The Progress of Pride

The Progress of Pride Spectacular is Playbill’s 2021 Virtual Spectacular that reflects upon and celebrates the history of Pride, while acknowledging the continued fight for Education, Equality, Equity, Visibility, and Diversity within the LGBTQIA+ Community.

The spectacular will incorporate clips from Playbill’s OUTtakes Series, with additional footage from historic NYC Pride Marches and celebrations, concluding with an incredible star-powered closing performance. The 60-minute celebration will air on Playbill.com and Playbill’s YouTube and benefits Heritage of Pride (Pride NYC).

The Progress of Pride is proudly supported by Nissan. The event is sponsored in part by MasterCard, GEICO, City National Bank, L'Oréal, Nordstrom, and Hyatt.

Date: June 26 at 8 PM

Hosted by
Lea DeLaria
with
Helen Sung on piano
Dylan Shamat on bass

Featuring:
BD Wong
L Morgan Lee
Alex Newell
Cherie B. Tay
and the storytellers from OUTtakes

Special appearances by Blake Hammond, Brad Bradley, Christine Dwyer, Claybourne Elder, Eric Ulloa, Harvey Fierstein, J. Cameron Barnett, Jenn Colella, Jerry Mitchell, Kathryn Gallagher, Mars Rucker, Nathan Lee Graham and Vishal Vaidya.

Flip through the exclusive Progress of Pride digital Playbill program:

This digital program was created using PLAYBILLder, Playbill's custom, Broadway-quality program creation tool. Get started building your real—or fantasy—Playbill program today at PLAYBILLder.com.

Lea DeLaria (she/her)

Lea DeLaria seems to have achieved overnight stardom with her three time, SAG Award winning, stand-out role as Carrie ‘Big Boo’ Black in the Netflix hit series Orange is the New Black. However, DeLaria’s multi-faceted career as a comedian, actress and jazz musician, has in fact, spanned decades.

Lea holds the distinction of being the first openly gay comic on television in America which led to countless Television and Film roles portraying Police Lieutenants, PE Teachers and the Lesbian who inappropriately hits on straight women.

Selected TV credits: The Code, Shameless, Broad City, Baroness Von Sketch, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Awkward, Clarence, Californication, The Oblongs, One Live to Live, Law and Order: SVU, Will and Grace, Friends & Matlock. Selected Film credits: Cars 3, Support The Girls, First Wives Club, Dear Dumb Diary, Edge of Seventeen.

She’s received Obie & Theater World Awards, and a Drama Desk nomination for her portrayal as Hildy in the Public Theatre’s revival of On The Town, and has played both Eddie & Dr. Scott in the gender-bending Broadway musical The Rocky Horror Show.

Lea was the featured vocalist at the 50th Anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival, and has performed in some of the most prestigious houses in the world including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Chicago Symphony, Hollywood Bowl, The Royal Albert Hall and the Sydney Opera House.

Lea has five records on the Warner Jazz and Classics label and her book Lea's Book of Rules for the World is in its third printing at Bantam Doubleday and Dell.

Her sixth record, House Of David delaria+bowie=jazz, was released in the Summer of 2015 to critical acclaim.

Lea can currently be seen as Queenie in HULU’s Reprisal, and as Molly Yarnchopper in the Netflix and DreamWorks animated series Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts.

Follow Lea on Twitter and Instagram @realleadelaria and Facebook.

BD Wong (he/him)

Films include Bird Box, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Jurassic World, The Normal Heart, Focus, Mulan (1 & 2), The Salton Sea, Executive Decision, Seven Years In Tibet, Jurassic Park, Father of the Bride (1 & 2) and The Freshman. He received the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Theatre World, Clarence Derwent, and Tony Awards for his Broadway debut in M. Butterfly—an achievement not yet duplicated by another actor. Recent television includes Whiterose in Mr. Robot (Emmy and Critic’s Choice nominations), Prof. Hugo Strange in Gotham, Baldwin Pennypacker in American Horror Story, and Wally in Comedy Central’s Awkwafina is Nora From Queens. Other television includes Law & Order: SVU, All-American Girl, Oz, And the Band Played On, and Awake. Other Broadway includes You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Pacific Overtures. Regional theater includes The Orphan of Zhao (A.C.T., La Jolla Playhouse), Herringbone (Williamstown Theatre Festival, McCarter Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse). He is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir Following Foo: (the electronic adventures of the Chestnut Man) (Harper Entertainment). He has been honored by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Asian AIDS Project, GLAAD, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, The Anti-Violence Project, Lambda Legal, Museum of Chinese in America, and Marriage Equality New York. He is a board member of The Actors’ Fund, and Rosie’s Theater Kids. BD Wong is a proud San Francisco native, a graduate of Lincoln High School, and holds an honorary M.F.A. from American Conservatory Theatre.

L Morgan Lee (she/her)

L Morgan Lee is an Obie award-winning actress and theatre maker most known for her performance in the Pulitzer Prize winning musical, A Strange Loop which garnered her a Lucille Lortel nomination and the distinction of being the first openly transgender actress to originate a role in a Pulitzer Prize winning piece of theatre. L Morgan was recently cast to play artist Lili Elbe in a musical adaptation of the novel, The Danish Girl being workshopped in the UK. She is also developing a new play entitled, The Women (2021) which was seen in Ars Nova’s 2021 Vision Residency. L Morgan is dedicated to being a part of work centering underrepresented voices on both stage and screen. “She needed a hero, so that’s what she became.” For more: lmorganlee.com

Alex Newell (they/them)

TV/Film: Wade “Unique” Adams on Glee and Mo on Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. Favorites: Once on This Island (Asaka), Hairspray (Motormouth Maybelle), Cinderella (Fairy Godmother), Saturday Night Fever (Candy). A recording artist with Atlantic Records, Alex has worked with Clean Bandit, Blonde and The Knocks. Debut EP Power available, including “Keep It Moving” and “Kill the Lights” (Nile Rogers, DJ Cassidy). www.theAlexNewell.com @TheAlexNewell

Cherie B. Tay (she/they)

Cherie B. Tay is a Broadway Stage Manager, Voice Actor, and Multimedia Creative Artist.

Cherie is currently a stage manager on the Tony Award and Grammy winning Broadway production of Hadestown.

Their photography work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Vulture, Forbes, and more.

Cherie has been stage managing theatre, dance, award shows, and live events professionally for over a decade. Favorite cities to work include NYC, Philadelphia, London, Tokyo, Arezzo, and Paris.

Broadway credits include: Hadestown, Ruben and Clay's Christmas Show, Gettin’ The Band Back Together, Amélie, Doctor Zhivago, Bring It On. Tours: In The Heights, War Horse.

Cherie has been featured on Stage Management panels and have also been a guest teacher/panelist with Yale, Columbia, UC Irvine, Ithica, SUNY Purchase, and more. In addition to stage managing and voice acting, Cherie is a videographer and ukulele teacher (Margaritaville National Tour).

www.cheriebtay.com

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