The award will be presented at a gala fundraiser April 11, 2011, at The Embassy of Italy in Washington, DC. Signature in Arlington, VA, has built its reputation by reviving the work of Sondheim. Its artistic director Eric Schaeffer will direct Sondheim and James Goldman's Follies at the Kennedy Center in DC in 2011. Peters will star as Sally.

Cocktails, dinner, tribute performances and presentation of the Sondheim Award are part of the black-tie Sondheim Award event.

Tony Award winner Peters is currently starring on Broadway as Desiree in Sondheim's A Little Night Music. Her other Sondheim roles on Broadway include Dot in Sunday in the Park With George, Rose in Gypsy and The Witch in Into the Woods. She is heard on a concert cast album of Sondheim's Anyone Can Whistle, and her concerts and solo recordings over the years have featured songs by Sondheim. Peters won the Best Actress Tony Award for Annie Get Your Gun and Song and Dance.

Signature Theatre's Sondheim Award Gala supports the artistic, education and community outreach programs for the Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre.

The gala chairs are Ted and Mary Jo Shen, major funders of recent productions and recordings of Sondheim, and supporters of new American musical theatre at Signature.

For reservations to the gala evening, call (571) 527-1828. Sponsorship starts at $1,000 per person "and includes year-round benefits and visibility," according to Signature Theatre. For more about Signature, visit signature-theatre.org.