Billy Crudup and Deirdre O’Connell to Host 2022 Vineyard Theater Gala

Vineyard Theater announced that Billy Crudup (“The Morning Show,” Harry Clarke of The Vineyard) and Deirdre O’Connell (recent Tony nominee for Dana H.) will co-host Vineyard Theaterthe annual gala on Monday, May 16, 2022. The gala will honor New York City Council member Carlina Rivera and celebrate the music of the late, singer-songwriter extraordinaire Laura Nyro. The gala will take place on Monday, May 16, starting with a dinner at the Boucherie (225 Park Avenue S) followed by a concert at Daryl Roth Theater (101 E. 15th Street).

Join previously announced artists Mandy Gonzalez, Judy Kuhn and Anika Noni Rosereuniting for the first time in twenty years since their Obie Award-winning performances in the Vineyard’s Laura Nyro musical Eli’s Comin’, other guest artists include the Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Melissa ManchesterRock and Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter Felix Cavaliere Rascals, Latoya Edwards (School girls, I miss you like hell), Wilson Jermaine Heredia (Rent, original cast member of Eli’s Comin’ from The Vineyard), Julie Benko (Funny Girl) and an appearance by Vineyard Artist and Board Member Brandon Victor Dixon (Hamilton, Black No More). The gala show is led by Sarna Rabbit (Sunday in the Park with George), under the musical direction of Dan Lipton (The last boat.)

The Vineyard Gala will include cocktails, dinner, live auction and concert celebrating the singer-songwriter’s groundbreaking work and legacy Laura Nyroand in honor of NYC Council Member Carlina Rivera.

The event is sponsored by The Blavatnik Family Foundation and The Broadway Exchange. Vineyard Theater Gala host committee members include John Barrie and Betsy Smith, Kathleen and Henri ChalfantMark Lerner and Steven Frank, Sally Horchow, Cody LassenCaryl Orlando, Elise Jan Flagg, Sue Marks, Daryl RothAnnette Stover and Richard Feiner, and Signature Bank.

Sponsorships are $50,000 and include two premium tables. Tables are $25,000 and $10,000, and individual tickets are $2,500 and $1,000 with a limited number of concert tickets only available for $500. Tickets can be purchased by email [email protected]by calling (646) 931-4727 or visiting www.vineyardtheatre.org/gala. Funds raised will benefit The Vineyard‘s shows return with the 2021-2022 season and its Good Neighbor program, which provides free and low-cost tickets to thousands of New Yorkers each year.

Biographies

Carlina Rivera represents the 2nd Council District which includes the various neighborhoods of East Village, Flatiron, Gramercy Park, Pink HillKips Bay, Murray Hill and the Lower East Side. While on Council, Carlina has already introduced and passed legislation related to sexual harassment, immigration, criminal justice reform, affordable housing, small business survival, and bike safety. Carlina was born and raised in Lower Manhattan’s 2nd District by a single mother who emigrated from Puerto Rico. She began her career in after-school programming, working with children in some of New York’s most disadvantaged schools. She then served her local community, creating and organizing initiatives for seniors and homeless New Yorkers as Director of Programs and Services at Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES), a local non-profit organization. profit centered on social justice. Carlina has a history of bringing people together to improve the lives, resources, and well-being of Manhattan’s East Side residents, whether as a member of the community board of directors, as an organizer or in a task force that secured funding for East River Waterfront Resilience in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. After Sandy, Carlina helped coordinate thousands of volunteers to help more than 10,000 housebound residents as part of a recovery network that would continue to support families affected by the Second Avenue and Flatiron explosions. She has already obtained millions of dollars for her district to improve services, programs, schools and cultural institutions. Carlina lives with her husband, pug and turtle. She graduated from Marist College with a BA in Journalism, having attended local district schools all her life.

Laura Nyro was one of the great singer-songwriters of our time. She has released 22 critically acclaimed albums (including Eli and The Thirteenth Confession, New York Tendaberry, Christmas and the Beads of Sweat) and has written literally dozens of songs that have become firmly entrenched in the canon of popular music, ever since. her debut in 1966 at the age of 19 to her untimely death in 1997. Her music was not only widely recorded, she also catapulted other performers to the charts, among them The 5th Dimension (“Stoned Soul Picnic “, “Sweet Blindness”, “Wedding Bell Blues”), Blood, Sweat & Tears (“And When I Die”) and Three Dog Night (“Eli’s Comin'”).

Barbara Streisand charted three consecutive times with Nyro’s songs. Weaving together a combination of pop, jazz, gospel, rhythm and blues, rock and soul, Nyro has produced something truly rare in the world of pop music: an original sound, driven by a unique vision. His influence on generations of performers is undeniable and could be one of his greatest legacies. Iconic singer-songwriter Elton John summed up Nyro’s influence on his own work: “The soul, the passion, just the utter boldness of how his rhythmic and melodic shifts came about was unlike anything I had ever heard before. ” Laura’s death at age 49 in 1997 robbed popular music of one of its purest lights. On April 14, 2012, Laura Nyro received a long-awaited induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Vineyard Theater is an Off-Broadway theater company dedicated to nurturing the voices of bold artists and developing and producing work that pushes the boundaries of what theater can be and do. One of the nation’s preeminent centers for creating new plays and musicals, our work seeks to challenge and inspire us all to see ourselves and our world from different perspectives.

The Vineyard’s 2021-22 season kicked off with Broadway transfers of its productions of Tina Satter‘s Is This A Room, named “Best Theater of 2019 and 2021” by The New York Times, Time Out and New York Magazine and winner of the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience; and Lucas Hnath‘s Dana H., voted “Best Theater of 2020 and 2021” by The New York Times and Time Out and winner of the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show, which performed in the repertoire at the Lyceum Theater in the fall of 2021. Paula Vogel‘s How I Learned to Drive, which premiered at the Vineyard 25 years ago, opened on Broadway this spring, reuniting members of the original cast Marie-Louise Parker, David Morse and Johanna day with the director Marc Brokawaearning three Tony 2o22 nominations, including Best Revival of a Play.

The Vineyard season also included new work commissioned from Ngozi Anyanwu, Kirsten Childs, Jared Mezzocchi, Polly pen and Madeleine Sayetand the world premiere of Charly Evon Simpson‘s shortbread, co-produced with WP Theater. The next world premiere of Lessons in Survival: 1971 will run from May 25 to June 30. Drawing on the digital exploration of Lessons in Survival, which was recognized by The New York Times as Best in Theater 2020, this eye-opening production explores the layers of intimacy and ideas between two groundbreaking black performers of different generations, with an amazing resonance for today.

Notable Vineyard Theater the former include Ngozi Anyanwu‘s Good Grievance; Jeremy O. Harris‘ “Father”; Mara Nelson GreenbergDo you feel angry? ; David Caleby Harry Clarke (2018 Drama Desk, Obie, Lucille Lortel Awards); Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman‘s Indecent (two 2017 Tony Awards); two Pulitzer Prize-winning pieces, Paula Vogelthe recent Tony Award-nominated play, How I Learned To Drive and Edward Albee‘s three great women; Branden Jacobs-Jenkins‘ Gloria; Nicky Silver‘s The Lyons; Marx, Lopez and Whitty’s Avenue Q (Tony Award, Best Musical); The Scottsboro Boys of Kander, Ebb and Thompson; At Bell and Bowen [title of show]; Polly penthe goblin market; Tarell Alvin McCraney‘s Wig Out! ; Jenny Schwartz‘God’s Ear; Enois Middletown; Becky Fashionis fully engaged; Colman Domingo‘s Dot, and many more.

that of the vineyard Paula Vogel Playwriting Prize, Susan Stroman staging award and Colman Domingo The award provides residencies for early-career artists, and our education programs serve more than 700 New York City public high school students each year, culminating in the presentation of the REBEL VERSES youth arts festival for developing artists. The newly created Roth-Vogel New Play Commission is awarded annually to a mid- or late-career playwright to create and develop a new play with The Vineyard. The works developed and created in our home in Union Square have gone on to be seen around the world and The Vineyard is proud to be the recipient of Drama Desk, Obie and Lucille Lortel Artistic Excellence Award.

The Vineyard’s 2021-2022 artists in residence include The Commissary, Ryan Haddad, Michael R. Jackson, Special lightning rod, Tyler Thomasand Reggie D. Blanc.

Vineyard Theaterthe management of includes artistic directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern and general manager Suzanne Appel.

www.vineyardtheatre.org

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