Industry NewsSignature Theatre's 2021 Virtual Gala Will Honor Anna Deavere SmithThe event will also feature performances by Dave Malloy and the cast of Cambodian Rock Band.
By
Dan Meyer
April 28, 2021
Signature Theatre will celebrate 30 years at its 2021 annual gala Three Decades Together, One Future for Us All May 6. The virtual event will feature a tribute to Anna Deavere Smith, who is set to receive the Off-Broadway company's inaugural Signature Outstanding Artist Award. A 2020 gala set to honor the playwright and performer was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Smith is currently a playwright-in-residence at Signature; her works include Notes from the Field and Fires in the Mirror. The latter was seen at the Off-Broadway company in 2019, starring Michael Benjamin Washington. Her Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992is slated to be presented during the 2021–2022 season.
In addition, the gala will include performances by Dave Malloy and cast members from Signature’s production of Lauren Yee's Cambodian Rock Band: Abraham Kim, Jane Lui, Joe Ngo, and Courtney Reed. Katori Hall, Samuel D. Hunter, Dominique Morisseau, and Lynn Nottage are also set to appear.
Lila Neugebauer directs the program. Gala co-chairs are Bloomberg Philanthropies, Edward Skyler, Citi, and Nina B. Matis and Alan Gosule.
Lupita Nyong'o, Katrina Lenk, Jelani Alladin, and more were on hand to celebrate the October 31 opening night of Michael R. Jackson and Anna K. Jacobs' new musical.