NEW YORK, NY | September 24, 2020 - Rachel Dratch joins Lynn Ahrens, Colman Domingo, Douglas Lyons, Daphne Rubin-Vega, stage manager Ruth E. Kramer, and more for TheaterWorksUSA’s fall benefit, Connecting the Dots, streamed exclusively online on Thursday, October 8, at 7:00 p.m. EST. The event will honor twin brothers, creativity champions and award-winning author/illustrators Paul and Peter H. Reynolds of FableVision and International Dot Day for their outstanding contributions to the educational and cultural development of young people around the world. The evening will include appearances and presentations by extraordinary theatre artists, as well as noteworthy performances from Lilli Cooper, Miguel Cervantes, and The Skivvies. Admission to the main programming is by donation ($25 per ticket suggested).

VIP tickets to an exclusive pre-show experience are available as well. Benefits for VIP ticket holders include a shared luxury cocktail recipe crafted by sponsor American Whiskey, and a surprise guest from the food and television world who will appear only at the VIP pre-show event.

TheaterWorksUSA invites theater artists and appreciators from around the world to join them for an evening of celebration and “dot connecting,” inspired by Peter H. Reynolds’ New York Times best-selling storybook The Dot, which TheaterWorksUSA produced as a musical and currently plans to expand for young audiences by including Peter’s creativity storybooks Ish and Sky Color. Every donation made toward the benefit supports providing hundreds of thousands of students annually with transformative theatrical experiences, such as the TheaterWorksUSAcademy.

The Connecting the Dots virtual fall benefit, sponsored in part by BroadwayHD, exemplifies TheaterWorksUSA’s multi-decade commitment to art with intergenerational impact. “We’re all longing for connection right now,” Artistic Director Barbara Pasternack shares, “TheaterWorksUSA has a nearly sixty-year legacy of connecting audiences to art, artists to work, and supporting the work - not just for a moment, but for a lifetime.”

The benefit is directed by Heather Arnson, Creative Director of Broadway Virtual and, thanks to the support of Scholastic, will stream via Broadway On Demand. The event is produced by Broadway Virtual with Jim Kierstead, Executive Producer, and Asad Javed, Technical Director/Editor. TheaterWorksUSA continues to welcome additional sponsors at various levels of support who can reach out directly.

TheaterWorksUSA has led the Theater for Young and Family Audiences movement in New York City and across North America for over half a century. Since 1961, the 501(c)3 not-for-profit has captured the imaginations of 100 million new and veteran theatergoers with an award-winning repertoire of over 140 original plays and musicals. Acclaimed alumni include Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (Disney’s Frozen), Jerry Zaks (The Music Man), Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen), Joe Iconis (Be More Chill), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Rent), and Kathleen Chalfant (Angels in America). In addition to touring eleven family productions around the country, TheaterWorksUSA’s season highlights include the Broadway production of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, and the world premieres of two New York Times Critic’s Picks, Dog Man: The Musical and The Pout-Pout Fish, which recently opened the New Victory Theater’s season.

To register, donate, or purchase tickets, visit: www.twusa.org/fallbenefit
To sponsor this event, contact: Meredith Suttles, Director of Development at msuttles@twusa.org

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