David Hyde Pierce
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On Monday, January 28, 2008, Manhattan Theatre Club hosted its annual winter benefit, An Intimate Night. Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor David Hyde Pierce, Tony Award-winner Sutton Foster, and the husband-and-wife team of Broadway performer Jessica Molaskey and jazz guitarist and vocalist John Pizzarelli headlined at the famed Rainbow Room.
This year’s Winter Benefit was directed by Tony Award-winning choreographer Rob Ashford. He won the 2002 Tony Award for Best Choreography for his work on Thoroughly Modern Millie and was nominated for a Tony for his work on Curtains. Most recently, he directed and choreographed Parade at the Donmar Warehouse in London.
Designed to symbolize all the glamour and elegance of New York nightlife, the Rainbow Room was the ideal setting for this unique event. The night began at 7:00 p.m. with cocktails and dinner followed by a special one-night-only cabaret-style show.
Funds raised from An Intimate Night provide critical resources for MTC’s education program, which brings theatre to over 4,000 New York City schoolchildren each year, and allow MTC to fulfill its mission as the leading non-profit theatre company producing contemporary plays on and off-Broadway. The event co-chairs were MTC Board members Bethany Millard and Fiona Kirk .
David Hyde Pierce won a Tony Award for his current starring role in Curtains. He made his Broadway musical theatre debut in the original cast of Monty Python’s Spamalot. His other Broadway credits include Christopher Durang’s Beyond Therapy and Wendy Wasserstein’s The Heidi Chronicles. David received four Emmy Award for his performance as Dr. Niles Crane during his 11-year stint on the hit TV show, “Frasier.”
Sutton Foster can currently be seen on Broadway starring in Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein. After stepping into the casts of the original production of Les Miserables, the Broadway revival of Grease!, and The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sutton landed her breakthrough role starring in Throroughly Modern Millie, for which she won Tony and Drama Desk Awards. Since then she has starred in The Drowsy Chaperone and Little Women, earning Tony nominations for both roles.
Jessica Molaskey is a familiar face on Broadway with four acclaimed jazz albums to her credit. She will be seen in the upcoming Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George. Her previous Broadway shows include Parade, Tommy, Crazy for You, Les Miserables, City of Angels, and Chess. Along with her husband John Pizzarelli, she hosts a nationally syndicated radio program called “Radio Deluxe.”
John Pizzarelli has had a multi-faceted career as a jazz guitarist, vocalist, and bandleader. He is internationally known for classic standards, late-night ballads, and the cool jazz flavor he brings to his performances and recordings. He is among the prime contemporary interpreters of the great American songbook, bringing to the work his signature style and guitar playing. With the recent release of Dear Mr. Sinatra, an homage to ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes,’ Pizzarelli’s album count now stands at 21. |
