New York, NY (August 13, 2024) – Tectonic Theater Project (Moisés Kaufman, Founding Artistic Director; Matt Joslyn, Executive Director) will recognize Tom Viola’s extraordinary contributions to the performing arts community with a “Lifetime Achievement Award” at their annual benefit, A Tectonic Cabaret, on Monday, October 21, 2024. Viola will join the evening’s previously announced honorees Gigi Pritzker and Colman Domingo. Directed by Timothy Koch, under the artistic supervision of Moisés Kaufman, with musical direction by Anna Ebbesen, A Tectonic Cabaret will take place at Current (Pier 59 Chelsea Piers) starting with a 6:30 PM cocktail hour and performances from Broadway’s best beginning at 7:30 PM. Tickets are now on sale here.
“Tom Viola’s profound impact across his remarkable career of service is astounding, saving and bettering countless lives with his tireless dedication. His war on HIV and AIDS and its ravages is the stuff of legend,” said Moisés Kaufman, Founding Artistic Director of Tectonic Theater Project. “Tom’s kindness, compassion, and generosity make him one of our most beloved living heroes. I am overjoyed to celebrate this remarkable individual and his incredible achievements at this year’s gala.”
In July, Tom Viola announced his retirement from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, ending an impressive and accomplished 36-year tenure as the organization’s Executive Director (effective December 31, 2024). Under Viola’s leadership, Broadway Cares persevered through two pandemics and emerged as one of the most impactful fundraising and grant-making organizations in the country, awarding more than $300 million: $142 million to the Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund) and another $160 million to 450 local organizations nationwide through its National Grants Program providing meals and medication, health care and hope to countless individuals and families.
As previously announced, the evening will also honor Gigi Pritzker, award-winning theater and film producer and the Founder and CEO of Madison Wells, with the James C. Hormel Spirit of Tectonic Award and trailblazing star of stage and screen, Colman Domingo with the Jane Fonda Award, as an artist who has demonstrated a deep commitment to activism for social justice.
The A Tectonic Cabaret Benefit Committee is chaired by Aaron Walton and includes Michael Graziano, Erika Kramer, Jeff LaHoste, Scott Johnson, George Slowik, and Tim Wu. A Tectonic Cabaret is underwritten by generous sponsor Perry McKay.
Tickets for A Tectonic Cabaret start at $375 and are available online at TectonicTheaterProject.org. Proceeds from the cabaret will benefit Tectonic Theater Project’s development of new works and education through the Moment Work Institute.
Based in New York City and guided by founder and artistic director Moisés Kaufman, Tectonic Theater Project develops new plays using the company’s trademarked theater-making method, Moment Work, and through a rigorous process of research and collaboration in a laboratory environment. Since its founding in 1991 the company has created and staged over twenty plays and musicals, including Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, The Laramie Project, Doug Wright’s Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, the Tony Award-winning 33 Variations, and the Drama Desk Award-winning Seven Deadly Sins. Tectonic Theater Project’s newest world-premiere plays include Pulitzer Prize for Drama Finalist Here There Are Blueberries, which just completed a record-breaking run at New York Theatre Workshop, Las Aventuras de Juan Planchard written and directed by Moisés Kaufman based on Jonathan Jakubowicz’s best-selling book, and Velour: A Drag Spectacular in collaboration with legendary drag queen and performance artist Sasha Velour, opening at La Jolla Playhouse this August.
