Dale (Barnum and TV's "Pushing Daisies") will play master of ceremonies for the fundraising dinner and performance (dubbed Let Us Entertain You) at The Pierre Hotel, Fifth Avenue at 61st Street, in New York City. Cocktails are at 7 PM; dinner and entertainment are at 8 PM.
Naughton (Chicago, I Love My Wife, City of Angels) appeared in Irish Rep's The Master Builder in 2009-10. He's a member of the Irish Rep company.
Errico (Amour, My Fair Lady, Dracula) appeared in Irish Rep's Finian's Rainbow, and her performance is preserved on a cast album.
Ciaran Sheehan and Erin Hill are also expected to perform. Many surprise guests are expected to be part of the evening. Kathleen Begala is 2009 gala chair.
To inquire about a last-minute opportunity to attend the near-capacity event, call Bethany Casler at (212) 213-1166 or e-mail [email protected]. For more information, visit www.irishrep.org.
*
Founded by managing director Ciarán O'Reilly and artistic director Charlotte Moore, The Irish Repertory Theatre opened its doors in September 1988 with Sean O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars. The mission of the theatre is "to bring works by Irish and Irish American masters and contemporary playwrights to American audiences, to provide a context for understanding the contemporary Irish American experience and to encourage the development of new works focusing on the Irish and Irish American experience, as well as a range of other cultures."
*
Philip J. Smith began his career as a box-office treasurer at the Shubert-owned Imperial Theatre on Broadway. He was brought into the Shubert Organization's administrative offices in 1965 as Shubert president Bernard Jacobs' chief aide, and steadily rose through the ranks, to vice president and then executive vice president. Following the death of Jacobs in 1996, he was named by Gerald Schoenfeld as Jacobs' replacement.
The Shubert Organization never publicly discussed lines of succession, but it was assumed by most that Smith would eventually take Schoenfeld's place at the helm. As expected, after the November 2008 death of chairman Gerald Schoenfeld, Smith was elevated to the role of chairman of The Shubert Organization, becoming the senior man at the Shuberts. Smith and Robert Wankel were named co-chief executive officers of The Shubert Organization in December 2008. Smith was also chairman of the board of The Shubert Foundation.
