The evening will feature Grey Gardens star Ebersole, performing with her longtime collaborator, jazz pianist and singer Billy Stritch. The two were recently honored by the 2007 Nightlife Awards as Outstanding Duo for their celebrated engagement at The Metropolitan Room last summer.

For her Playwrights Horizons performance in the musical Grey Gardens (now on Broadway), Ebersole received the Obie Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, a special Citation from the New York Drama Critics and the Drama League's 2006 Award for Performance of the Year, a distinction also bestowed on her by The New York Times and New York Magazine.

The evening will also include a special silent auction. Preview and preliminary bidding will begin online the week of March 26 at www.playwrightshorizons.org.

Auction items will include: two tickets to two shows at New York Fashion Week; a two-night stay at the luxury resort Acqualina in Sunny Isles Beach, FL; two tickets to Grey Gardens with an exclusive backstage tour; dinner for two at such restaurants as Gramercy Tavern, B.R. Guest Restaurants, Josephina and Chez Josephine; getaway to a historic private home in Stratford-upon-Avon; round of golf and lunch for three at the Westchester Country Club; bracelet by jewelry designer David Yurman; a one-of-a-kind doghouse designed and custom built by the Playwrights Horizons production department; two rentals from the TDF Costume Collection for Halloween; and tickets to such Broadway shows as Talk Radio, Journey's End, A Chorus Line, Les Misérables and The Phantom of the Opera.

Cocktails and silent auction will begin at 6 PM, followed by dinner at 7:45 PM. Ebersole and Stritch will perform beginning at 9 PM. Ticket prices for the Gala Benefit start at $800 and can be reserved by calling Cynthia Flowers, development associate, at (212) 564-1235 extension 3145, or Jill Garland, director of development, at extension 3140. For more information visit www.playwrightshorizons.org.