Bay Street Theater's 27th Annual Gala With Jane Lynch As Emcee a Big Success
Sag Harbor, NY - July 9, 2018 - Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts held Some Enchanted Evening, the 27th Annual Summer Gala in Sag Harbor on the Long Wharf on July 7, 2018, with Jane Lynch as emcee. The event benefits Bay Street's educational and theatrical programs. The evening included special performances as well as a silent auction, cocktail party, live auction with celebrity auctioneer Richard Kind, dinner and dancing. And due to future restoration of the Long Wharf, this was the final gala to be held there.
The theme this year was a Celebration of the Golden Age of Broadway. A star-filled concert kicked off the evening, with songs from the most beloved musicals including South Pacific, West Side Story, On The Town, Carousel, and more, written by the hilarious, award-winning playwright Jonathan Tolins (playwright of Buyer and Cellar and Bay Street’s hit comedy The Forgotten Woman).
Patty and Jay Baker. Photo Credit: Lenny Stucker
Entertainment included Broadway star and East Hampton resident Howard McGillin (Mystery of Edwin Drood, Gigi, Bay Street’s My Fair Lady and Grey Gardens) performing “Some Enchanted Evening” and “Something’s Coming”; German and Australian star Sarah Bowden (Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame, A Chorus Line at the Hollywood Bowl) and Cory Lingner performed “Whatever Lolo Wants” with special thanks from Mary Callahan and Nicole Fosse from The Verdon Fosse Legacy; choreographer Joshua Bergasse who recreated his Tony nominated staging of “New York, New York” from On the Town; and Robert Fairchild, former Principal Dancer New York City Ballet and starred in An American in Paris on Broadway performed “Kansas City”; Phyre Hawkins performed “Come Rain or Come Shine”; Nick Cearley and Wayne Alan Wilcox performed a medley from Guy and Dolls; Other performers include Bay Street Acting Apprentices Kara Arena, Lewis Elliott, Allison Gray, Meghan LeFlam, Anthony Sims and Phillip Young. The full company sang “Climb Ev’ry Mountain.”
Jane Lynch (two-time Emmy winning host of Hollywood Game Night and an Emmy and Golden Globe winner for her portrayal of Sue Sylvester on Glee) sang “You’ll Never Get Away From Me” with Richard Kind (Amazon’s Red Oaks, The Producers, The Big Knife, Mad About You, Spin City, A Bug’s Life, Cars, Inside Out, and Bay Street’s productions including Enter Laughing, Romance, Travesties, and The Lady in Question).
Honorees Luigi Caiola, Sean McGill, Erik Batt, and Daniel Marsili. Photo Credit: Lenny Stucker
“It was a wonderful evening and a great way to celebrate our last summer gala on the Long Wharf,” says Scott Schwartz, Bay Street Theater’s Artistic Director. “We will have a new location next year, but we had an amazing music-filled sunset party that supports Bay Street Theater.”
"The annual gala was a wonderful event and Bay Street's only fundraiser of the year," says Executive Director Tracy Mitchell. "Besides being a fun night in the theater and on the Wharf, the gala is the cornerstone of our fundraising efforts allowing us to support more than thirty other community organizations on the East End.”
The evening’s auction items included a week-long stay in St. Barth's for 4 at a luxury 2- bedroom WIMCO villa, complete with unparalleled concierge service, and roundtrip flights to the island from San Juan via private carrier Tradewind Aviation. Other items included an 8-day cruise on Viking Cruises for 2, a walk on role in EVITA with dinner for 8 guests at The American Hotel, and many, many more.
Guests Dancing Under the Tent. Photo Credit: Lenny Stucker
This year, the Bay Street Theater honored Sag Harbor businesses as a thank you for supporting the Gala for the past 27 years, Bay Street Theater honored Bay Street Board Members Luigi Caiola and Erik Batt, who along with their spouses and families have been devoted supporters.
Also attending the Gala among Broadway stars and performers were actor Steven Fales from the upcoming production of Confessions of a Mormon Boy (July 17-22), Lorna Luft,The cast of Frost/Nixon (running now through July 22) including Harris Yulin and Daniel Gerroll.
This year's sponsors (list in progress) include: Peeko Oysters, Greenport Harbor Brewing Company, Bedell Wine, Clovis Point Winery, Tradewind Aviation, Channing Daughters Winery, Hamptons H2O Water, Simple Vodka, Sag Harbor Rum, Sag Harbor Florist, Land’s End, Oban, Peconic Landing, Viking River Cruises, Searles Graphics, Sterling Affair, Bridgehampton National Bank, Corcoran Group, Hamptons Magazine, Dan's Papers, Purist, Beach Magazine, and WIMCO Villas.
For more information about Bay Street Theater log on to baystreet.org or call the Box Office at 631-725-9500.
Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is a year-round, not-for-profit professional theater and community cultural center which endeavors to innovate, educate, and entertain a diverse community through the practice of the performing arts. We serve as a social and cultural gathering place, an educational resource, and a home for a community of artists.