at ANYTHING GOES in Dallas last year, and he went on and on about my "fabulous" costumes! What a hoot! I better figure out something fabulous to wear for the awards lest I disappoint my co-host. It's going to be a wonderfully fun evening"

Dallas/ Fort Worth audiences packed the Winspear Opera House this past February to catch Ms. York star as "Reno Sweeney" in the critically acclaimed national tour of Cole Porter's Anything Goes.

Executive Director/Producer/Founder John Garcia stated, "Ms. York has always been personally one of my most sought after stars to bring to our gala, and to finally have her attend, well the board and I are busting at the seams with glee & excitement."

Garcia went to say, "I did actually did talk with her when she was on Broadway in Victor/Victoria and later on in The Scarlet Pimpernel. Here in Dallas the same thing happened when she headlined the national tours of Kiss Me Kate, 101 Dalmatians, Camelot, & Anything Goes."

"Since I've portrayed 'Moonface' in over a dozen productions of Anything Goes, maybe Rachel will let me be her Moonie for the evening!" giggled Garcia.

Rachel York is a dynamic and versatile actress, singer, dancer and comedienne. She is best known for her critically acclaimed Broadway performances in City of Angels, LES MISERABLES, Victor/Victoria (Drama Desk Award), with Dame Julie Andrews, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sly Fox with Richard Dreyfuss, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels co-starring Jonathan Pryce. She also turned heads on television with her courageous portrayal of Lucille Ball in the CBS movie, Lucy.

Ms. York is currently starring as Reno Sweeny in the national tour of the Tony-Award winning production of Anything Goes. On tour, she also created the role of Cruella de Vil in The 101 Dalmatians Musical; starred as Guenevere in Camelot (Carbonell Award) opposite Michael York; and portrayed Lilli Vanessi/Kate in Kiss Me, Kate (US and West End). Off-Broadway Ms. York has starred in The Best Is Yet to Come: The Music of Cy Coleman; Stephen Sondheim's Putting It Together (MTC, Drama Desk nomination) also with Julie Andrews, Dessa Rose (Lincoln Center Theater, Drama Desk nomination), and most recently as Dorothy Shaw in the acclaimed Encores! production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Favorite regional productions include The King and I; The Game (a musical adaptation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses); Turn of the Century opposite Jeff Daniels (Goodman Theatre, Chicago); Hello, Dolly! (Boston, IRNE Award); Into the Woods (Boston, IRNE Award); Spamalot; Ragtime; Evita; Summer and Smoke; and The Odd Couple with Jason Alexander and Martin Short.

In concert, Ms. York's has performed with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall; the National Symphony and the Pittsburgh Pops under the direction of conductor Marvin Hamlisch; Broadway Showstoppers with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops; The Sound of Music at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; the San Francisco Symphony; the Detroit Symphony; the Minnesota Orchestra; the Utah Symphony; the St. Louis Symphony; and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra among others. She has also performed her celebrated cabaret For the Love of It to rave reviews nationwide.

Ms. York's film credits include One Fine Day, Happy Feet, Billy Bathgate, Second Honeymoon, Au Pair II, and the CBS made for television movie, Lucy. Her performances in Kiss Me, Kate (filmed for PBS's Great Performances series) and Victor/Victoria are available on video/DVD. Ms. York has also appeared on several popular TV series including Hannah Montana, Frasier, Reba, Numb3rs, Close to Home, Spin City, and Diagnosis Murder. She is the voice of Bitty in Higglytown Heroes and Circe on The Justice League.

Ms. York's debut solo album, Let's Fall in Love, has been an enormous success since its release and was named one of the Top Ten Vocal CDs of the year by Talkin' Broadway. For more information, please visit her on the web atwww.rachelyork.com.