Inside The DGF Gala With Jason Alexander, Betty Buckley, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Liz Callaway and More

Jason Alexander, Sean Patrick Flahaven, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, Betty Buckley and Andrew Lippa

The Dramatists Guild Foundation (DGF) Gala happened last night Monday, November 4th at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in NYC. The room was beautifully decorated, with the gala raising over $100,000 for writers in need, as well as other programs bringing writers support.

The DGF’s annual Gala celebrates artists and honors patrons of the American theater community in gratitude of their continued support of emerging writers and creators. The 2019 evening’s program was directed by three-time Tony winner Kathleen Marshall and musically directed by fabulous Charlie Rosen.

The DGF’s programs include The DGF Fellows, Emergency Grants, Legacy Project, Music Hamm, New Voices and Roe green Traveling Masters. The inaugural presentations of Alan Jay Lerner Awards will pay tribute to the Foundation’s founder, Alan Jay Lerner, and was given to individuals with outstanding legacies of supporting writers across the country.

Hosted by Emmy and Golden Globe nominee and Tony Award Winner Jason Alexander (Seinfeld, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, Merrily We Roll Along), the fundraising evening featured special performances, a dinner of filet mignon and gift bags by Kenneth Cole for all.

Each honoree picked songs they loved. TodayTixFounders Brian Fenty and Merritt Baer it was by Charlotte Maltby (Les Miserables, The Sound of Music national tour) and the PS22 Chorus “Do Re Mi” from The Sound of Music, Ciara Renee with “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”. In this video Christiane Noll “Back To Before” from Ragtime and Brian Stokes Mitchell “I Was Here” from The Glorious Ones honored Tony Award-winning songwriting duo Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime, Once On This Island).

For Sean Patrick Flahaven, the President of Concord Theatricals, Betsy Wolfe entertained with “Not A Day Goes By” From Merrily We Roll Along. As well as Tony Award Winner Betty Buckley (Cats, Sunset Boulevard, Pippin), whose “memory brought the house down.

Oscar, Grammy and Tony Award winning songwriting duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land, The Greatest Showman) sang “Waving Through A Window” From Dear Evan Hansen.

Back to Ahrens and Flaherty the director of Once On This Island Micael Arden sang a fabulous rendition of “Streets of Dublin” from Man of No Importance and early show for the duo.

Tony Nominee Liz Callaway (Anastasia, Baby, Miss Saigon),

The evening also included a special acknowledgement of DGF board member, Roe Green, in celebration of the renaming of the Foundation’s Traveling Masters program to the Roe Green Traveling Masters program. Ms. Green has served on the Board of Directors of the organization for five years, helping grow the scope and impact of its programs.

The newly renamed Roe Green Traveling Masters is a national education program providing students, professionals, and theater lovers with free master classes, workshops, and public events on the craft of writing. This supplements arts education for students and adults who might otherwise have limited access. Ms. Green remarked: “I have traveled the entire world, and I am always amazed by the people I meet. Sadly, many of these wonderful, smart people are never given the proper tools to fully express their unique stories. I love this program because by training writers outside of major cities, DGF is broadening the horizon of theater and helping to shape a more diverse, rich, and skilled artistic future.” The renaming of the program coincides with another programmatic milestone. DGF will have taken Roe Green Traveling Masters to all 50 states by the end of this year.

The Dramatists Guild Foundation supports the future of American theater by supporting the writers who create it. DGF’s programs and initiatives help propel playwrights, composers, lyricists, and book writers to their full potential by providing arts education and resources across the country.

The 2019 DGF Gala is supported in part by Concord Theatricals/Sean Patrick Flahaven, TodayTix/Brian Fenty and Merritt Baer, Meg Fofonoff, Elizabeth Dewberry, and Barbara & Emery Olcott.