NYU Tisch School of the Arts 2017 Gala was the place to be on Monday night.
Alec and Hilaria Baldwin served as honorary co-chairs for the evening, which also featured a surprise birthday celebration for Alec. Also in attendance were Tisch alumna and Tony Award-nominated actress Pascale Armand, music producer Randy Jackson, Tisch alumna and Luke Cage actress Karen Pittman, This Is Us star Susan Kelechi Watson, producer Colin Callender, Tribeca Films’ Jane Rosenthal, NYU Tisch Dean Allyson Green, NYU President Andrew Hamilton and his wife Jennie Hamilton and Jonathan Tisch, Ann and Andrew Tisch. Over $1.1 million was raised to support critical needs of talented Tisch students.
Read our chat with Karen Pittman from the red carpet.
Are we going to see you in season two of Luke Cage?
Karen Pittman: I hope you see me in season two of Luke Cage. It would be my great pleasure. I had a great time on the first season. Great time with Cheo, Simone, Mike Colter and Alfre Woodard. It was a great joy. It would be my pleasure to come back, but I can’t tell you if I am.
You’re an NYU Alum. What does it mean to be coming back to support the school at this gala?
Karen Pittman: Well, it means a lot to come back for these actors. Of course, I went to NYU. I love the school. I’m class of 2007. It means a lot to come back here because I know the actors that they are celebrating, and I want to be a part of anything that lifts these actors up. I think they are great. I think they are doing great work in American theater, in American cinema, in American TV. I think it is important to support each other.
Any other projects in the works?
Karen Pittman: I am working on a play at Lincoln Center this summer at the Mitzi Newhouse with Dominique Morisseau and Lileana Blain-Cruz is directing. I am really excited to be back up there after having done Disgraced and Domesticated there. I think of Lincoln Center as my second home, so I am very excited to be back up there. That’s this summer. It opens in June. It will go all the way through August. I’m spending my summer here at Lincoln Center. I hope people will come see it. It’s a really great play.
Aspire and Inspire honored notable alumni The Walking Dead actress, award-winning playwright and Tony-nominee Danai Gurira (’04) and The Knick and Moonlight actor André Holland (’06). “I am inspired by our honorees tonight: two alumni from our Graduate Acting Program,” said Allyson Green, Dean, NYU Tisch School of the Arts. “Danai and André are brilliant artists. Both are fearless. And both tell stories that are often overlooked or unheard. They are also friends, as so many Tisch alumni become, shaped by training by dedicated teachers who instilled deep values.” NYU President Andrew Hamilton also made remarks, thanking guests for their ongoing “guidance, commitment and support” of NYU Tisch.
The evening’s performances included a meditative piece by the Seán Curran Company and a musical finale performed by NYU Tisch graduate and undergraduate students and arranged by Tony and Drama Desk Award-nominated actor and NYU adjunct professor Malcolm Gets. Live music was provided throughout the night by cLive of the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. The gala showcased the depth and breadth of NYU Tisch’s offerings, which include programs in acting, dance, cinema studies, design for stage and film, dramatic writing, film and television, game design, interactive telecommunications, moving image archiving and preservation, musical theatre writing, performance studies, photography, public policy and recorded music.
[slideshow]Photo Credit: Nate “Igor” Smith
