Cocktails will begin at 6:30 PM with the dinner, live auction and performance/tribute commencing at 7:30 PM. Individual ticket prices range from $600-$1,200 with table prices ranging from $6,000-$25,000.
Past honorees have included the late August Wilson, Edward Albee and Horton Foote. The galas are often attended by members of Signature's community of actors, writers and artists. Past gala guests have included Matthew Broderick, Robert Duvall, Sally Field, Ethan Hawke, Philip Seymour Hoffman, James Earl Jones, John Lithgow, Edward Norton, Phylicia Rashad, Lois Smith, Peter Sarsgaard and more.
The 2008 Signature Playwright's Award Recipient is Margot Adams, a Signature trustee. The Signature Playwright's Award "is given to individuals and organizations that have made a significant impact on the institution."
Past honorees include The Shubert Foundation and Time Warner, Inc. This year, Signature will honor board member Adams "for her major support of the Signature Ticket Initiative, which makes it possible for Signature to offer a subsidized $20 ticket for every show, every performance, every seat, during regular runs for the next four seasons."
Signature devotes an entire season to one "signature" living playwright, staging their classic works, recent plays and even world premieres. For tickets and other event information, contact Katherine Jaeger-Thomas, Signature's director of development, at (212) 967-1913, ext. 18 or write [email protected].
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Next up at Signature is the world premiere of Mee's Paradise Park, directed by Daniel Fish and featuring Vanessa Aspillaga, Satya Bhabha, Veanne Cox, Gian-Murray Gianino, William Jackson Harper, Christopher McCann, Paul Mullins, Alan Semok and Laurie Williams.
Performances play Feb. 12-April 6. Opening is March 2.
"Welcome to Paradise Park, an amusement park that opens up into all of America and beyond," according to Signature. "Meet the inhabitants of this bizarre carnival of life, including a ventriloquist, his dummy, and a teenage girl on the run. From Futureworld to Londonland, the Grand Canyon to Fred’s Polynesian Dive Shop, step right up to this wild ride of fruit cake tosses, underwater ballets, square dances, and star gazing, too."
For more information and tickets, visit www.signaturetheatre.org.
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Signature's 2008-2009 Season will honor the body of work of The Negro Ensemble Company, "whose contributions have helped shape America's theatrical heritage." Ruben Santiago-Hudson will be the associate artist for the season.
Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks (Venus, Topdog/Underdog), "who turns American history on its head with her bold and lyrical riffs on race, literature and politics," will be Signature's Playwright-in-Residence for the 2009-2010 season. Signature's 20th anniversary season (2010-2011) will feature conclude with Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner (Angels in America; Caroline, or Change), "one of the most celebrated and renowned contemporary writers of his generation."
