The evening will begin with a 6:15 PM cocktail reception followed by a 7 PM performance at The New Victory Theater. Among those scheduled to pay tribute to Irwin are two-time Tony Award-winning actor Nathan Lane, Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme, new vaudeville troupe The Handsome little Devils and Full Circle Productions (under the direction of Gabriel "Kwikstep" Dionisio and Ana "Rokafella" Garcia).
After accepting his award, Irwin will perform a special musical vaudeville finale with 12 fourth graders from PS/IS 111. The performance will come out of student workshops led by Irwin with children from The New Victory Education Residency program.
A dinner reception will follow the performance. Singing actress Lucie Arnaz will provide the dinner entertainment with a performance entitled Latin Roots.
Co-chairs for the event are Margaret Munzer Loeb and Daniel S. Loeb, Fiona and Eric Rudin, Liev Schreiber, and Diane and Marc Spilker. Vice-chairs are Jonathan Demme, Anne Hathaway, Phoebe Cates Kline and Kevin Kline, Nathan Lane, Terrence McNally and Tom Kirdahy, Kathleen Turner, and Lynn and Sam Waterston. Thomson Reuters is the gala corporate sponsor.
Also expected to attend the gala are Cora Cahan, Bernard Gersten, Jessica Hecht, Cheryl Henson and Isaac Mizrahi, among others. Irwin, a Tony Award winner for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, has also appeared on Broadway in Waiting for Godot; Bye, Bye Birdie; The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?; and Accidental Death of an Anarchist. His original works include Fool Moon, Largely New York, The Harlequin Studies, Mr. Fox: A Rumination, The Happiness Lecture and The Regard of Flight. He is a founding member of Kraken Theatre Ensemble and San Francisco's Pickle Family Circus, and has been granted a National Endowment for the Arts Choreographers Fellowship, as well as Guggenheim, Fulbright and MacArthur fellowships.
The New Victory Theater is New York's first and only full-time theatre geared towards kids, their families and classmates. The New 42nd Street is an independent nonprofit organization which holds long-term responsibility for seven theatres on 42nd Street, including The New Victory, The New 42nd Street Studios and The Duke on 42nd Street, as part of the ongoing New York and Times Square renewal efforts.
The New Victory Theater is located at 209 West 42nd Street. Individual tickets for the gala start at $1,000 with tables starting at $10,000. To order, visit www.new42gala.org or call (646) 223-3082.
