WESTPORT–Screen and stage giant Nathan Lane will take the spotlight in Westport on Oct. 4 when the Westport Country Playhouse names him its annual Artistic Honoree in a one-night-only fundraiser.
The three-time Tony Award winner, known for his roles in the movie “The Birdcage,” “The Producers” on Broadway and film, and many others, will be celebrated by a lineup of other Broadway performers who have appeared in shows with him. Danny Burstein, who co-starred with Lane in the 2023 Broadway production of “Pictures From Home,” will host the event. Others performing in tribute will be Nikki Renée Daniels, Santino Fontana, Cady Huffman, Christine Pedi and Krysta Rodriguez.
Anne Keefe
The Playhouse will also honor Anne Keefe, former Playhouse co-artistic director, with the 2025 Playhouse Leadership Award. The annual gala is an opportunity to celebrate the productions that have been staged at the venue during the 95 seasons since its founding in 1931. This year, the gala also helps launch the fall-to-summer season.
“Honoring Annie Keefe and Nathan Lane at this year’s gala is especially meaningful, as they are both dear friends to each other as well as to the Playhouse,” said Mark Shanahan, Westport Country Playhouse artistic director. “Nathan Lane is, of course, one of the American theatre’s great talents, and Annie Keefe has long been one of the beating hearts of the Playhouse, and someone to whom we all owe so much.”
Auction / performance / after-party
The evening includes a 7 p.m. curtain with a live auction, presentation of honorees, and performance. A 9 p.m. after-party will follow in the Lucille Lortel White Barn Center. A 5:30 p.m. pre-show reception is sold out.
“Our gala is always a joyful celebration of music, storytelling, and community,” Shanahan said. “It also remains our most important fundraiser of the year, supporting the needs of our productions, programs, and operations year-round.
Highly lauded
In addition to his Tonys, Lane has won seven Drama Desk Awards, a Laurence Olivier Award, three Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award. He is known for both comedic and serious roles – and for having voiced the meerkat Timon in Disney’s 1994 classic “The Lion King. On television, he has appeared in “Sex and the City,” “Modern Family,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “30 Rock” and others. He received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for the Hulu series, “Only Murders in the Building.”
Keefe has served the Westport Country Playhouse in many capacities since 1973. In 1999, she was among the original group that gathered to renovate the Playhouse. She served as the Playhouse’s artistic director with Joanne Woodward in 2008 and as associate artistic director from 2000 to 2006, also with Woodward, co-directing “David Copperfield” in 2005.
Keefe initiated and curated the Playhouse’s Script in Hand playreading series, and currently serves on the board of trustees. She stage managed on Broadway and at regional theaters, and has been involved with the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp gala.
Westport Country Playhouse
25 Powers Court
Westport
(203) 227-4177
Tickets for the Oct. 4 gala
westportplayhouse.org
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