Rocca to Host Theatreworks USA Gala Featuring Butz, Murphy, Roth, Legally Blonde and More

On Monday, October 20, 2008, Theatreworks USA (Barbara Pasternack, Artistic Director; Ken Arthur, Producing Director), the leading not-for-profit professional theatre for family audiences, is pleased to honor Kim Corrigan, Daryl Roth, and Laurence O'Keefe & Nell Benjamin with the Lee Salk "Goodworks" Award at its annual awards dinner and gala. The event begins at 6 p.m. at New York's famed Rainbow Room high atop 30 Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan, with cocktails and silent auction followed by dinner, awards, and live entertainment.

Hosted by comedian and political satirist Mo Rocca, the Gala is Theatreworks USA's major fundraising event of the year. Proceeds from the Gala enable Theatreworks USA to bring its plays and musicals to children across North America, and to support its annual Free Summer Theatre program, bringing the magic of live theatre to thousands of disadvantaged youth every July and August in New York City.

Theatreworks USA's Goodworks Award was established in 1985 to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions in the fileds of business, philanthropy and/or the arts. The award was renamed in 1992 to the Lee Salk Goodworks Award in memory of Theatreworks' USA's dedicated board member.

Award recipient Kim Corrigan is Executive Vice president of DraftFCB. She is responsible for the long-term strategic development and day to day oversight of the ONDCP, MetLife, Mattel/Fisher-Price, Gerber and Beiersdorf accounts, as well as the additional responsibility of Director of Client Development.   Over the past 5 years with the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Partnership for Drug Free America, Kim has led the development and launch of the acclaimed "Above the Influence" brand campaign platform that inspires teens to embrace a "pro-me" attitude to drug resistance. Julie Halpin Anderson, President and CEO of The Geppetto Group and a Theatreworks USA Board member, will be on-hand to present the award to Ms. Corrigan.

Honoree Daryl Roth has produced six Pulitzer Prize-winning plays: August: Osage County; Proof; Wit; How I Learned to Drive; Three Tall Women and Anna in the Tropics. She is the recipient of three Tony Awards as producer of August: Osage County; The Goat, or Who Is Silvia?; and Proof.   She serves on the board of directors of Lincoln Center Theater, Sundance Institute, and the New York State Council on the Arts. Her award will be presented by Bill Irwin, the critically-acclaimed clown and actor who won a Tony Award for Roth's production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Award recipients Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin are the husband-and-wife composer/lyricist team behind Broadway's Legally Blonde: The Musical (Tony and Drama Desk nominations).    Previous credits include The Mice (featured in Hal Prince's production of 3hree) and Theatreworks USA's Sarah, Plain and Tall and Cam Jansen. O'Keefe is also the composer/lyricist of Bat Boy: The Musical and Benjamin adapted Pirates of Penzance for Goodspeed Opera House and Paper Mill Playhouse. Mo Rocca will present the award to O'Keefe and Benjamin.

In addition, the Gala will feature performances from Tony Award-winning actors Norbert Leo Butz, Donna Murphy with The Children's Aid Society Chorus, and a special performance from Legally Blonde: The Musical.

The cocktail reception and silent auction begins at 6 p.m., followed by dinner, awards and live performances at 7 p.m.   Tickets for the event are $500 to $1,000, and tables for ten may be purchased for $10,000 to $25,000.  To purchase tickets or for more information on the Gala, please call Liz Alsina, Theatreworks USA's Director of Development, at 212.647.1100 x 129.

Founded in 1961, Theatreworks USA, America's foremost not-for-profit professional theatre for young and family audiences, is the most prolific producer of professional theatre in America.   During the 2008-2009 season, it will produce 28 different productions of 15 original plays and musicals with full Equity casts, both in New York City and on tour, reaching an audience of more than three million in 45 states. Recent New York City productions at the Lucille Lortel Theatre include Seussical (three Lortel Award nominations including "Outstanding Revival"), The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks, Junie B. Jones, Max & Ruby and Anne of Green Gables.

Now in its 48th season, Theatreworks USA's productions have been seen by audiences of nearly 100 million. Theatreworks USA has received a myriad of honors including the 1996 Drama Desk Award, the 1996 Lucille Lortel Award, the 1998 Dawson Award for Programmatic Excellence, and the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Award. For more information, visit www.twusa.org.

Photo Credit Peter James Zielinski

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