Linda Lavin Set for 'PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST' Benefit to Support Celebration Theatre Tonight

Celebration Theatre has announced a one night only benefit event - Portrait Of An Artist: An Evening With Linda Lavin, featuring Lavin's husband and artist Steve Bakunas, tonight, February 1 at the Atwater Village Theatre in Los Angeles. The curtain rises at 8pm, and proceeds from the evening will go to support Celebration Theatre.

In an intimate setting, actress Linda Lavin shares in detail the story of her life and career as her husband, artist Steve Bakunas, paints her portrait while conducting the interview. Always spontaneous and revealing, Lavin opens up about her early years as a chorus girl, a cabaret singer, Broadway star and television icon. Bakunas, a multi-talented renaissance man, mines for the gold with humor and sensitivity, providing an entertaining and insightful evening.

Linda Lavin, a six-time Tony Award nominee, won the 1987 Tony for Best Leading Performance By An Actress In A Play (as well as the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Helen Hayes Awards) for her performance in Neil Simon's Broadway Bound. Lavin's other widely acclaimed stage appearances include Last of the Red Hot Lovers, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, Collected Stories, and most recently The Lyons. She is well known to television audiences for her portrayal of the title role in Alice, which ran for nine seasons (1976-1985) on CBS, and she currently co-stars on Sean Saves The World with Sean Hayes on NBC. Lavin's recent film credits include roles in The Back­Up Plan and Wanderlust.

Steve Bakunas has worked in a traveling circus, as a used car salesman, a mechanic, a bellhop, a bartender, a carpenter, a limo driver for The Grateful Dead, a taxi driver in San Francisco, a school bus driver, a Fuller Brush man, a house painter, a furniture upholsterer and designer, a carpet salesman, a truck driver and bulldozer operator, and a telegram singer. His acting credits include Doubt, Rabbit Hole, Dinner With Friends, Art, Speed The Plow, Glengarry Glen Ross, and Proof. Bakunas's directing credits include Collected Stories, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, Lobby Hero, and God Of Carnage. He is currently a jazz drummer for his wife's cabaret act, and a self taught painter.

Founded in 1982 and now in its 31st season, Celebration Theatre is a community of artists dedicated to presenting innovative, provocative and relevant work that examines the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer experience. It provides a supportive forum for professional and emerging writers, directors, designers and performers, giving voice to the full experience of gay culture. The theatre endeavors to challenge society's perception of the community and give a vibrant voice to its evolving identity.

Tickets for intimate onstage seating (with bottle service) for Linda Lavin: Portrait Of An Artist on Saturday, February 1 at 8pm are $100 each. Premium seating is $75, and general seating ranges from $30-$50. Tickets may be purchased online at www.celebrationtheatre.com or by phone at (323) 957-1884. Celebration's temporary home, the Atwater Village Theatre, is located at 3269 Casitas Avenue, in Los Angeles.

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