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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

MORE PERFORMERS ANNOUNCED FOR
“RENAISSANCE GALA”
MARKING THE REOPENING OF
THE HISTORIC CABARET VENUE
THE LAURIE BEECHMAN THEATRE
ON MONDAY, APRIL 14
TO RAISE FUNDS FOR BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS

INCLUDING
ARIANA DeBOSE
ANDREA McARDLE
LORNA LUFT
AND
NINA WEST

New York, NY (April 9, 2025) – Today, Tom D’Angora and Michael D’Angora, producers and owners of the iconic 42^nd Street restaurant West Bank Café, announced additional performers including Academy Award® winner Ariana DeBose, Tony Award® nominee Andrea McArdle, legendary Lorna Luft, and the veritable “every-queen” Nina West for Renaissance Gala, marking the reopening of New York City’s most prominent cabaret venue, The Laurie Beechman Theatre, to be held on Monday, April 14 at 7PM.

The event will raise funds for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BCEFA), one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations, and will reveal the historic venue’s renovation, currently being completed by Tony Award® winner and renowned architect and theater designer David Rockwell.

These performers join the previously announced Chip Zien, Tony Award winner André De Shields, Tony Award winner Lillias White, Tony Award winner Matt Doyle, Tony Award winner Lauren Patten, Jak Malone, Bryan Batt, Christine Pedi, Joe Iconis, Jelani Remy, Emma Pittman, and JJ Niemann.

Renaissance Gala features Music Direction by Benjamin Rauhala and Stage and Venue Lighting Design Aiden Bezark with Brendan McCann as Creative Consultant.

General admission and VIP tickets are available to purchase now at www.WBCNYC.com.

Since its opening in 1983, The Laurie Beechman Theatre, previously known as the “Downstairs Theatre Bar,” has welcomed legends such as Joan Rivers, The Who, André De Shields, Tony Shalhoub, Aaron Sorkin, Jinx Monsoon, and many more. In the theatre’s first 14 years, more than 1,500 one-act plays were performed at the theatre. When the venue was scheduled to close in August 2024 after financial difficulties following the COVID-19 pandemic, Tom D’Angora, Michael D’Angora, Tim Guinee, and Joe Iconis joined forces to raise nearly $1 million to save the café and theatre.

For more information, please visit www.wbcnyc.com.

ABOUT BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the philanthropic heart of Broadway, is one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theater community, since 1988 Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has awarded more than $300 million for essential services for people with HIV/AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is the major supporter of the social service programs at the Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund), including The Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts, the HIV/AIDS Initiative and the Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative. Broadway Cares provides annual grants to more than 450 AIDS and family service organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., providing lifesaving medication, healthy meals, counseling and emergency assistance. At times of crisis, Broadway Cares also awards one-time humanitarian grants to provide emergency aid across the US and around the world.

For more information, please visit Broadway Cares online at broadwaycares.org, at facebook.com/BCEFA, at instagram.com/BCEFA, at tiktok.com/@bcefa and at youtube.com/BCEFA.

ABOUT THE LAURIE BEECHMAN THEATRE

In 1978, with Lewis Black serving as the Artistic Director, the “Downstairs Theatre Bar” opened, producing hundreds of readings, workshops, and productions by emerging talents. On the stage you could find an undiscovered Tony Shalhoub, Holly Hunter, Mary Testa, or Mark Linn-Baker working on their craft. It was where Aaron Sorkin (“The West Wing”) developed his first two plays; the first starred Nathan Lane. The Tony-winning play, Side Man, was workshopped by playwright Warren Leight and starred Edie Falco. Being across the street from Playwrights Horizon, the original production of Sunday in the Park with George, needing more space, rehearsed on our stage – it was where Sondheim first played “Finishing the Hat” for Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin.

The Broadway community lost one of its favorite leading ladies, Laurie Beechman, far too soon. Known for her work as the original “Star to Be” in Annie, her Tony nomination as the Narrator in Joseph…and her brilliant turns as Grizabella and Fantine, when she was diagnosed with cancer, she feared being forgotten. After her passing, owner Steve Olsen renamed the historic theatre in her honor. Since then, it has been a premier venue for musicians, cabaret, and nightclub acts. Most famously, Joan Rivers made it her home base, performing over 200 sets, including her last, on our stage. Pete Townshend and The Who played 4 intimate concerts in 1994 and almost 20 years later a young Ariana Grande and other stars on the rise would perform at the venue’s “popular” open mic nights. When RuPaul’s Drag Race exploded in 2009, The Beechman became THE spot to catch these new stars – Jinx Monsoon even had a two-year sold-out residency in the Beechman Theatre. Being in Broadway’s backyard, the venue was a favorite for stars, such as André De Shields, Donna McKechnie, Alice Ripley and more, to do an intimate evening. Composers such as Joe Iconis, and Pulitzer Prize winner Michael R. Jackson claim they found their voice on this stage.  Other stars to grace the Beechman stage include Cyndi Lauper, Patti LuPone, Shoshana Bean, Jonathan Groff, Andrea McArdle, Jackie Cox, Ben De La Crème, Leslie Kritzer, Alec Mappa, Isaac Mizrahi…

The list of milestones goes on and on…

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