WP Theater’s Annual Gala
Our 2019 Gala, chaired by WP Board Members JESSICA R. JENEN and AARON H. PIERCE, ESQ. and vice-chaired by LAURA BEINNER and MARGIE WEINGARTEN celebrated WP Theater’s 40th Anniversary Season and took place April 15, 2019 at the Edison Ballroom. The evening, which was hosted by SENDHIL RAMAMURTHY, honored BroadwayHD Founder & Co-President and Tony Award-Winning Producer BONNIE COMLEY; Award-Winning Actress, Activist, and Singer-Songwriter AMANDA SEYFRIED; and Recording Artist and Grammy-Winning Songwriter EMILY WARREN.
The Gala featured special performances by the Broadway cast of OKLAHOMA!, and an exclusive sneak peek at the Broadway-bound musical EMPIRE RECORDS, composed by WP Lab Alumni ZOE SARNAK. Additionally, there were special appearances made by THOMAS SADOSKI (CBS’s “Life In Pieces”, “The Newsroom”) and President of the Broadway League and 2012 Women of Achievement Award Honoree CHARLOTTE ST. MARTIN with more guests and performers including a surprise performance by EMILY WARREN.
BONNIE COMLEY is a three-time Tony Award-winning producer. She has, also, won an Olivier Award and two Drama Desk Awards for her stage productions. Comley has produced over 40 films, winning four Telly Awards and one W3 Award. She is the founder and CEO of BroadwayHD, the world’s premier online streaming platform delivering over 270 premium live productions to theatre fans globally. She is the recipient of The Actors Fund Medal of Honor, The Drama League Special Contribution to the Theater Award, The Paul Newman Award from Arts Horizons and The Theater Museum Distinguished Service Award. The Music Theatre Program at Boston University is named in her honor, The Musical Theatre Society Room at Emerson College bears her name, the 500-seat theater at the University of Massachusetts Lowell is known as the Comley-Lane Theatre, and The Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley Stage is housed within the Booth Arts Complex in Boston. Comley has served as a keynote speaker or panelist at BroadwayCon, C2E2 (Chicago ComicCon), SXSW, Theatre Resources Unlimited (TRU) and City National Bank Women Entrepreneurs, and taught masterclasses or guest lectured at Columbia University, New York University, Emerson College, NYFA, Five Towns College and UMass, among others.
AMANDA SEYFRIED has established herself as one of Hollywood’s most captivating young leading actresses. Best known for her work in films including Mamma Mia, Means Girls, Dear John, Letters to Juliet, and Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again, Seyfried has continued to build a tremendous career on screen. In 2012, she starred as Cosette in Universal’s film adaptation of Les Miserables, opposite Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman and Russel Crowe. On television, Seyfried received critical praise for her starring role in HBO’s Golden Globe nominated drama, “Big Love”, before premiering off-Broadway in Neil LeBute’s The Way We Get By. Seyfried will next be seen starring alongside Milo Ventimiglia in Simon Curtis’ film The Art of Racing in the Rain. Amanda Seyfried remains an active member of the arts community and is an avid supporter of the non-profit organizations Best Friends Animal Society and I Am That Girl.
EMILY WARREN is a three-time Grammy winning singer and songwriter. She can be heard in nearly every corner ofmodern pop as well as dance, country, alternative, and Latin. Achieving a GRAMMY® Award, countless multiplatinum and gold certifications, millions of digital sales worldwide, and 5.4 billion streams by 2018, she stands out as the rare talent who can nimbly adapt to any genre. Her discography encompasses eleven anthems for The Chainsmokers. Among those, “Don’t Let Me Down” (6x-platinum) won the 2017 GRAMMY® in the category of “Best Dance Recording.” Other standouts range from Dua Lipa’s “New Rules” (3x-platinum) to Becky G’s “Mad Love” and Sean Paul’s “No Lie” as well as songs for David Guetta, Bebe Rexha, LANY, and Noah Cyrus. Forbes touted her among its “30 Under 30 Class of 2018” as further acclaim came from People, Entertainment Weekly, Refinery29, V Magazine, Nylon, i-D Magazine, and many more.
ABOUT THE HOST
SENDHIL RAMAMURTHY can currently be seen recurring on the new NBC hit series “New Amsterdam” and is best known for his lead roles in Tim Kring’s NBC sci-fi dramas, “Heroes” and “Heroes Reborn”. Sendhil’s extensive film and television credits include Amblin TV and NBC’s drama series “Reverie”, opposite Sarah Shahi and Dennis Haysbert; Hannah Marks and Joey Power’s romantic comedy After Everything (2018) with Marisa Tomei and Joe Keery; Stan Lee’s Sky television series “Lucky Man” opposite James Nesbitt; the USA series “Covert Affairs”; a memorable arc as Mindy Kaling’s love interest on the final season of NBC’s “The Office”; Bravo’s “Odd Mom Out”; Liz Garcia’s The Lifeguard opposite Kristen Bell; and Gurinder Chada’s comedy It’s A Wonderful Afterlife, which premiered at Sundance in 2013 and 2010, respectively. He is currently shooting Magic Hour opposite Miriam Shor and directed by Jacqueline Christy. In theater, Sendhil starred in the RSC production of Carlo Goldoni’s A Servant to Two Masters in London’s West End, Tom Stoppard’s Indian Ink at the Soho Repertory Theatre, and Ayub Khan-Din’s East is East at the Manhattan Theatre Club.
Emily Warren performing ‘New Rules’ at our 2019 Gala