The Entertainment Community Fund‘s annual gala, held June 1 at Cipriani 42nd Street in Manhattan, honored the cast of the HBO series The Gilded Age, Tony-winning producer Daryl Roth, and composer-philanthropist Yoshiki.
Check out highlights from the evening—which raised a record-breaking $1.8 million to support the Fund’s programs and services—in the video above and the gallery below.
The honorees received the Entertainment Community Fund Medal of
Honor at the gala, which celebrates entertainment professionals working in
film, TV, theatre, music, and dance. The Fund’s Medal of Honor was
inaugurated May 9,
1910, when it was presented to President William Howard Taft. The
award was revived in 1958, and since 1992, when late Shubert
Organization
President Bernard B. Jacobs was recognized, the award has been presented
at an annual fundraising gala. To view past honorees, click here.
Special guests and presenters for the one-night-only event included Entertainment Community Fund Chair of the Board Annette Bening as well as The Gilded Age cast members Ben Ahlers, Carrie Coon, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Donna Murphy, Douglas Sills, Morgan Spector, and John Douglas Thompson; Lynn Ahrens, Ali Louis Bourzgui, Holly Butler, Desmond Child, Nicholas Christopher, Robert Creighton, Hannah Cruz, Lear deBessonet, Tovah Feldshuh, Stephen Flaherty, Bob Greenblatt, Pearl Khewzi, Lorne Michaels, Allyson Tucker Mitchell, Jerry Mitchell, Katherine Oliver, David Hyde Pierce, Bryce Pinkham, Jordan Roth, Ellenore Scott, Michael James Scott, Brooke Shields, L. Steven Taylor, Bernie Telsey, Richard Thomas, Ben Vereen, Jessica Vosk, Chandra Wilson, and more.
The celebration began at 6 PM
with cocktails, followed by dinner and the tribute at 7 PM. Among the performances: Lea Michele and the cast of Chess performing “Nobody’s Side;” Julie Benko and Ben Levi Ross performing “The Night that Goldman Spoke at Union Square” from Ragtime;
Yoshiki performing a special drum solo mixed with Tchaikovsky, followed
by a piano rendition of his song “Endless Rain”; the Broadway cast of Schmigadoon! performing
“This Is How We Change”; “Mungojerrie & Rumpleteazer” performed by
Primo Thee Ballerino, Jonathan Burke, Baby Byrne, Dava Huesca, and Dudney
Joseph Jr. from Cats: The Jellicle Ball; excerpts from Three Tall Women read by Judith Light, The Normal Heart read by John Benjamin Hickey, Indecent read by playwright Paula Vogel, and Liberation read by playwright Bess Wohl; and a finale performance of “Raise You Up/Just Be” from Kinky Boots,
led by original Broadway cast member Stark Sands, with J. Harrison Ghee and Delaney Westfall, plus Eric Anderson, Caroline Bowman, Joshua
Buscher, Lauren Nicole Chapman, Ian Gallagher Fitzgerald, Andy Kelso,
Ellyn Marie Marsh, Michael Milkanin, Fredric Rodriguez Odgaard, Robert
Pendilla, Daniel Stewart Sherman, and Joey Taranto.
“We are so thrilled to honor the incredible cast from HBO Original The Gilded Age, Daryl Roth, and Yoshiki with this year’s Medal of Honor,” stated Fund Chair of the Board Bening in an earlier statement.
“We are deeply grateful for their contributions to the entertainment
industry–each of them titans in their own right—and look forward to
recognizing them in June as we also celebrate the ongoing work of the
Fund.”
Roth, recipient of 13 Tony
Awards, has produced seven Pulitzer Prize-winning plays: Anna in the Tropics, August: Osage County, Clybourne Park, How I Learned to Drive (Off-Broadway,1997), Proof, Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women (Off-Broadway, 1994), and Wit (Off-Broadway, 1998). Roth is also the force behind the Tony and Olivier Award-winning Best Musical Kinky Boots.
From creator Julian Fellowes, HBO’s The Gilded Age
chronicles
the conflict between old and new money in New York City’s Gilded Age, an
era in America marked by change and innovation.
READ: The Gilded Age—And Its Broadway-Packed Cast—Is Getting a 4th Season
Yoshiki
is regarded as one of the most influential composers in Japanese
history and Japan’s biggest rock star. A classically trained pianist,
rock drummer, and leader of X Japan, he has sold a combined 50 million
albums and singles worldwide. Throughout this career, Yoshiki has
remained committed to humanity; through Yoshiki Foundation America, he
has provided substantial support to
global causes, including disaster relief and mental health awareness.
Christopher Ketner and Hunter Regian’s new production company, Origin
Story Productions, served as executive producers for the event.
Proceeds support the Fund’s programs
that foster stability and resiliency and provide a safety net over the
lifespan of members of the performing arts and entertainment industry
nationwide.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source playbill.com ’
