On March 2, 2020, TADA! Youth Theater celebrated its 35th Anniversary Gala honoring Tony award winner Jason Robert Brown and Harold Arlen Award and Sue Brewer Award winner Georgia Stitt. Held at Tribeca 360 in Manhattan, the event welcomed 180 guests and raised $160,000 for the nonprofit. The evening featured a cocktail hour, dinner, live and silent auctions, and performances by the honorees, TADA!’s Resident Youth Ensemble, Kate Baldwin, Jordan Fisher, Jason Gotay, Amber Iman and Jessica Vosk. This star-studded Gala was hosted by four-time Emmy Award nominee Tituss Burgess.
Since 1984, TADA!’s mission has been to provide young people from different backgrounds with musical theater programs that inspire them to be creative, learn, and think differently through high-quality musical theater productions and educational programs. A unique Drama Desk award-winning nonprofit youth theater, TADA! produces original musicals for children, teens, and family audiences.
Alumni of TADA! include Jordan Peele (Key & Peele, Get Out, Us), Sasha Allen (HAIR, The Voice, For Colored Girls), Ricardo Zayas (Hamilton, Head Over Heels, West Side Story — upcoming from director Steven Spielberg), and Sheldon Henry (Tina – The Tina Turner Musical, The Prom).
TADA! also offers a free, year-round, pre-professional training and a positive youth development program for its Resident Youth Ensemble (ages 8-18); musical theater classes/camps for the public; as well as musical theater residencies in NYC schools and community centers. TADA!’s high-quality work enhances young people’s self-confidence and creativity. They also develop advanced skills in leadership, communication, responsibility, collaboration, and problem-solving skills that help with growing up and are essential to their success both in school and in life.
For more information, visit www.tadatheater.com.
On a sunny Saturday in mid-March, Jean Shafiroff hosted a party for God’s Love We Deliver at Alice +Olivia in Palm Beach. More than 75 men and women attended, including Kim Renk, Ava Roosevelt, Pamela O’Connor, the Countess Diane de la Bégassière, Anka Palitz, Mary Bryant McCourt, Christine Schott Ledes, Whitney Schott, Adam Weiss, Felicia Taylor, Amy Hoadley, Martin Shafiroff, Tom Shaffer, Alex Hamer and Nick Gold.
In addition to the Alice + Olivia apparel, SEQUIN of Worth Avenue also sold their beautiful accessories to benefit the charity. SEQUIN founder Kim Renk Dryer set up a lively table of fashion jewelry. All were welcome and the flow of guests into the colorful store was steady throughout the afternoon. The feel of the reception was more like a house party with dear friends, and many purchases were made in support of the charity.
God’s Love is a non-sectarian organization serving people in need and their children and caregivers in many locations in the United States and is expanding their life-saving services into South Florida from their base in New York City. God’s Love cooks and home-delivers nutritious, medically tailored meals for people too sick to shop or cook for themselves. To support the health of their clients, they also provide ongoing nutrition assessment, education, and counseling. All of the services are provided free to clients.
BroadwayHD founders, Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley hosted a party in Palm Beach to celebrate a milestone. BroadwayHD now has over 300 full length musicals and stage plays available for streaming on demand.
The line-up includes such recognizable titles as Phantom of the Opera, The King and I, Sound of Music, Cats, Les Misérables, Jesus Christ Superstar, Oklahoma, 42nd Street, Cirque du Soleil, Riverdance, and of course, Shakespeare.
BroadwayHD is extending the reach of live theater and making Broadway shows available to everyone. Nothing can take the place of live theater but high definition (HD) cameras can capture the excitement of a Broadway performance in front of an audience and bring it to audiences on the Internet. If you missed a sold out show or limited engagement or just didn’t get to New York for the latest hit show on Broadway, check out www.BroadwayHD.com
Photographs by Annie Watt (GLWD & BroadwayHD); Chad David Kraus (TADA!)
