“The seven years of support we provide to playwrights allows a unique opportunity to witness the unleashing of ambitions over time, for the many projects undertaken during their residencies and also for the very form itself. The boundless career forged by Audra McDonald's drive to explore all the places her creative impulses lead, and the passion with which she has pursued her art is kindred to the playwrights working at New Dramatists and makes her an ideal honoree for our spring luncheon,” said Emily Morse, artistic director of New Dramatists, in a statement.

Each year, New Dramatists salutes an individual who has made an outstanding artistic contribution to the theatre community. Past luncheon honorees include Brian Stokes Mitchell, Susan Stroman, Seth Gelblum, Bernadette Peters, Roger Berlind, Julie Taymor, Horton Foote, Edward Albee, Harvey Fierstein, Chita Rivera, Meryl Streep, Angela Lansbury, Julie Andrews, Glenn Close, Stephen Sondheim, Arthur Miller, Neil Simon, Jerry Herman, Terrence McNally, Barbara Cook, John Kander & Fred Ebb, August Wilson and Gwen Verdon.

The event will begin at 11:15 AM with a champagne reception and will conclude at 2:30 PM.

Tickets are $300 (a portion of which is tax-deductible). For tickets, visit newdramatists.org/luncheon or call New Dramatists' director of development, Christie Brown, (212) 757-6960, ext. 5468.

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New Dramatists pursues a mission “to provide playwrights with time, space and resources in the company of gifted peers to create work, realize their artistic potential, and make lasting contributions to the theatre.”