2017 THEATRE COMMUNICATIONS GROUP GALA

2017 TCG GALA

TCG HONORED THE CREATIVE TEAM OF WAR PAINT

PLAYWRIGHT DOUG WRIGHT, COMPOSER SCOTT FRANKEL, LYRICIST MICHAEL KORIE, 

DIRECTOR MICHAEL GREIF

SAMUEL E. WRIGHT

PERFORMED A MEDLEY OF SONGS

JOHN DOSSETT AND CHRIS HOCH

PERFORMED A SONG FROM WAR PAINT

MONDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2017

ESPACE | NEW YORK CITY

Theatre Communications Group's (TCG) 2017 Gala celebrated the War Paint creative team, and featured special performances by actor Samuel E. Wright accompanied by Michael Forman. Wright played the part of Mufasa in the original cast of The Lion King on Broadway. Original Broadway cast members John Dossett and Chris Hoch performed "Dinosaurs" from War Paint accompanied by Paul Staroba. TCG's Board Member Marshall Jones III welcomed guests and introduced TCG's Executive Director Teresa Eyring and Deputy Director/COO Adrian Budhu, who gave the benefit's opening remarks. Eyring said, "We are celebrating with a truly dynamic representation of our field including artists, trustees, theatre staffs, individual donors, business partners and members of the media. We are thrilled to honor the War Paint creative team, as well as our National Council for the American Theatre while raising crucial funds to support the groundbreaking work of TCG."

Theatre Communications Group's (TCG) 2017 Gala evening celebrated legacy in our national theatre field, as we honor the longstanding contributions made by theatre artists and trustees to make a better world for and because of theatre. The creative team of War Paint was introduced by the producing artistic director of Sundance Institute Theatre Program, Philip Himberg. The decades-long work of Honored Composer Scott Frankel, Director Michael Greif, Lyricist Michael Korie, and Playwright Doug Wright have resulted in some of the most reprised and iconic works of their generation. Most recently, they collaborated on War Paint, which recently concluded its Broadway run after originating at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, a TCG Member Theatre.

Also recognized was the National Council for the American Theatre. The award was accepted by Chair Judith O. Rubin. TCG's National Council celebrated 20 years of service to TCG and the field. Comprised of theatre trustees from across the US, NCAT advises and supports TCG in helping to ensure the health and vitality of resident theatres across the US, including New York.

TCG Board Chair, Kevin Moriarty of Dallas Theater Center, gave the closing remarks: "I am moved by the complex and wonderful national theatre ecology we enjoy, with remarkable artists such as Doug, Michael, Scott, and Michael, resident theatres such as the Goodman–that invest in new work and giving it the highest visibility, and volunteer trustees who support the work at every stage."

The Gala also offered an opportunity for the TCG community to celebrate the accomplishments of the past year and raise support for TCG's wide-ranging programs and services. Highlights from the past year include: a National Conference in Portland, OR that brought together nearly 1,000 theatre practitioners for skills-building and knowledge-sharing; the awarding of $1.184 million in Audience (R)Evolution Cohort Grants, in partnership with the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, to innovative audience-engagement projects; and the publication of award-winning works by both established and emerging playwrights like the Pulitzer Prize-winning Sweat by Lynn Nottage, and Tony Award winners Dear Evan Hansen by Steven Levenson and Oslo by J.T. Rogers. TCG celebrated the culmination of the Legacy Leaders of Color Video Project series and the launch of the third cohort of the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Institute.

About the 2017 Honorees:

SCOTT FRANKEL is a theatre composer whose most recent musical, War Paint, starring Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole, played on Broadway following a record-breaking engagement at the Goodman Theatre in the summer of 2016. Other works include Grey Gardens (Tony nomination), Far From Heaven (Playwrights Horizons, Williamstown Theatre Festival), Happiness (Lincoln Center Theater), Doll (Ravinia Festival) and Meet Mister Future (Winner, Global Search for New Musicals). Frankel is the recipient of the ASCAP Foundation New Horizons Richard Rodgers Award and the Frederick Loewe Award. He is a fellow of the MacDowell Colony and a graduate of Yale University.

MICHAEL GREIF most recently directed Dear Evan Hansen at the Music Box and War Paint at the Nederlander. Additional Broadway credits: Rent, Grey Gardens, Next to Normal (Tony noms.); Never Gonna Dance; If/Then. Recent work includes A Parallelogram (Second Stage); Our Lady of Kibeho and Angels in America (NY's Signature Theatre); The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide… (Public); and The Tempest, A Winter's Tale and Romeo and Juliet at The Public's Delacorte Theater. Off-Broadway, he's received Obie Awards for Machinal, Dogeaters (Public) and Rent (NYTW), and has directed new plays and musicals at Playwrights Horizons, Roundabout, MTC, MCC, New York Theatre Workshop and at Second Stage, where he directed Next to Normal and Dear Evan Hansen. Regional work includes premieres and revivals at Williamstown Theatre Festival (ten seasons), La Jolla Playhouse (AD, five seasons), The Goodman, Arena Stage, Center Stage, Mark Taper Forum, Dallas Theater Center, Trinity Repertory Company. Mr. Greif holds a BS from Northwestern University and an MFA from the University of California, San Diego.

MICHAEL KORIE Musicals with composer Scott Frankel: War Paint and Grey Gardens with playwright Doug Wright, director Michael Greif; Far From Heaven; Doll; Happiness. Produced on Broadway, Playwrights Horizons, Lincoln Center Theater, nationally and abroad. Opera librettos: Harvey Milk, Hopper's Wife, Where's Dick?, Kabbalah, composer Stewart Wallace; The Grapes of Wrath, composer Ricky Ian Gordon. Produced at San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, New York City Opera, BAM Next Wave Festival, Carnegie Hall. Co-lyrics with Amy Powers to Doctor Zhivago, composer Lucy Simon, produced in Australia, Korea, Scandinavia, Hungary, Germany and ever so briefly on Broadway. Kleban, Larson, Rodgers and Marc Blitzstein awards.

DOUG WRIGHT was most recently represented on Broadway by the musical War Paint, which played at the Nederlander Theater. His earlier plays include I Am My Own Wife (Tony Award, Pulitzer Prize), Posterity, and Quills (Obie Award), as well as books for the musicals Grey Gardens (Tony Nomination), The Little Mermaid and Hands on A Hardbody. (Drama Desk Nomination). Films include the screen adaptation of Quills (Paul Selvin Award, WGA) and production rewrites for director Rob Marshall, Steven Spielberg and others. Acting credits include two appearances on Law and Order: Criminal Intent, and the films Little Manhattan and Two Lovers. He is president of The Dramatists Guild and on the Board of The New York Theater Workshop. He has received grants from United States Artists and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and is a graduate of Yale University (BA) and New York University (MFA). He has been a frequent guest at Yaddo and the MacDowell Art Colonies, and has taught or guest lectured at the Yale Drama School, Princeton University, Juilliard and NYU. He lives in New York with his husband, singer-songwriter David Clement and cats Glynis and Murray.

About TCG:

For over 55 years, Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for U.S. theatre, has existed to strengthen, nurture, and promote the professional not-for-profit theatre. TCG's constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to over 700 member theatres and affiliate organizations and more than 12,000 individuals nationwide. TCG offers its members networking and knowledge-building opportunities through conferences, events, research, and communications; awards grants, approximately $2 million per year, to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level; and through the Global Theater Initiative, TCG's partnership with the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics, serves as the U.S. Center of the International Theatre Institute. TCG is North America's largest independent publisher of dramatic literature, with 15 Pulitzer Prizes for Best Play on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning American Theatre magazine and ARTSEARCH®, the essential source for a career in the arts. In all its endeavors, TCG seeks to increase the organizational efficiency of its Member Theatres, cultivate and celebrate the artistic talent and achievements of the field, and promote a larger public understanding of, and appreciation for, the theatre. www.tcg.org

The TCG Board of Directors includes: Christopher Acebo, Sarah Bellamy, Joseph P. Benincasa, Raymond Bobgan, Kristen Coury, Joshua Dachs, Will Davis, Teresa Eyring, Larissa FastHorse, Derek Goldman, Jamie Herlich, Susan E. Hilferty, Benita Hofstetter Koman, Rebecca Hopkins, Tim Jennings, Marshall Jones, Max Leventhal, Kathryn M. Lipuma, Johamy Morales, Kevin Moriarty, Eileen J. Morris, Lisa Portes, Meghan Pressman, Heather Randall, Randy Reyes, Francine T. Reynolds, Ellen Richard, Blake Robison, Eric Rosen, Michael S. Rosenberg, Nikkole Salter, Tim Sanford, Carlo Scandiuzzi, John Douglas Thompson, Robert P. Warren, and Shana Waterman. The Executive Director of TCG is Teresa Eyring.

About TCG'S National Council for the American Theatre:

Comprised of leading trustees from Member Theatres from across the country, the National Council for the American Theatre guides TCG's programs on governance and board development and serves as a brain trust for the organization. Successful programs launched by the National Council include TCG's annual Fall Forum on Governance, special sessions for trustees at the annual TCG National Conference and the Trustee Leadership Network, an enhanced form of individual membership open only to trustees of TCG theatres. Published in 2005 by TCG Books, The Art of Governance is TCG's first full-length publication devoted to theatre boards, and was edited by Jaan W. Whitehead and the late Nancy Keen Roche, two founding members of the National Council. Since its release, the publication has become an essential guide for trustees, artistic and managing directors, and other professionals in the performing arts.

National Council members include: Eve Alvord, Roger J. Bass, Ralph Bryan, Diana Buckhantz, Bunni Copaken, Sophie Cripe, Brad Edgerton, Reade Fahs, Wendy Gillespie, Kiki Ramos Gindler, Laura Hall, Ruth Hendel, Cynthia Huffman, Bruce E. H. Johnson, Carole Krumland, Gail Lopes, Jennifer Melin Miller, Ruby Melton, Julie M. Morris, Eleanor C. Nolan, Toni Rembe, Deedie Rose, Theodore S. Rosky, Jack Rouse, Judith O. Rubin, Jeremy Shamos, David E. Shiffrin, and Jaan W. Whitehead. Learn more about the National Council here.