Monday, April 21st, 2025
6:30pm
583 Park Avenue
at East 63rd Street, New York City
JOHN HOUSEMAN AWARD HONOREE
Bartlett Sher
JOAN M. WARBURG AWARD HONOREE
Timothy A. Wilkins
HOSTED BY
Tina Benko & Patrick K. Dooley
ORDER OF THE EVENING
Cocktail Hour & Silent Auction
Award Presentations & Special Guest Performances
Dinner & Dancing
DRESS CODE
Festive Cocktail Attire
EVENT CO-CHAIRS
Timothy K. Saunders, Jr.
Tejal Wadhwani
GALA COMMITTEE
in formation
J. Barclay Collins II
Peter H. Darrow
Eric Falkenstein
Margot Harley
Jessie McClintock Kelly
Ezra Knight
Dakin Matthews
Angela Pierce
John Rando
Richard J. Reilly, Jr.
Keith Sherman
Rosemary Spaziani
Randy Stuzin
Earl D. Weiner
Nancy Bendiner Weiss
Lori-Ann Wynter
JOHN HOUSEMAN AWARD
for creative achievements and service to the artistic community as an inspiration to emerging actors
Bartlett Sher is a Tony award-winner who has been described by The New York Times as one of America’s “most original and exciting directors.” His production of Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird on Broadway is the best-selling American play in Broadway history. His productions have been nominated for over 90 Tony Awards. His other work on Broadway and in the West End includes Pictures from Home, My Fair Lady, the 2017 Tony-winning Best Play Oslo, Fiddler on the Roof, The King & I, The Bridges of Madison County, Golden Boy, Women on the Verge..., Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, South Pacific, Awake and Sing!, and The Light in the Piazza. He has been a resident director at Lincoln Center Theater since 2008, where he recently directed Lerner & Lowe’s Camelot and Corruption. Bart has also directed several operas, including Rigoletto (Berlin, Metropolitan Opera); Roméo et Juliette (Metropolitan Opera, Salzburg, Milan, Chicago); Faust (Baden Baden); Two Boys (ENO, Metropolitan Opera); Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Baden Baden, Metropolitan Opera), Otello, Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Le Comte Ory, L'Elisir d'Amore (Metropolitan Opera); Mourning Becomes Electra (Seattle Opera, City Opera). He will direct the world premiere of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay for the Met in their 2025-2026 season. His film of Oslo (HBO, 2021) was nominated for two Emmy Awards and won a Critics Choice Award. Bart recently mounted a hit revival of Kiss Me Kate at the Barbican in London, and his upcoming work includes Millions, Dolly: An Original Musical, and a stage adaptation of the movie-musical La La Land.
The indomitable co-founder of The Acting Company, John Houseman was an accomplished stage, film, radio, and television producer who earned the 1973 Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his performance in The Paper Chase. He published several volumes of memoirs, including Run Through, Front and Center, and Final Dress. He was educated in England and immigrated to the United States in 1924. Houseman organized, with Orson Welles, productions as part of the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Theatre Project. He and Welles then formed the Mercury Theatre, which achieved success both on Broadway and radio. In the 1940s Houseman moved to Hollywood, where he produced 19 feature films. He continued to produce and direct plays on Broadway, and in the 1950s he worked as a producer for CBS-TV. He also served as artistic director for, among others, the American Shakespeare Festival, the Professional Theatre Group at the University of California at Los Angeles, and the drama division of the Juilliard School.
JOHN HOUSEMAN AWARD honorees include: Stephen McKinley Henderson, Dakin Matthews, Sanford Robbins, Bill Rauch, John Guare, Mark Lamos, Dr. Mary Schmidt Cambell, Dana Ivey, James Houghton, James Bundy, Bernard Gersten, Dana Gioia, Theatre Development Fund, Edgar Lansbury, Patti LuPone, Jack O’Brien, Marian Seldes, Jeffrey Horowitz, Margot Harley, Tony Randall, Joan Warburg, Joe Dowling, Burt Reynolds, Elizabeth Smith, Kevin Kline, Jane Alexander, Julie Harris, Michael Kahn, Harold Prince, Uta Hagen, Barbara Matera, Zelda Fichandler, Alan Schneider, Joseph Papp, and Liviu Ciulei.
JOAN M. WARBURG AWARD
for remarkable philanthropic leadership and extraordinary contributions to the arts
Timothy Wilkins heads Freshfields' global client sustainability team, comprised of leaders from the firm's transactional, regulatory and litigation practices, who advise clients on environmental, social and governance matters. Wilkins’ practice includes leading the firm in its partnerships with clients, public policymakers and regulators in their joint effort to tackle the broader range of sustainability issues impacting business and society. Wilkins is a Lecturer at Columbia Law School and an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School. He also serves as the Co-Chair of the Sustainability Legal Leaders Forum. Wilkins has been active in philanthropy and board service at several institutions in New York City and nationally. He currently is the Chair of the Board at New York Public Radio and previously served as Chair of the Board for the social justice organization, The Opportunity Agenda. He also served on the Board of the New York City Economic Development Corporation as Chair of the Governance Committee, appointed by the Mayor of New York City, and the Board of the New York Public Theater, as Co-Chair of the Governance Committee. Other board service includes serving as a trustee for The Peer Health Exchange and The Dalton School. He has been selected five times to the Top 100 Ethnic Minority Executives by Empower and received The Visionary Leader Award from Harlem Grown in 2023 and the Gala Award by Pure Earth. He has been recognized by Chambers and Crain’s Business as a Leader in Sustainability. Formerly, Wilkins served in Tokyo as the Vice-Chair of the Legal Services Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, where he worked as an investment banker and lawyer for 11 years. Wilkins is a graduate of Harvard College (magna cum laude), Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School, where he was a Ford Foundation Fellow in Public International Law and editor of the International Law Journal.
The longtime president of Acting Company’s Board of Directors, Joan Warburg was a passionate advocate for child and family welfare, world peace, women’s rights and the arts whose generosity sustained our organization for decades. A deep believer in the value of volunteering, she served on over 40 boards, always devoting her energy and enthusiasm to the cause she believed in. The first in her family to attend college, she became a permanent member of her alma mater Simmons College’s executive committee and served as president of the college corporation. After marrying James P. Warburg, Joan moved to Greenwich, CT, where she raised four children and became actively involved in civic and charitable causes. Her more than half a century on board and volunteer service included Young Audiences, United Way, Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, Greenwich’s Family Centers, and the New York Women’s Foundation, which she co-founded. An ardent supporter of Democracy at all levels of government, she was also active in several organizations advocating for nuclear disarmament.
JOAN M. WARBURG AWARD honorees include: William H. Wright III, Rainn Wilson, Peter H. Darrow, Richard “Dick” Yancey, Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel and Ambassador Carl Spielvogel, Anne L. Bernstein, J. Barclay Collins II, Paul & Tom Fontana, Vin Cipolla, Barbara Fleischman, Earl D. Weiner, Brain Stokes Mitchell & Joseph Benincasa, Tom Viola, Abigail Disney, William D. Zabel, Gerald Schoenfeld, The Honorable Thomas H. Kean, Phyllis Newman, Harry Belafonte, and Martin E. Sega.
Thank you!
Group I Acting Company (dba The Acting Company) is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit charity. FEIN 13-2759292. Donations made in support of our mission and programs are tax deductible, less the fair market value of goods and services per dinner guest.