TheaterWorksUSA, America’s foremost professional theater for young and family audiences, celebrated its 61st anniversary with a gala honoring Broadway luminaries Bonnie Comley, Stewart F. Lane, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Tom Costanzo, and Schele Williams. Bonnie Comley and Stewart F. Lane are the founders of BroadwayHD.com, an online streaming service on a mission to promote and preserve live theatre, extending the reach of Broadway shows to anyone, anywhere. BroadwayHD currently has a catalog of over 350 full-length stage plays and musicals available for streaming on-demand. Daphne Rubin-Vega dancer, singer-songwriter, and actress, best known for her Tony-nominated performance in Rent. Shele Williams is the director of the upcoming revival of Elton John and Tim Rice’s musical “Aida.”
TheaterWorksUSA, under the direction of Barbara Pasternack (Artistic Director) and Michael Harrington (Executive Director), is America’s foremost professional theater for young and family audiences. TheaterWorksUSA’s mission is to create imaginative and sophisticated shows that are educational, entertaining, and thought-provoking, and to ensure that these shows are accessible to audiences across America regardless of geography and socio-economic status. Since 1961, TheaterWorksUSA has reached over 93 million people in 49 states and Canada, and the company now performs for about three million young people annually. Every year, the company tours approximately 20 shows a year from its ever-growing repertoire of 135 plays and musicals. In addition to touring eleven family productions around the country, TheaterWorksUSA’s highlights include the Broadway production of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical (co-produced by Comley & Lane.)
“We are so proud to support TheaterWorksUSA. For over six decades, TheaterWorks has been a springboard for actors, composers, and artists. Their New York City productions and tours have employed hundreds of actors, giving many their equity cards and the experience, and credits to get their careers going, “ stated Stewart F. Lane in his acceptance speech on behalf of the couple.
TheaterWorksUSA has been honored with a Drama Desk Award, Lucille Lortel Award, the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Award, and the William M. Dawson Award for Programmatic Excellence given by the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, and the Medal of Honor from the Actors Fund of America.
To learn more about this dynamic organization see: www.twusa.org
