Tituss Burgess, Sean Hayes, Rachel Dratch & More to Join New York Theatre Workshop's 2023 Gala

New York Theatre Workshop's 2023 Gala will honor Kelly Fowler Hunter, President of the NYTW Board of Trustees, and Tony Award winner Doug Wright, NYTW Trustee and Usual Suspect. The Gala will be held on Monday May 1 at 6PM at Capitale (130 Bowery, New York, NY 10013).

"We look forward to gathering as a community to raise a glass to Kelly and Doug-two tremendous supporters and advocates for New York Theatre Workshop," said NYTW Artistic Director Patricia McGregor and Executive Director Jeremy Blocker.

"Kelly Fowler Hunter's seven years of leadership as NYTW Board President have been invaluable-especially as we continue to weather the uncertainty and disruption of the pandemic. We've had to make some incredibly difficult decisions during her tenure and Kelly's commitment to living our Core Values and supporting bold, adventurous artists enabled us to take risks and push forward. Kelly's deep relationships within the Dartmouth community have enriched our summer residencies, and her celebratory spirit enlivens every NYTW opening, event, and opportunity to bond with the community in late night revelry.

"Doug Wright has been a trusted advisor and supporter of the Workshop for his nearly three decades as a member of the Board. He has given so generously of his time and resources, gifts that he has offered not only NYTW but the theatre community as a whole in his role as the former President of the Dramatists Guild. Doug was one of the many Artistic Instigators who brought much-needed joy and art to our community during the pandemic-continuing a tradition that began when his unforgettable Quills took our stage by storm in 1995. Doug strikes the balance of wit and wisdom in his work and in his everyday life as a treasured member of our artist community and we look forward to many more plays and musicals to come."

Kelly Fowler Hunter has served as President of New York Theatre Workshop's Board of Trustees since 2016. She is the former Managing Partner of Hunter Travel Service, a deluxe travel planning and consulting business she co-founded with her husband, André Hunter, and a former marketing professional with American Express Travel Related Services as well as several advertising agencies. Since selling her business, Kelly has dedicated her efforts to maintaining and improving the health of not-for-profit organizations, particularly in the areas of social services, education and the arts. Before serving as NYTW's Board President, Kelly chaired NYTW's Strategic Planning Task Force to guide and inform the organization's growth and initiatives, and she has consistently advocated for pay increases for artists and practitioners across NYTW's stages and workshop programs. As President, she stewarded NYTW through the challenging days of the pandemic shutdowns and the year-long search for a new Artistic Director following the retirement of James C. Nicola. Kelly also led the Board in sharpening its focus on equity, diversity and inclusion. Kelly is a former Board Chair of The Guidance Center of Westchester, a large social services agency providing mental health, substance use treatment, education, and housing services. She serves on the Board of Advisors of the Hopkins Center for the Performing Arts at Dartmouth College and is also the past co-Chair of the Friends of Dartmouth Women's Rugby, NCAA Division 1 National Champions. Kelly received a BA degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA degree from The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. She lives with her husband André in Bedford, NY, and is a proud parent of three grown children - all of whom, parents included, are passionate participants in the arts.

Doug Wright dates the beginning of his playwriting career as November 1995, when the New York Theatre Workshop produced his play, Quills; the show's success allowed him to shed his many "day jobs" and earn a living as a writer. His Broadway credits include Good Night, Oscar, opening this April at the Belasco Theatre; War Paint starring Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole; Hands on a Hardbody (Drama Desk nomination); The Little Mermaid; Grey Gardens (Tony Award nomination) and I Am My Own Wife (Tony, Pulitzer Prize). His work has been featured off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, The Atlantic, the Vineyard, the Minetta Lane, and the WPA and has been seen in over thirty-three countries around the globe. His films include his screen adaptation of Quills (Golden Globe nomination) and the upcoming The Burial starring Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones. He is the former president of the Dramatists Guild and a member of SAG-AFTRA, SDC and the WGA. Doug serves on the Board of New York Theatre Workshop and has taught at NYU, Princeton and Yale. He has mentored young screenwriters at Sundance for twenty years. He lives in Manhattan with his husband singer-songwriter David Clement, and their cats Glynis and Murray.

The evening's program will be hosted by Emmy Award nominee Tituss Burgess ("Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt"), directed by Kevin Cahoon ("Monarch"), scripted by Emma Tattenbaum-Fine (Trash Mermaid) and feature musical direction by Will Van Dyke (Little Shop of Horrors). The live auction will be conducted by Charles Antin.

The evening will also feature appearances and performances from Sean Hayes (Good Night, Oscar), Rachel Dratch (POTUS), two-time Tony Award winner Christine Ebersole (Grey Gardens), Brandon Victor Dixon (Shuffle Along), Trey Anastasio (Hands on a Hardbody), Lea DeLaria ("Orange is the New Black"), Tamika Lawrence (Black No More), Nicole Ari Parker ("Empire"), Heidi Schreck (What the Constitution Means to Me), Scott Frankel (Grey Gardens), Sherz Aletaha (Merrily We Roll Along), Corey Mach (Merrily We Roll Along), Brian Sears (Merrily We Roll Along) and Jeff Romley.

The creative team will include production designer Frank J. Oliva (This Beautiful Future), lighting designer Stacey Derosier (The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe), sound designer Megumi Katyama (Regretfully, So the Birds Are) and line producer Rachel Frost. Terri Kohler (What the Constitution Means to Me) serves as Stage Manager with Katherine Shea (Travesties) as Assistant Stage Manager. Video by ZANNI Productions.

The NYTW Annual Gala raises nearly 10% of the Off-Broadway company's annual budget. Funds raised at this one-night-only event help NYTW to mount five world class productions each season and to share them with more than 50,000 audience members. Proceeds also support NYTW's Artist Workshop activities through which nearly 2,000 artists develop more than 80 projects each year and their Education Initiatives including Learning Workshop, Mind the Gap, and Public Programs that serve over 1,600 students of all ages.

Event tickets begin at $1,250 with tables starting at $12,500 and can be purchased at www.nytw.org or by calling 212-780-9037. The Gala will be chaired by André Hunter, Frank Marshall & Kathleen Kennedy, Thomas Schumacher, Melanie & Joseph Shugart, and Barbara Whitman, Beth Williams & Mindy Rich.

New York Theatre Workshop empowers visionary theatre-makers and brings their work to adventurous audiences through productions, artist workshops and education and community engagement programs. We nurture pioneering new writers alongside powerhouse playwrights, engage inimitable genre-shaping directors, and support emerging artists in the earliest days of their careers. We've mounted over 150 productions from artists whose work has shaped our very idea of what theatre can be, including Jonathan Larson's Rent; Tony Kushner's Slavs! and Homebody/Kabul; Doug Wright's Quills; Claudia Shear's Blown Sideways Through Life and Dirty Blonde; Paul Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told and Valhalla; Martha Clarke's Vienna: Lusthaus; Will Power's The Seven and Fetch Clay, Make Man; Caryl Churchill's Mad Forest, Far Away, A Number and Love and Information; Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen's Aftermath; Rick Elice's Peter and the Starcatcher; Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová and Enda Walsh's Once; David Bowie and Enda Walsh's Lazarus; Dael Orlandersmith's The Gimmick and Forever; Heidi Schreck's What the Constitution Means to Me; Jeremy O. Harris's Slave Play; and eight acclaimed productions directed by Ivo van Hove. NYTW's productions have received a Pulitzer Prize, 25 Tony Awards, 2 Grammy Awards and assorted Obie, Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Awards. NYTW is represented on Broadway with Anaïs Mitchell's Hadestown developed with and directed by Rachel Chavkin and the upcoming Merrily We Roll Along, directed by Maria Friedman.

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