Michael Appler Gala on the Green, the Public Theater’s annual benefit held Tuesday night steps from the Delacorte Theater in New York’s Central Park, is the best spot in town for a breezy evening spent as a fly on the wall.Last evening, for example, Liev Schreiber served as emcee. At his table sat Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke, while nearby was Peter Dinklage and partner Erica Schmidt. Pillars of the New York theater community like Lin-Manuel Miranda, Kelli O’Hara, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Julia Murney and “A Strange Loop’s” Michael R. Jackson were on hand, too.
Film and television executives, like Jason Blum, had cocktails with former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg, while philanthropists Mercedes Bass, Diane von Fürstenberg and Barry Diller chatted politely nearby. It’s safe to say that few events in New York still assemble such an eclectic composite of society and culture, and that’s because each of the guests owe — in their own way — a debt to the Public Theater, celebrating 60 years of Shakespeare in the Park this season. Many of the actors in attendance, including Schreiber, got their first roles in New York at the Public.
To philanthropists and politicians, the institution started by Joe Papp remains a gatekeeper for the American theater’s body politic, the vanguard of theater as public work in New York City.“There aren’t many places left in the theater that have a classic component where actors can refine their technique and grow on the job,” Schreiber told Variety about the Public on Tuesday. “This is the drum I bang,” he said. “The Public is the jewel in the crown of New York.
performer
career
Parke
Peter Dinklage
Oscar Isaac
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Diane Von-Furstenberg
Ethan Hawke
Michael Bloomberg
Jason Blum
Erica Schmidt
Barry Diller
Kelli Ohara
Michael R.Jackson