Liz Callaway, Judy Kuhn, Steven Skybell, Alexandra Silber, Carolyn Montgomery, Jeffrey Saver, and Rhyn McLemore Saver will join The American Songbook Association as they present their second annual gala To Life! Celebrating Sheldon Harnick, on Monday, September 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Highlighting the gala is the presentation of the 2019 ASA Lifetime Achievement Award to this legendary lyricist of iconic shows such as Fiddler on the Roof, Fiorello!, She Loves Me, and more.
Previously announced talent currently scheduled to perform includes Laura Benanti, Robert Cuccioli, Ed Dixon, Adam Heller, Rebecca Luker, Brad Oscar, Melanie Moore, Samantha Massell, Alan Schmuckler, Jeff Harnar and Alex Rybeck, Kissy Simmons and Sidney Myer. The evening’s host is Klea Blackhurst. Music Director and pianist Eugene Gwozdz leads a quartet featuring Danny Bacher on reeds, Tom Hubbard on bass, and Mark McLean on drums.
“Our annual gala is both a major fundraiser and a key method to spotlight the great treasures of American popular music,” says Marilyn Lester, the ASA’s Executive Director. “The core of our mission is to preserve and foster this immense cultural gift of the great songwriters and their work. We are thrilled that Mr. Harnick, whose songs have graced stages both in New York and around the world, is helping us raise money for our educational outreach and other methods of promoting the grand tradition of extraordinary songwriting and the joy it spreads.”
The event’s Honorary Co-Chairs are Joel Grey and Rita Gardner, with the Honorary Committee comprised of Sherman Yellen, Kerry Conte, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Allyson Tucker Mitchell, Danny Burstein, Jim Dale and Jamie de Roy.
To Life! Celebrating Sheldon Harnick
The American Songbook Association
Pershing Square Signature Center’s Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre
480 West 42nd Street, NYC
September 16, 2019