(RAHWAY, NJ) -- American Theater Group (ATG) will honor Tony Award-winning actress Michele Pawk at its annual Gala Benefit on Sunday, June 2nd, at the Hamilton Stage in Rahway.

“We are thrilled to be honoring Michele, not only for her tremendous artistic talent but for her dedication to the arts and to ATG,” noted Jim Vagias, ATG’s Producing Artistic Director. “Michele was instrumental in ATG’s early development and has served as a Board Member since our inception. She is a true champion of the arts, especially in education, and is a proud New Jersey resident. I can think of no-one more deserving of this recognition.”

The Gala will run from 3-6pm and will feature an open bar, gourmet canapés and appetizers, a silent auction, video tributes from Broadway stars and live performances for Ms. Pawk.  Gala tickets are $150 each and are currently on sale at www.americantheatergroup.org  or by check remitted to: American Theater Group, 57 Farms Road Circle, East Brunswick, NJ 08816.

Ms. Pawk has starred in twelve Broadway shows, most recently as Madame Morrible in Wicked. Some other Broadway highlights include Beautiful, Mamma Mia, Hairspray, Seussical and Cabaret. In addition to winning the 2003 Featured Actress Tony Award for Hollywood Arms, she has also been the recipient of the Lucille Lortel and OBIE Awards for Heroes of the Fourth Turning, four Drama Desk nominations (A Small Fire, The Paris Letter, Cabaret and Crazy for You), and an Astaire Award, along with numerous other nominations. She is a full-time faculty member in the Performing Arts Department at Wagner College in New York and has served as an Eastern Regional Councilor at Actors' Equity Association.

“I am truly humbled to be honored by American Theater Group,” noted Ms. Pawk. “I am passionate about our mission and wholeheartedly believe in the power of theatre to affect change while also serving our community. Our entire Board is committed to this vision and it has been my honor to serve with them and Producing Artistic Director, Jim Vagias.”

ATG’s 2024 season has included a critically acclaimed production of A Little Night Music starring Broadway’s Kate Baldwin and directed by Hunter Foster, as well as a series of Free Monday Night Play Readings and a special event with veteran theater critic Peter Filichia. The season will conclude with the upcoming World Premiere of Canned Goods, an historical drama by Erik Kahn running May 9-11 at Hamilton Stage in Rahway and May 16-19 at the Sieminski Theater in Basking Ridge. Tickets are available for purchase online.

American Theater Group (ATG), founded in 2012, produces new and classic works primarily by American playwrights with an emphasis on the development of new works and the rediscovery of undeservedly neglected older ones. It also provides quality arts-in-education initiatives, including its annual DramaFest for students and its PlayLab program for BIPOC and queer playwrights. ATG is currently in residence at Hamilton Stage and the Sieminski Theater.  ATG programming is made possible in part by an American Rescue Plan Act grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support general operating expenses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Made possible by the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission, a partner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.