Join us for the 36th Season Gala!
Get ready for an enchanting evening as Orlando Shakes hosts our 36th Season Gala at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater on March 30, 2025 beginning at 5:00 p.m. Just as Orlando Shakes produces top-notch classical and contemporary plays, so will Emmy, Tony, and SAG Award nominee, NORM LEWIS thrill you with his performance. You and your guests will also enjoy Arthur’s gourmet cuisine with an open bar and an exquisite silent auction.
Through your generous support of this wonderful event, Orlando Shakes will continue to give Central Florida the best in professional performances, inspirational education programs, and new works.
Where: Lowndes Shakespeare Center
812 E Rollins St., Orlando, Florida 32803
When: March 30, 2025 at 5:00 P.M.
Attire: Cocktail Attire
For more information on sponsorships, tables, packages, and to purchase tickets, please contact us at:
407-447-1700 ext. 206 or 213
DEVELOPMENT@ORLANDOSHAKES.ORG
Learn more about sponsorship opportunities:
SPONSORSHIP INFORMATION
Thank you to our sponsors!
PRESENTING SPONSOR:
Entertainment Sponsors
Suzanne E. Gilbert
Daniel & Elizabeth McIntosh
Dr. John (Rick) Schell
Silent Auction Sponsor
Dr. John (Rick) Schell & Scott Joseph
Frank Santos & Corbett Compel
Dinner Sponsor
Rita Lowndes
Wine Sponsor
Dr. E. Ann McGee
Paddle Raise Sponsor
Jim and Valeria Shapiro
Champagne Sponsor
Alan Wilson & Matt Kim
About Norm Lewis
Emmy, Tony, and SAG Award nominee, NORM LEWIS, recently starred in Spike Lee’s critically acclaimed, “Da 5 Bloods,” and in the groundbreaking FX series, Pose. Additionally, Mr. Lewis can be seen starring in ABC’s newest series, Women of The Movement, and offscreen, his voice can be heard in the latest season of Apple TV’s animated series, Central Park. He was also seen as ‘Caiaphas’ in the award-winning NBC television special, “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!,” alongside John Legend, Sara Bareilles, and Alice Cooper.
Mr. Lewis returned to Broadway in the Fall of 2021, starring in Chicken and Biscuits at the Circle In The Square Theatre. He previously appeared in the Broadway revival of Once on This Island and as Sweeney Todd in the Off-Broadway production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Barrow Street Theatre, receiving the AUDELCO Award for his performance. In May of 2014, he made history as The Phantom of the Opera’s first African American Phantom on Broadway.
He has been seen on PBS in the Live From Lincoln Center productions of Showboat with Vanessa Williams, Norm Lewis: Who Am I?, New Year’s Eve: A Gershwin Celebration with Diane Reeves, as well as American Voices with Renée Fleming and the PBS Specials First You Dream – The Music of Kander & Ebb and Ella Wishes You A Swingin’ Christmas. He can be seen recurring in the VH1 series, Daytime Divas, also alongside Vanessa Williams. His additional television credits include Dr. Death, Mrs. America, Better Things, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Bull, Chicago Med, Gotham, The Blacklist, and Blue Bloods, as well as in his recurring role as Senator Edison Davis on the hit drama Scandal.
Mr. Lewis is a proud founding member of Black Theatre United, an organization which stands together to help protect Black people, Black talent and Black lives of all shapes and orientations in theatre and communities across the country. He received Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle award nominations for his performance as Porgy in the Broadway production of The Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess. Other Broadway credits include Sondheim on Sondheim, The Little Mermaid, Les Misérables, Chicago, Amour, The Wild Party, Side Show, Miss Saigon, and The Who’s Tommy. In London’s West End he has appeared as Javert in Les Misérables and Les Misérables: The 25th Anniversary Concert, which aired on PBS.
Off-Broadway Mr. Lewis has performed in Dessa Rose (Drama Desk nomination, AUDELCO Award), Shakespeare in the Park’s The Tempest, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Drama League nomination), Captains Courageous, and A New Brain. His regional credits include Porgy in The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (A.R.T.), Ragtime, Dreamgirls (with Jennifer Holliday), First You Dream, Sweeney Todd, and The Fantasticks.
His additional film credits include Christmas In Tune (starring opposite Reba McEntire), Magnum Opus, Winter’s Tale, Sex and the City 2, Confidences, and Preaching to the Choir.
Norm’s albums “The Norm Lewis Christmas Album” & “This is The Life” can be found on Amazon.com as well as cdbaby.com.