Honoring the Huntington's
30-year managing director
Michael Maso with the
Wimberly Award
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Hosted by Tony Award
winner Joanna Gleason
(Sons of the Prophet,
Into the Woods, "The
West Wing")
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Featuring entertainment
by Yvette Freeman
(Ma Rainey's Black
Bottom, NBC's "ER")
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Featuring a cocktail reception, silent and live auctions offering unique items, a seated dinner, a tribute to Mr. Maso, exciting entertainment, and dancing.
Proceeds support the Huntington's programs, including our award-winning youth, education, and community initiatives.
Chaired by Marsha Feinberg and Fancy Zilberfarb and designed by Rafanelli Events.
Tables: $7,500 to $50,000
Individual tickets: $500 to $2,500
For more information or to sponsor a table or purchase tickets, contact Shaine Belli at 617 273 1536 or sbelli@huntingtontheatre.bu.edu
About Michael Maso
As managing director, Michael Maso has led the Huntington's administrative and financial operations since 1982, producing more than 160 plays in partnership with three artistic directors and leading the Huntington's ten-year drive to build the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, which opened in September 2004. In recognition of these efforts, he was honored by the Boston Herald as 2004's Theatre Man of the Year. During his tenure, he grew the organization to its current operating budget of $13.2 million and secured the Huntington's place as one of the nation's most respected and admired regional theatre companies.
In recognition of his contributions to the Greater Boston theatre community, Mr. Maso received the 2010 Theatre Hero Award from StageSource, the Greater Boston Theatre Alliance. From 1997 to 2005, he served as president of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT), an association of 70 of the country's major not-for-profit professional theatres. In 2005, he was named as one of a dozen members of the inaugural class of the Barr Fellows Program. He is the 2005 recipient of the Commonwealth Award, the state's highest arts honor, in the category of Catalyst. In 2000, Mr. maso was honored with the Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence at Boston's Elliot Norton Awards. He has served as a member of the board of directors of the Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national service organization for not-for-profit theatre, and as a site visitor, panelist, and panel chairman for the National Endowment for the Arts. Mr. Maso is also a member of the baord of directors of ArtsBoston. Prior to coming to the Huntington, he spent three seasons as the managing director of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. He has also been the general manager of New York's Roundabout Theatre Company, business manager for PAF Playhouse on Long Island, and an independent arts management consultant based in Taos, New Mexico. Mr. Maso is an associate professor of theatre at Boston University.
"Michael was the obvious choice to be this year's honoree," says Famcy Zilberfarb, one of the Chairs of 2012 Spotlight Spectacular. "He works tirelessly for the Huntington behind the scenes, and so we look forward to placing him center stage in tribute on April 2 and showing him how much he truly means to the Huntington, to our Board, and to our city."
The city of Boston has a richer and more vibrant theatre scene because of Michael Maso," says Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. "Over the past 30 years, he has grown the Huntington Theatre Company into one of Boston's premiere theatres, providing our community with locally-created productions that are fit for Broadway's stages. I congratulate Michael on his many years of service to the Huntington, to the arts community, and to the city of Boston."
"Among his peers, Michael is regarded as being the finest manager," says Tim Shields, president of the League of Resident Theatres of which the Huntington is a member. "In his eight years as president of LORT, he led the organization with uncommon vision and with great passion. If anyone asks me to whom they should look to see a picture of a complete manager, I tell them to look to Michael and what he's accomplished at the Huntington."
"Michael Maso is the reason that the Huntington leads the national theatre community from Boston," says Huntington Board of Trustees President Mitchell J. Roberts. "A remarkable man, teacher, mentor, producer, and deep talent, Michael gives far more than imaginable to our organization and to the city. We owe him deep gratitude for all of his contributions, and look forward to honoring him at the Spotlight Spectacular."
"Michael is insightful, giving, and deeply intelligent," says Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois. "More than anything, I value his passion for risk and change — the pillars of making great, alive, and passionate theatre. When a new idea enters the room he is first to engage it with curiosity and excitement. His legendary sense of humor is icing on the cake. I couldn't imagine a better partner in creating art and leading the Huntington."
About Joanna Gleason
Joanna Gleason starred in the Huntington's 2011 world premiere production of Sons of the Prophet by Stephen Karam and directed by Artistic Director Peter DuBois and in the remounting at Roundabout Theatre Company last fall. She is an all-encompassing actress with credits ranging from broadway to feature films to television series. She is the recipient of a Best Actress Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, and an Outer Critic's Award for her performance in Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods. Ms. Gleason received Tony nominations for her performances in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Joe Egg. Other Broadway credits include Nick and Nora, I Love My Wife, The Real Thing, and Social Security. Recently she directed Doria Fram's Callwaiting at The Tiffany Theater in Los Angeles and Chris Gorman's A Letter From Ethel Kennedy at New York's MCC Theater. Her feature film credits include Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors and Hannah and Her Sisters, as well as Heartburn; For Richer, For Poorer; Life Under Water; FX2; Road Ends; American Perfekt; Mr. Holland's Opus; Boogie Nights; and The Wedding Planner. Major television credits include a recurring role on "The West Wing," "ER," "Friends," "King of the Hill," "How to Make It in America," and "The Good Wife." She was a series regular and director on Oh Baby for LIfetime. Other series regular credits include CBS' "Bette," "Temporarily Yours," and "Love and War," which she also directed. Ms. Gleason taught for 15 years at high schools and colleges all over the country and has taught workshops for composers and lyricists, as well as staged new works for theatre. She is married to actor Chris Sarandon. They have four children.
About Yvette Freeman
Yvette Freeman will star in the Huntington's production of August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom this March. She starred int he Broadway, First National, Paris, and International companies of Ain't Misbehavin' and in the New York production of Dinah Was, based on the life of the legendary jazz singer Dinah Washington, for which she won the 1998 Obie Award for Best Actress. She played 101-year-old Dr. Bessie in Having Our Say at the McCarter Theater, directed by Emily Mann. She appeared for fourteen years as Nurse Haleh Adams on NBC's acclaimed dramatic series "ER" and as Evelyn Smalley on the NBC sitcom Working. In 2010, Yvette was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for her role as Dr. Lewis on the soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful." Her second album, In My Arms, was released in 2011.