For Immediate Release, Please

Press Contact: Brett Singer (212)307-7181; brett@brettsinger.com

BENEFIT LISTING - MONDAY February 28^th

CLASSICAL THEATRE OF HARLEM GALA: honoring Diahann Carroll, Phylicia Rashad and Earle Hyman

Master Of Ceremonies: NBC News Anchor David Ushery

The Classical Theatre of Harlem will hold their 1^st Annual Benefit on Monday, February 28^th at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (1047 Amsterdam Avenue). The event, the first Gala in the company’s six year history, will honor acclaimed actors Diahann Carroll, Phylicia Rashad and Earle Hyman with three new awards named for legends of African-American theater. The awards are as follows:

The Josephine Premice Award for Sustained Excellence in the Theatre will be presented to Ms. Diahann Carroll, whose career has spanned Broadway, television and film for more than five decades. She is a Tony Award winner, an Emmy and Grammy nominee, a Golden Globe winner and the first Black actress to star in her own television series, “Julia” on NBC.

The Rose McClendon Trailblazer Award will be presented to Phylicia Rashad, winner of the 2004 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, for her role in A Raisin in the Sun. Best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on “The Cosby Show”, Ms. Rashad is the first African American woman to receive the Tony for Best Actress.

The Ira Aldridge Award for Sustained Excellence in the Theatre will be presented to Earle Hyman. Best known for his role as Bill Cosby’s father on “The Cosby Show”, Mr. Hyman is a celebrated Shakespearean actor whose career of six decades has included the roles of Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear and Othello. Mr. Hyman began his career at The American Negro Theatre in Harlem and is retiring from performing after starring in The Classical Theatre of Harlem’s production of The Cherry Orchard, which runs through Sunday, February 27^th. He has been nominated for a Tony and an Emmy and has been presented with the medal of St. Olaf by the former King Olaf of Norway.

The event will feature Buffet Dinner, Entertainment, Awards, door prizes and a raffle. Individual tickets for the event are $150 and can be purchased online at www.Smarttix.com or by calling (212) 868-4444.

Cocktails at 6:00, dinner at 7:00, followed by awards and entertainment. Individual tickets are $150 per person. To order, call Smarttix.com at (212)868-4444.

About The Classical Theatre of Harlem

Since its founding in 1999, the Classical Theatre of Harlem has presented twenty two productions that among others have included numerous works by Shakespeare, August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Euripides’ Trojan Women, Derek Walcott's Dream on Monkey Mountain, Melvin Van Peebles' Ain't Supposed To Die A Natural Death, Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard and the company’s most striking success, Jean Genet’s seminal political drama, The Blacks: A Clown Show, which received four 2003 OBIE Awards.

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