Lilli Cooper, Robert Sean Leonard, Mary Testa, and More Set for 52nd Street Project Gala

Robert Sean Leonard will emcee Packing Peanuts: A Moving Experience with The 52nd Street Project, to be held at Espace (635 West 42nd Street, between 11th & 12th Avenues), on May 11 beginning at 7 pm. Jonathan Bernstein will direct, with music direction by Kimberly Grigsby.

Performers will include John Ellison Conlee, Lili Cooper, Mandy Gonzalez, Dayna Kurtz, Sondre Lerche, and Mary Testa. This spring gala will be a celebration of the Project’s new home and first theater, opening later this year. The program will feature songs about home, moving and the Project, with lyrics by Project kids and music by Henry Krieger, Dayna Kurtz, Sondre Lerche, Rob Reale, and Jeanine Tesori.

Peter Bernstein will play guitar, Ethan Eubanks will be on drums, lighting will be by Greg MacPherson, and sound will be by Scott Lehrer.

The 52nd Street Project was founded in 1981 by actor/playwright Willie Reale in response to a deepening need to improve the quality of life for New York’s inner-city children. Proceeds from the gala will support the project’s original writing, performance, and tutoring programs.

Tickets begin at $250. For more information, or to purchase, call 212-333-5252.