Oh, What a Night!   Victor and I want to thank every single soul who contributed to the magic of this year’s Academy Gala.   We loved every second working on the event. We loved collaborating with the Academy’s fabulous staff and a truly gifted Gala committee, who made it such a wonderful team effort, and we all certainly enjoyed being together on that most sparkly night.  The time, talent and treasure contributed by everyone who was part of the event was gracious, good-natured, and generous.     We are so grateful to our fantastic Gala volunteers from Lynchburg College and Liberty University, and to Mac Foster, Megan Gibbons, Laura Bailey, Sallie Carson, Laina Vitalie, and especially VTA’s Anna Wehr, who directed traffic throughout the evening in support of Volunteer Chair Brandon Landes’ thorough planning.   We are grateful to Endstation’s Chris Bailey for his able stage management, to Geep Howell for sound support, and of course to the Academy staff and Gala Committee, who worked tirelessly for the months leading up to September 16th.     Auction Chair Anne Ainslie’s leadership throughout was nothing short of spectacular; Decor Chair Troy Deacon’s Warehouse Theatre transformation was beautiful, aided by his brilliant sidekicks Heather Zippel and Dabney […]

  “The plan is to fan this spark into a flame.”         —Hamilton   Are you ready? We are just four weeks out from the 2017 Academy Gala and the excitement and anticipation is almost too much to bear! On Saturday, September 16th, 2017, the Academy Center of the Arts, the Gala committee, and the ticket holders for this annual fundraiser will experience a “production” unlike any other as we time travel back to the glamorous 1930s and the vintage nightclub culture known as Café Society. At this year’s Gala, the star of this show is indeed “the show.” Straight from Birdland in Manhattan’s theatre district, our host Jim Caruso brings his world famous Cast Party, joined by acclaimed pianist Billy Stritch – straight from Tony Bennett’s world tour! Also stepping up to take their turns at the mic are hometown heroes you’ll not want to miss. So many of our community members – Hope Harris, Spence White, Paul Fitzgerald and others – are “coming from away” to join local favorites Tony Camm, Taylor Rodriguez, Mary Dalton, and Whitney O’Brian in raising their voices for the Academy. In addition to the talent, the Gala will also host a pre-show supper […]