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Stamford Theatre Works Celebrates 20th Anniversary with Benefit

STAMFORD, CT: Stamford Theatre Works will host a benefit evening to celebrate its 20th anniversary season on Monday, May 19, 6:30 p.m., at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich, 1800 East Putnam Avenue, Old Greenwich. Funds will benefit STW's new home at The Palace, opening in the fall.

The evening will feature a roast of Steve Karp, STW founder and producing director, by celebrity guests including Gene Wilder, Keir Dullea and John Lithgow, and members of the casts of past STW productions. Cocktails will begin at 6:15 p.m., followed by dinner, silent and live auctions and the roast. Dress is business attire/cocktail.

Since its founding in 1988, Stamford Theatre Works has been located on the campus of Stamford's Sacred Heart Academy. A new STW theatre, on the lower level of The Palace on Atlantic Street, is currently under construction and scheduled to open for STW's fall production.

Karp said, "Over the 20 years, STW's 'back-yard presence' has been a boon to our thousands of savvy theatre lovers whose discovery of STW has saved them a trip to New York, while helping STW to become the longest-running, original-producing professional theatre in Stamford's history, and an accessible source of pride and inspiration to our entire cultural community.

"With our new and intimate, state-of-the-art theatre in The Palace just over the horizon, we celebrate STW's 20th anniversary and a new beginning---as one of the most popular theatres in our Southwestern Connecticut-Westchester region."

Live auction items at the benefit will include doubles tennis with Karen and Gene Wilder on their private court; lunch for four with Congressman Christopher Shays in the U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC; a vacation weekend at a slopeside condominium in Okemo Mountain, Vermont; and a flight of fancy in a private plane. Silent auction prizes include jewelry, tickets for cultural and sporting events, restaurant dinners, hotel getaways, sailing and kayak trips, and many more items.

The benefit's volunteer co-chairs are Stamford residents Marietta Morelli, Eileen Rosner and Lois Lord-Sharma.

Stamford Theatre Works has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism and the Stamford Community Arts Partnership Program. It has also received numerous awards from the Connecticut Critics Circle for outstanding work. STW annually stages five original productions of contemporary plays chosen with sensitivity to issues of social relevance. In addition, STW's season includes a School for the Performing Arts and the Purple Cow Children's Theatre. STW is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization.

Benefit tickets are $195. For more information or a benefit invitation, contact Stamford Theatre Works, (203) 359-4414. www.stamfordtheatreworks.org.