Theater for the New City‘s 23rd annual Love ‘n Courage gala will be held on Tuesday, February 17 at The Players, will benefit its Emerging Playwrights Program. The gala will also honor Estelle Parsons, the award-winning actress, stage director, social activist, artistic director and leader in diversity. The event will be hosted by songwriter-playwright-performer Phoebe Legere and playwright-director Matt Morillo.
Emerging playwright productions have use of the theater’s scenic and costume shops and its vast inventory of set pieces. Each theater space is fully equipped and since COVID began, TNC has added streaming capabilities. The Emerging Playwrights program is integral to the theater’s mission, which includes being a center for new and innovative theater arts, discovering relevant new writing and nurturing new playwrights. TNC is known as a prolific incubator of new writing. Each year there is the work of 10 to 20 emerging playwrights presented in a season of 30 to 40 premieres.
Theater for the New City (TNC) is a four-theater complex at 155 First Avenue. Its awards include the Pulitzer Prize, 43 Village Voice OBIE Awards, ten Audelco Awards, two Bessie Awards, five ASCAP Awards, ten Rockefeller Playwrights Fellowships, The Mayor’s Stop the Violence Award, the Manhattan Borough President’s Award for Public Service and Artistic Excellence in Theater, and a NY City Council Proclamation awarded to TNC’s Street Theater for its contributions to improving the quality of life in the City and its “rich tradition of bringing theater to people in underserved neighborhoods.”
During the cocktail hour, beginning at 6:00 PM, entertainment will include performances by The Head Peddlers (Elizabeth Ruf and Karl Bateman) and Human Kinetics (Yana Schnitzler and company). At 6:20 PM, students of TNC’s after school cultural arts program, ages 8-12, will perform songs they created at TNC. A seated dinner will begin at 6:45 PM. Entertainment will begin at 8:00 PM on The Players’ stage, featuring a mixture of acts. Honoree Estelle Parsons will perform a monologue.
Tickets are $250 (individuals) and $2000 for a table of ten, available online at www.theaterforthenewcity.net. For info call (212) 254-1109. RSVP by February 5. Dress is festive.
The Players is located at 16 Gramercy Park South, NYC
