To the Editor:

McCarter Theatre Center’s Annual Gala on May 6 marked the 40th anniversary of this major fundraising event. Over that span, luminaries and legends such as Luciano Pavarotti, Carol Burnett, Gregory Peck, Dave Brubeck, Tony Bennett, Bob Newhart, and Lily Tomlin have graced our stage in support of the theatre.

This year longtime friend of McCarter, Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, performed for a packed-to-the-rafters theatre as the centerpiece of the evening.

Lending their support to this year’s Gala as Presenting Sponsors were BNY Mellon Wealth Management, Community Investment Strategies, and WIRB Copernicus Group. Our Gold Sponsors include Bloomberg Philanthropies, CURE Auto Insurance, Drinker Biddle, Maiden Re, Mathematica Policy Research, Merrill Lynch, and PNC Wealth Management. We are deeply grateful for that support, and for that of many other corporate and individual sponsors and advertisers.

Special thanks go out to our Gala Committee and to Gala Committee Co-Chairpersons—Ed Matthews and Vilma Keri, Chris Foglio-Palmer and Doug Palmer, Reggie and Aliya Browne—who orchestrated a festive and glittering evening for our guests. We would also like to thank Sebastian Clarke of Rago Arts and Auction Center for conducting our live auction and Viburnum Designs of Princeton for assisting with our centerpieces.

We also want to give a special thanks to Princeton University for their longstanding support of this event and the theatre throughout the season.

The proceeds of this event are used to support McCarter’s artistic and educational programming throughout our region. More than 100,000 people annually — from the five county region and beyond — see a show at McCarter or participate in a McCarter class or workshop.

We’re so deeply grateful!

Timothy J. Shields
Managing Director
Emily Mann
Artistic Director