For Immediate Release: October 14, 2005
Media Contact: Barbara M. Martalus, Crossroads Theatre Company, 908.439.2743

Playwright August Wilson, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner for drama who died on October 2, 2005, will be celebrated in a public gathering at the August Wilson Theatre (formerly the Virginia Theatre) on Broadway in New York on Sunday October 23, 2005, at 3:00 PM. The event has been organized by Ricardo Khan, co-founder and Artistic Director of Crossroads Theatre Company, and Woodie King, Jr., Producing Director of the New Federal Theater, as a tribute and to pay honor to Mr. Wilson for his contribution to American Theater.

According to Khan, the tribute, which had been planned prior to Wilson's death, "will continue to be seen as a celebratory one, a congratulations, and just as before, a major thank you to August. It's going to be a beautiful gathering with speakers from his life and his plays, and representatives from a generation of young people who have been inspired by him."

Twenty-five speakers and singers are scheduled, including Mary Alice, Lou Bellamy, Ben Cameron, Anthony Chisholm, Walter Dallas, Viola Davis, Dr. Howard Dodson, Charles S. "Roc" Dutton, Zelda Fichandler, Ebony JoAnn, Ricardo Khan, Lloyd Richards, and Leslie Uggams. The Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts will be videotaping the event for the public archives.

August Wilson had completed the cycle of ten plays chronicling the twentieth century African American experience. Radio Golf, the last of the plays, will debut next year in the theater to be named for him. With the exception of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, the plays were set in Pittsburgh's Hill District where Wilson spent his youth and early adulthood. Other plays in the theatrical cycle include Gem of the Ocean, Fences, The Piano Lesson, and Jitney. Mr. Wilson is considered by many to be one of the seminal figures of twentieth century dramatic art and twice received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, in 1987 for Fences and 1990 for The Piano Lesson. He also received the Tony Award for Best Play in 1987 for Fences.

The public is invited to this free "Thank You Gathering" at the August Wilson Theatre, 245 West 52nd Street, between Broadway & Eighth Avenue, New York, NY, on Sunday, October 23 from 3:00-5:00 PM.

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