Our Stories Gala: 2023



Monday, January 9, 2023

Edison Ballroom
240 W. 47th St., New York City
Drink 6pm
Eat 7pm
Be merry ‘til 10pm

Honoring Samuel L. Jackson and LaTanya Richardson Jackson

View the Digital Journal
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Join us on Monday evening, January 9th, 2023 for TCG's OUR STORIES Gala! This year, we are thrilled to honor Samuel L. Jackson and LaTanya Richardson Jackson for their contributions to live theatre and improving access to theatre for all. Gala Co-Chairs are esteemed Broadway producer Brian Anthony Moreland and theatrical publicist and past honoree Rick Miramontez.

LaTanya Richardson Jackson is currently the director of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson starring Samuel L. Jackson, a historic production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play currently at the Barrymore Theatre.

TCG is proud to be the publisher of August Wilson’s entire American Century Cycle collection. This Gala will also uplift TCG’s One Million Books Campaign, which will make more TCG plays available to schools, university and public libraries, independent bookstores, and more.

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Presenting Sponsorship - $50,000

Platinum Sponsorship - $25,000

Gold Sponsorship - $15,000

Silver Sponsorship - $7,500

Premium Tickets - $1,500

Signature Tickets - $750 ($600 for TCG Members)

Ads in the Our Stories digital journal ranging from $600 - $10,000



For additional details, contact gala@tcg.org. Thank you!

Featured Performers
Sidney DuPont
Accompanied by Dionne Hendricks
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Alex Newell
Accompanied by Dionne Hendricks
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Lillias White
Accompanied by Mathis Picard


Directed by Jerry Dixon



Our Honorees

Appearing in well over 100 films, Samuel L. Jackson is one of the most respected actors in Hollywood. Jackson’s portrayal of ‘Jules,’ the philosopher hitman, in Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” made an indelible mark on American cinema. In addition to unanimous critical acclaim, he received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations, as well as a Best Supporting Actor award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Among his many award-winning performances, Jackson made movie history with his portrayal of a crack addict in Spike Lee’s “Jungle Fever” when he was awarded the first and only Best Supporting Performance Award ever given by the judges at the Cannes Film Festival. Jackson received an honorary Academy Award at the Governors Awards in January 2022.

This year, Jackson returned to Broadway with a revival of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, “The Piano Lesson.” The show opened on Thursday, October 13th. Jackson was most recently seen in his first limited series for television, “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” in which he starred and produced for Apple.

In 2021, Jackson reunited with Salma Hayek and Ryan Reynolds for Lionsgate’s “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard,” the sequel to the 2017 film, “The Hitman’s Bodyguard.” He can also be seen in the newest “Saw” sequel, “Spiral,” with Chris Rock and Max Minghella and in Lionsgate’s “The Protégé.”

In 2020, Jackson starred in the EPIX docuseries, “Enslaved,” which he also executive produced with LaTanya Richardson Jackson.  “Enslaved” won three awards at the 2021 Canadian Screen Awards and two awards at the 2021 Impact Docs Awards. He also starred opposite Anthony Mackie in the Apple drama “The Banker.”

In 2019, Jackson starred in Warner Bros.’ “Shaft” and Sony’s “Spiderman: Far From Home.”  Jackson also starred as a young ‘Nick Fury’ opposite Brie Larson in the massive global hit, “Captain Marvel.” Jackson also reprised his role as ‘Mr. Glass’ in M. Night Shyamalan’s “Glass.” The film is the final installment of the universe Shyamalan created, which also includes “Split” and “Unbreakable.”  In 2018, Jackson lent his voice to the Academy Award-nominated film “Incredibles 2,” reprising his role of ‘Lucius Best/Frozone.’

In 2017, Jackson starred in Warner Bros. “Kong: Skull Island” with Brie Larson and Tom Hiddleston. In 2015, Jackson appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-nominated Western “The Hateful Eight.” He starred as Major Marquis Warren, alongside Walton Goggins, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Kurt Russell. That same year, Jackson appeared in Matthew Vaughn’s “Kingsman: The Secret Service” and Spike Lee’s “Chiraq.”

In 2016, Jackson was seen in David Yates’ “The Legend of Tarzan,” starring alongside Alexander Skarsgård, Margot Robbie and Christoph Waltz in addition to Tim Burton’s “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.” Also in 2016, Jackson completed production on Brie Larson’s directorial debut “Unicorn Store,” “The Last Full Measure” with Sebastian Stan, Christopher Plummer and Ed Harris as well as Dan Fogelman’s “Life Itself.”

In 2012, he co-starred in Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” as ‘Stephen,’ with Christoph Waltz, Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio.  He also starred in “The Avengers,” which is part of his 9-picture deal with Marvel Studios. Jackson reprised his role in both Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” which was released in April 2014, and the 2015 sequel “The Avengers: Age of Ultron.”

Jackson made his Broadway debut in 2011 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater in “The Mountaintop,” where he portrayed Martin Luther King Jr. The play also starred Angela Bassett and was directed by Kenny Leon.

Jackson’s career began onstage upon his graduation from Morehouse College in Atlanta with a degree in dramatic arts.  Among the plays were “Home,” “A Soldier’s Play,” “Sally/Prince” and “The District Line.” He also originated roles in two of August Wilson’s plays, “The Piano Lesson” and “Two Trains Running” at the Yale Repertory Theatre.  For the New York Shakespeare Festival, Jackson appeared in “Mother Courage and Her Children,” “Spell #7,” and “The Mighty Gents.” 

Additional film credits include: “RoboCop,” “Oldboy,” “Mother and Child,”  “Iron Man 2,” HBO’s “The Sunset Limited,” “Lakeview Terrace,” “Soul Men,” “The Spirit,” “Jumper,” “Resurrecting the Champ,” “1408,” “Black Snake Moan,” “Snakes on a Plane,” “Freedomland,” “Coach Carter,” “Star Wars:  Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith,,” “S.W.A.T,” “Changing Lanes,” “Formula 51,” “Stars Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones,” “Caveman’s Valentine,” “Eve’s Bayou,” “Unbreakable,” “Rules of Engagement,” “Shaft,” “Deep Blue Sea,” “Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace,” “The Negotiator,” “The Red Violin,” “Jackie Brown,”  “187,” “A Time to Kill,” “Die Hard with a Vengeance,” “Jungle Fever”, “Sphere,” “The Long Kiss Goodnight,” “Ragtime,” “Sea of Love,” “Coming to America,” “Do the Right Thing,” “School Daze,” “Mo’ Better Blues,” “Goodfellas,” “ Patriot Games,” and “True Romance.”

On the small screen, Jackson served as Executive Producer for the Spike TV animated series, “Afro Samurai” which premiered in 2007.  The series received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Animated Program from the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences. The first edition of the “Afro Samurai” video game launched in February 2009. Jackson also starred in John Frankenheimer’s Emmy Award-winning “Against the Wall” for HBO.  His performance earned him a Cable Ace nomination as Best Supporting Actor in a Movie or Miniseries, as well as a Golden Globe nomination.    


LaTanya Richardson Jackson is a critically acclaimed actress, director and producer of the stage and screen. She is currently making history as the first female to direct an August Wilson play with her Broadway directorial debut of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” revival. The play stars Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington and Danielle Brooks.  

In 2014, Richardson Jackson received a Tony Award Best Actress nomination for her performance as “Lena Younger” in the Broadway revival of Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun.” She also received the Distinguished Performance Drama League Award nomination. Richardson Jackson also starred on Broadway as “Calpurnia” in Aaron Sorkin’s critically acclaimed adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” alongside Jeff Daniels, Celia Keenan-Bolger and Dakin Matthews, and directed by Bartlett Sher.   

In 2020, Richardson Jackson and her husband, Samuel L. Jackson, produced EPIX award nominated docu-series ENSLAVED via their production company UppiTV. In 2018, Richardson Jackson narrated the feature length documentary “Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart” on playwright Lorraine Hansberry, who penned the iconic “A Raisin in the Sun.” 

In 2016, Richardson Jackson starred in the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park’s production of “Taming of the Shrew” as “Baptista” under Phyllida Lloyd’s direction, in honor of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. She also starred in “Show Me a Hero,” HBO’s six-hour miniseries from “The Wire” co-creator David Simon and directed by Oscar winner Paul Haggis. For her performance, she received the NAACP Image Award Nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special.  

Richardson Jackson’s extensive theatre credits include “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” (Broadway), “For Colored Girls…,” “Spell #7,” “Casanova,” “Unfinished Women” (Public Theater), “Stop Reset” (Signature Theatre), and August Wilson’s “Century Cycle” (Kennedy Center), among others. In 2016, she was honored with the NAACP Theater Awards Trailblazer Award in recognition of her pioneering theatrical contributions. 

Richardson Jackson’s additional film and television credits include a recurring arc as Diane Pierce in Shondaland’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” Mama Mabel in the Netflix Original Series “Luke Cage,” “Juanita," “The Fighting Temptations,” “U.S. Marshals,” “Freedomland,” “Losing Isaiah,” “Mother and Child,” “Damages” and Sidney Lumet’s critically acclaimed “100 Centre Street.”  

Richardson Jackson has received numerous awards for her philanthropic work including The United Negro College Fund and the N.Y. Keeper of the Dream Award. She was honored by the Ladylike Foundation, which is a faith based non-profit organization whose purpose is to educate, empower and inspire young women living in underprivileged communities. In 2016, she and her husband Samuel L. Jackson were honored by the Children’s Defense Fund for their longstanding commitment to the organization and their “Leave No Child Behind” mission.

  

Platinum Sponsors
Broadway Licensing
VU Strategies

Gold Sponsors

Mrs. Kathryn and Mr. Kenneth Chenault
GFP Real Estate
Jason Delane Lee and Yvonne Huff Lee

Silver Sponsors

Bloomberg Philanthropies

 

Host Committee
Jan Adams
Miles Benickes
James L. Chosy
City National Bank

Jamie deRoy
Oskar Eustis
Fisher Dachs Associates
Foresight Theatrical
Keli Goff
Grove Entertainment
David Henry Hwang
John Gore Organization
Syrinda Paige
Betsy Pitts
The Shubert Organization
Andy Snyder
Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone
Reginald Van Lee
Teresa Coleman Wash
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