Theater News

TADA! Youth Theater's 30th Anniversary Gala to Honor Chita Rivera and Sheldon Harnick

Current board treasurer and former board president Stephen T. Rodd will also be saluted.

Chita Rivera will be honored at TADA! Youth Theater's annual gala.
Chita Rivera will be honored at TADA! Youth Theater's annual gala.
(© David Gordon)

TADA! Youth Theater has announced plans to honor performer Chita Rivera, lyricist Sheldon Harnick, and TADA! board treasurer Stephen T. Rodd at its upcoming 30th Anniversary Gala. The event will take place May 23 at Tribeca 360.

The gala will be hosted by TADA! alum Jordan Peele, of Comedy Central’s Key & Peele. Part of TADA!’s ensemble in the early '90s Peele has also appeared on five seasons of MADtv, as well as Life in Pieces, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, Bob's Burgers, and more.

Chita Rivera has won two Tony Awards as Best Leading Actress in a Musical and received eight additional Tony nominations. She recently starred in Broadway's The Visit, the final John Kander-Fred Ebb-Terrence McNally collaboration. Her career is also highlighted by starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, The Rink, Chicago, Jerry’s Girls, and Kiss of the Spider Woman. Rivera was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2009 and received the Kennedy Center Honor in 2002.

Sheldon Harnick has written the music for more than 24 musicals, including Fiddler on the Roof and She Loves Me, both of which are currently back on Broadway. Honors and awards include the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Fiorello! in 1960, three Tony Awards in 1960 and 1965, and the 18th Annual York Theatre Company's Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Theater in 2009.

Current board treasurer Stephen T. Rodd is also the former board president of TADA!.

For more information and tickets to TADA!'s 30th Anniversary Gala, click here.

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