Name: Been There, Done It All, Seen It All: The Many Facets of Irene Gandy
Start: 2024-09-20T17:00:00-04:00
End: 2024-09-20T18:30:00-04:00
Location: ZOOM Room

Non-members, please pay at least $10 to help keep us running.
September 20, 2024
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm

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Been There, Done It All, Seen It All: The Many Facets of Irene Gandy

Friday 9/20/24, at 5:00pm ET

Community Gathering on Zoom - register with the bright red reservation box to receive the Zoom link. These gatherings are a service for the theater community and are offered free for TRU members; we ask that non-members help keep us running by buying a ticket, making a donation or joining as a member.

In the room: Irene Gandy, publicist (starting in 1968 with Douglas Turner Ward and Robert Hooks’ Negro Ensemble Company; and now the only black female member of ATPAM with over 100 Broadway shows to her credit), producer (with Jeffrey Richards for over 3 decades: Tony winner The Gershwins Porgy and Bess, plus Lady Day at the Emerson Bar & Grill with Audra Macdonald, The Great Society, American Son, China Doll, Fiddler on the Roof and Tony winner You Can't Take It With You revival), fashionista (with a collection featured in Vogue, and the Lady Irene Fur line) and winner of the 2020 "Tony Honors Excellence in Theatre" Award. Also board member of the Drama League which has created the Irene Gandy Assistant Directorship Program. We'll talk about a life in theater and the specific challenges of being a black woman, and how that experience has evolved over a decades long career. Have her successes opened doors for others? What are her proudest moments? And how far have we come in theater in genuinely implementing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion?

Panelists

IRENE GANDY

is the only Black female member of ATPAM (Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers) on Broadway. She has been a press agent works with Jeffrey Richards Associates. She is a Tony-Award winning producer on Broadway for The Gershwin’s' Porgy and Bess and was a producer for Lady Day At Emerson Bar and Grill starring Audra MacDonald. She was also co -producer with Voza Rivers of the National tour of the South-African musical Serafina. Gandy’s recent productions include American Son starring Kerry Washington China Doll starring Al Pacino, Fiddler on the Roof ,You Can't Take It With You, starring James Earl Jones and Sylvia starring Matthew Broderick. Gandy began her career in 1968 as a publicist with Douglas Turner Ward and Robert Hooks’ Negro Ensemble Company. Since then, she has worked on over 100 Broadway shows including , Glengarry Glen Ross, Radio Golf, Bubbling Brown Sugar, Smokey Joe’s Care, Lena Horne: The Lady and her Music, Patti LaBelle on Broadway, The Wiz. In addition to her work in theatre, she was Associate Director of Special Markets for CBS Records, working with such artists as Earth, Wind and Fire, The Jacksons, Patti Labelle, The Isley Brothers, and many others. Gandy was the Press Consultant for the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta and the 30th Anniversary of Harlem Week. Gandy is the recipient of the 1997 National Action Network’s “Woman of Excellence Award” the 2007 Vanguard Award from Black to Broadway Productions, the 2004 Black Public Relations Society Award, 2013 “Inspire in New York” Award, 2015 Pioneer Award for BLACK PRIDE NYC and the 2015 Café Mocha “Salute Her” “Media Legend Award.” In 2017, She was the received the "Project 1 Voice Lifetime Achievement"; "HARLEM WEEK Vivian Robinson Arts and Culture; and "Life Changers" presented by WNBA for inspiring, transforming and empowering others. In 2018 she was honored with Vivian Robinson/AUDELCO "Pioneer Award"; and in 2019 she was honored with the NAACP-LGBQT David Weaver Prize for Excellance in the Arts. She currently serves on the board of City College for the Arts, HARLEM WEEK and The New Heritage Theatre. In 2008, she became the first female press agent to be immortalized with a Sardis caricature. Gandy recently launched the Irene Gandy Fur Collection designed by Mr. Pete and was featured in the 2015 August issue of Vogue Magazine.

IRENE GANDY