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THE AMERICAN THEATRE WING TO CELEBRATE ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER AT ANNUAL GALA

Press Contact:
DKC/O&M
Rick Miramontez / Michael Jorgensen
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(212) 695-7400

 

THE AMERICAN THEATRE WING
TO CELEBRATE
SEVEN-TIME TONY AWARD WINNING
COMPOSER, PRODUCER, AND PHILANTHROPIST
ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER
AT ITS ANNUAL GALA

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2018
CIPRIANI 42ND STREET

New York, NY (April 19, 2018) – The American Theatre Wing (Heather Hitchens, President & CEO) is pleased to announce that it will celebrate the iconic composer, producer, and ardent philanthropist Andrew Lloyd Webber at its annual Gala, which will be held on Monday, September 24, 2018 at Cipriani 42nd Street (110 East 42nd Street). The evening will be both a celebration of the Wing’s 101 Years of supporting strong and fearless voices in the American Theatre, as well as a star-studded musical tribute to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s unrivaled body of work amassed over five decades at the very top of his profession.

The funds raised at the Gala will provide vital support for the Wing’s programs, which champion theatrical excellence at every stage and ensure that American Theatre has a dynamic and diverse future.

“There was only one way we could follow up last year’s centennial blow-out, and that was by paying tribute to one of the great, unstoppable forces shaping both the theatrical landscape and popular culture over the past half-century: Andrew Lloyd Webber,” said Heather Hitchens, President and CEO of the American Theatre Wing. “We are honoring Andrew for his immeasurable artistic contributions, and also for his unwavering commitment to arts education. The work he is doing on behalf of underserved young people is absolutely vital to the future health of both our industry and our society. We all feel incredibly lucky to count him as one of our most valuable partners on this front, and the work that we’ve accomplished together is some of the most meaningful, personally satisfying work we’ve ever done.”

In 2016, Andrew Lloyd Webber gave the American Theatre Wing a $1.3 million, three-year grant to support theatre education opportunities for diverse and underserved young people and public schools across the U.S. Since then, the Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative has provided more than $1 million in grants and scholarships for schools wishing to enhance their theater programs and students wishing to further their theater training, reaching over twenty-two thousand students nationwide.

Andrew Lloyd Webber is the composer of some of the world’s best-known musicals including Cats, Evita, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Phantom of the Opera (which celebrates its 30th anniversary on Broadway this year) and Sunset Boulevard.  When Sunset Boulevard joined School of Rock – The Musical, Cats and Phantom on Broadway in February 2017 he became the only person to equal the record set in 1953 by Rodgers and Hammerstein with four shows running concurrently. As well as The Phantom of the Opera and Cats his productions include the groundbreaking Bombay Dreams which introduced the double Oscar winning Bollywood composer AR Rahman to the Western stage. His awards, both as composer and producer, include seven Tonys, seven Oliviers, a Golden Globe, an Oscar, the Praemium Imperiale, the Richard Rodgers Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre, a BASCA Fellowship, the Kennedy Center Honor and a Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for Requiem, his setting of the Latin Requiem mass which contains one of his best known compositions, Pie Jesu. He owns seven London theatres including the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and the London Palladium. He was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen in 1992 and created a life peer in 1997. He is passionate about the importance of music in education and the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation has become one of Britain’s leading charities supporting the arts and music. To mark his 70th birthday his autobiography Unmasked was published by HarperCollins in March.

One hundred years ago, on the eve of America’s entry into World War I, seven suffragettes—all women of the theatre—came together to form The Stage Women’s War Relief. A century later, the spirit and vision behind the founding of American Theatre Wing remains a touchstone for all we do. The Wing continues to champion bravery, with a focus on developing the next generation of brave artists. We envision an American Theatre that is as vital, multi-faceted, and diverse as the American people.

The Wing’s programs span the nation to invest in the growth and evolution of American Theatre. We provide theatre education opportunities for underserved students through the Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative, develop the next generation of theatre professionals through the SpringboardNYC, Theatre Intern Network, and SwingSeats programs, incubate innovative theatre across the country through the National Theatre Company Grants, support emerging musical theatre songwriters through the Musical Theatre Songwriting Challenge (co-presented with the NEA) and the Jonathan Larson® Grants, and illuminate the creative process through the Emmy-nominated “Working in the Theatre” documentary series. In addition to founding the Tony Awards® which are co-presented with The Broadway League, the American Theatre Wing co-presents the Obie Awards®, Off Broadway’s Highest Honor, with The Village Voice.

Visitors to AmericanTheatreWing.org can gain inspiration and insight into the artistic process through the Wing’s extensive media collection, and learn more about its programming for students, aspiring and working professionals, and audiences. Follow the Wing on Twitter and Instagram @TheWing, and on Facebook.com/TheAmericanTheatreWing.

The evening includes cocktails, dinner, and performances. For tickets and more information, please contact Katie Hayes by calling 212.765.0606 or emailing gala@thewing.org.

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www.AmericanTheatreWing.org

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