Martha Plimpton and Tom Viola to Be Honored at Gingold Theatrical Group Gala
(© David Gordon)
Gingold Theatrical Group will be honoring actor and activist Martha Plimpton, as well as actor, producer, and longtime executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Tom Viola, at the 2018 Golden Shamrock Gala on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, at 3 West Club. This year’s gala will be geared toward raising funds for GTG’s full production of George Bernard Shaw’s Heartbreak House, which will begin its off-Broadway run at Theatre Row beginning August 28.
Held each year on St. Patrick’s Day in honor of Shaw’s Irish heritage, GTG’s Golden Shamrock Gala is a celebration of all that GTG does. GTG’s Golden Shamrock Award is given annually to celebrate artistic and cultural contributions to society, as inspired by Shaw’s fiercely activist humanitarianism. Previous recipients of the Golden Shamrock Gala Award include Tyne Daly, Kate Mulgrew, Kenneth Lonergan, Charles Busch, Judith Ivey, Robert Osborne, Terrence McNally, and Brian Murray.
Performers will include Charles Busch, Tyne Daly, Alison Fraser, Howard McGillin, Tom Judson, Irish fiddler James Cleveland, and more, including auctioneer Nick Nicholson. Special guests include Tony Award winner Cady Huffman, Jim Brochu, Steven Lutvak, Actors Fund President Joe Benincasa, Tony Award-winning producers Michael Alden and Jamie deRoy, Oscar and Tony Award winner Joel Grey, Tony Award winner Liliane Montevecchi, and Tony Award winner Karen Ziemba, among others.
A three-time Tony nominee, Plimpton has been politically active since she was a teenager, marching for women’s reproductive freedom since the 1980s, and serving as one of the cofounders and board members of A is For, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing reproductive rights and ending the stigma against abortion care.
Viola has served in a leadership capacity of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS since the organization came into being in 1988. BC/EFA helps men, women and children across the country and across the street receive lifesaving medications, health care, nutritious meals, counseling and emergency financial assistance, and is one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations.
