Rivera, Vereen, Burton, et al. to Salute Tony Walton at York Gala

Chita Rivera, Ben Vereen, Kate Burton, Judd Hirsch, Cady Huffman, Tony Roberts, and Veanne Cox are among the stars who will salute director-designer Tony Walton as he receives the Oscar Hammerstein Award at the York Theatre Company’s annual gala. Directed by Kathleen Marshall, the benefit event will be held on Monday, June 6 at the Hudson Theater, beginning at 6pm.

One of Broadway’s and Hollywood’s most respected designers, Walton has been nominated for the Tony Award for Outstanding Set Design 14 times, winning for Pippin, The House of Blue Leaves, and Guys and Dolls; he was also nominated for his costume designs for The Apple Tree and Anything Goes. His film credits include Mary Poppins, Murder on the Orient Express,The Wiz, and All That Jazz.

More recently, Walton has branched out into directing. He staged and designed Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and the American premiere of After the Ball, both for The Irish Repertory Theatre, as well as Where’s Charley? for Goodspeed Musicals. Walton is also the production designer for the upcoming Goodspeed revival of The Boy Friend, to be directed by his former wife, Julie Andrews. (Their daughter, Emma Walton, will attend the York Gala.) A member of the Theatre Hall of Fame, Walton is married to playwright Gen LeRoy.

The Oscar Hammerstein Award, named for the iconic lyricist-librettist, was created by the late Janet Hayes Walker and is administered by the York Theatre Company with the endorsement of the Hammerstein family and the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization. Past recipients include Stephen Sondheim, Harold Prince, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Cy Coleman, Jerry Herman, Charles Strouse, John Kander and Fred Ebb, and Carol Channing.

Individual tickets to the York gala range in price from $175 to $1,000. For more information, phone 212-867-1117.