NETWORK-NATIONAL THEATRE BENEFIT

Perhaps the biggest artistic play success and the biggest commercial play flop of last season was the National Theatre’s “Angels in America”. Now the ANGELS for that production, the investors/producers who lost most of their investment dollars,are being asked to pony up monies to benefit the National with the following invitation.

I am delighted to be writing to ask you to Save the Date for an AANT Gala to celebrate the arrival of the National Theatre’s NETWORK on Broadway – see below. On Friday, January 11, 2019 we will have a Gala performance of Network (7-9pm), followed by a seated dinner with Bryan Cranston and the cast at the iconic Rainbow Room (a short walk from the Cort Theatre).

We have been so thrilled to have your support for our AANT Galas in the past. If appropriate, please let Kirsten know if you would like to join our Benefit Committee by pledging to buy a Gala table ($25,000 or $50,000), or to fill a table with ten guests buying $2,500 or $5,000 tickets.

What an exciting time we have ahead! Network on Broadway, The Jungle at St. Ann’s Warehouse in December, and then (fingers crossed!) The Lehman Trilogy with Simon Russell Beale at the Park Avenue Armory in the spring. Thank you so much for your generous support in making this wonderful program possible

How wonderful that we will support the National Theatre (I wonder if the contributions are tax deductible) but sometimes neglect our own worthy institutions whether they be larger Lincoln Center, the Roundabout Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club or smaller like Playwrights Horizons, The Signature, New York Theatre Workshop, the Second Stage— and the list goes on and on.

I do admire what the National does and especially look forward to The Lehman Trilogy and The Jungle (I think Network is over-rated and isn’t nearly as good as the great movie, though Cranston is first-rate). But it is a state funded theatre and so many of our theatres really struggle to make ends meet (not necessarily all those listed I’ve listed above).

The magnificent Lincoln Center production of “The King and I” has been replicated successfully in London, as was Oslo earlier this year at the National and then on the West End; I wonder if there is going to be a Benefit Performance in London for the British Associates of Lincoln Center (BALC)…

Those prices are pretty steep. Will there be a student rush? I agree that they should use some of the benefit funds to subsidize less expensive seats so that "students" of all ages can see the play. Otherwise, I'd be mad as hell...