Benefits and GalasBebe Neuwirth, Joel Grey, Charlotte d’Amboise, and More Will Honor Ann ReinkingReinking's career will be celebrated by The New York City Dance Alliance Foundation.
By
Andrew Gans
August 29, 2017
Ann Reinking
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The New York City Dance Alliance Foundation, a charity committed to shaping the future lives and training of young dancers, will return to NYU Skirball Center October 1 for a star-studded gala event to raise funds for college scholarships.
James Naughton, Ann Reinking, Bebe Neuwirth, and Joel Grey at the curtain call for Chicago's milestone performance in 2014.
Joseph Marzullo/WENN
The evening, entitled Bright Lights Shining Stars, will honor Chicago Tony winner Ann Reinking with the fifth Annual NYCDA Foundation Ambassador for the Arts Award. Previous recipients include Roberta Flack, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Debbie Allen.
Presenters will include Joel Grey (Cabaret, Chicago, Goodtime Charley), Bebe Neuwirth (Sweet Charity, Chicago), and Patricia Birch (Over Here!). The evening will revisit well-known moments from Reinking’s career: “Dancin’ Man” by the original cast of Fosse (directed by Reinking), Charlotte d'Amboise and Amra-Faye Wright performing “Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag” from Chicago, and Valarie Pettiford (Fosse) offering “Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries,” the opening number from Fosse, along with a recreation of “Charlie’s Place” from Birch’s Over Here.
Dylis Croman (Fosse, Chicago) and Phillip Attmore (Hello, Dolly!, Shuffle Along), mentored by Reinking through her Broadway Theater Project, will also perform, as will New York City Ballet dancers Brittany Pollack and Daniel Ulbricht and Broadway performer Eloise Kropp (On the Town, Dames at Sea, Cats). Members of Ballet Hispanico Dos will restage Reinking’s Ritmo Y Ruido, which made its premiere in 1998.
“It is because of our supporters and patrons that we have been able to help so many dancers actualize their college goals over these last seven years,” remarks Joe Lanteri, founder and executive director of New York City Dance Alliance, in a statement. “To be able to curate a celebratory evening like Bright Lights Shining Stars and honor the great Ann Reinking is a wonderful personification of how necessary the legacy and trajectory of the arts is to dancers of today and tomorrow.”
With a national grassroots fundraising campaign in place, there are hundreds of schools working to raise funds for the Foundation’s scholarship initiative. The evening will spotlight this year’s highest fundraising studio, Inspire School of Dance from Naperville, Illinois, as the Foundation’s Star Supporters. Having raised a total of $20,000 in 2017, the studio will bring 20 dancers ages 10–18, to perform.
Proceeds will go towards scholarships for secondary and college training and continuing NYCDAF’s dance education advocacy efforts.
A red-carpet cocktail reception will commence at 6 PM, followed by the gala performance at 7:30 PM. A VIP reception will follow at 9 PM. Premium all-inclusive VIP tickets are $350, with Par Terre seating with pre-show reception for $175 and balcony seating at $50. Discounted early-bird tickets are on sale by clicking here.
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Bebe Neuwirth, Ann Reinking, James Naughton, Marilu Henner, Joel Grey and More Chicago Alumni Celebrate the Show's Milestone Night
Bebe Neuwirth, Ann Reinking, James Naughton, Marilu Henner, Joel Grey and More Chicago Alumni Celebrate the Show's Milestone Night
On Nov. 23 at 7 PM, the long-running, Tony-winning revival of Chicago played its 7,486th performance, surpassing Cats to become the second longest-running show in Broadway history.
The production will include Bernstein’s incidental music for Lillian Hellman’s adaptation of The Lark, and Menotti’s The Unicorn, The Gorgon, and The Manticore.
