American Songbook Association (ASA)
announces its fifth annual gala
Ahrens and Flaherty: On the Wheels of a Dream

Jamie deRoy to receive the
Bill Sensenbrenner Dream Maker Award

Monday, October 6 at 7:30 PM
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center
129 West 67th Street NYC

Celebrating the team behind the musicals Ragtime, Once on This Island, Seussical, and beyond, the evening will feature special guest performances by Kate Baldwin, Nikki Renée Daniels, Hannah Elless, Robert AnthnyJones, Ann Kittredge, Derek Klena, Janine LaManna, Kecia Lewis, Nathan Salstone, A.J. Shively, Elizabeth Stanley, Lili Thomas, Alton Fitzgerald White, and Lillias White. Daniel Green will serve as musical director.

Tickets are now on sale HERE.

Also that night, Tony Award winner Jamie deRoy receives the Bill Sensenbrenner Dream Maker Award for her dedication to supporting the performing arts. This award is given annually to a leader in the art and business communities who exhibits a passion for investing in the cultural capital of our youth.

Premium seating is $300. Other seats range from $75 to $200.

Tickets are available www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org or www.americansongbookassociation.org

American Songbook Association Inc. (ASA) – a 501(c)(3) nonprofit incorporated in New York State –
seeks to preserve, promote, and advance the legacy of American popular music, the Great American Songbook
(classic and new), and the unique art form of cabaret. The ASA publishes the long-established Cabaret Scenes
magazine, conducts educational programs in New York City public schools, and creates performances serving
its audience of seniors, students, and others. We strive to inspire, transform, empower, and create
torchbearers for future generations so they may understand, appreciate, and embrace the historical and
cultural importance of America’s rich musical heritage. Please visit us online at
AmericanSongbookAssociation.org for more information and CabaretScenes.org for reviews and news.
Americansongbookassociation.org; cabaretscenes.org.

Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty are considered the foremost theatrical songwriting team of their generation. They
won Broadway’s triple crown – Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award — as well as two Grammy
nominations for their score of the Broadway musical Ragtime. They received two Academy Award nominations and two
Golden Globe nominations for the songs and score of Twentieth Century Fox’s animated feature film, Anastasia, which
they also adapted into Broadway’s hit musical, Anastasia. In 2014 they received the Oscar Hammerstein Award for
Lifetime Achievement, and in 2015 they were inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. They wrote the musical Once on This Island (eight Tony Award nominations, London’s Olivier Award, Best Musical) which premiered on Broadway in 1990. Its Broadway revival in 2018 won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical and its cast recording was nominated for the 2019 Grammy Award. Their show Seussical, based on the works of Dr. Seuss, received Grammy and Drama Desk nominations and is one of the most frequently performed shows in America. They have premiered four new musicals at Lincoln Center Theatre: My Favorite Year, A Man of No Importance (Winner, 2003 Outer Critics Circle Award, Best Musical); Dessa Rose (Audelco Award, Best Musical, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations); and The Glorious Ones (five Drama Desk nominations including Best Musical.) Additional theater credits include Lucky Stiff (Helen Hayes Award, Best Musical); Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life; Ragtime, 2009 Broadway revival (six Tony nominations, seven Drama Desk nominations); Broadway’s Rocky, which was nominated as Best Musical by the Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle; and Knoxville, adapted and directed by Frank Galati, with a score by Ahrens and Flaherty. Upcoming is Little Dancer, an original musical with book and lyrics by Ahrens and music by Flaherty, directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman.

Individually, Ms. Ahrens wrote lyrics and co-book for A Christmas Carol, which ran for ten years at Madison Square
Garden (music by Akan Menken.) She also wrote its teleplay adaptation for NBC’s Hallmark Entertainment Special. For
her work in television, she has received the Emmy Award and four Emmy nominations. She is a mainstay writer and
singer for the renowned animated series Schoolhouse Rock and has contributed lyrics to the feature films Camp, Nasrin,
and After the Storm. Her short stories and essays have been published nationally, and she was nominated for the Best
American Essays and Pushcart Anthologies. She is the recipient of the Betty Comden Lilly Award for Lyrics.

Mr. Flaherty has also written for the concert stage, with pieces premiering at the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall. He
has received commissions from the Guggenheim Museum and the Boston Pops orchestra, among others. He composed
the score to the dance play In Your Arms, directed and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli at the Old Globe, which
featured the writing of ten noted playwrights. Other theatrical projects include writing the incidental music for Neil
Simon’s Proposals (Broadway) and the score for Loving Repeating: A Musical of Gertrude Stein (About Face/Museum
of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Jefferson Award for Best New Musical.) Film scores include Bartok the Magnificent
(Twentieth Century Fox) and After the Storm.

Ahrens and Flaherty’s shows have been recorded by BMG/RCA Victor, Sony, Atlantic, Universal, Decca Broadway,
Broadway Records, Varese Sarabande, and JAY Records, and their songs have been performed and recorded by a diverse
array of artists. A print anthology of their music, The Ahrens and Flaherty Songbook, is published by Alfred Music, and
a live double CD of their work titled Nice Fighting You is available on Broadway Records. They serve on the governing
body of the Dramatists Guild of America and are members of ASCAP, NARAS, SCL and the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences. They are Education Ambassadors for the New York Pops and co-founded the DGF Fellows Program
for Emerging Writers. www.AhrensAndFlaherty.com

Jamie deRoy – For the past five decades, deRoy has been a perennial force in the world of show business and a beloved
figure in the New York cultural landscape, with an all-encompassing career spanning Broadway, cabaret, film, and
television. As a performer, a producer, and a generous humanitarian, her efforts have left a lasting impact on the
entertainment industry and beyond.

Starting as a performer, she has graced both the stage and the screen with roles in iconic films such as Goodfellas and
Raging Bull, as well as television appearances in shows like Alice and Knight Rider. Jamie has also been a cabaret
mainstay, as a headliner, playing the many clubs in New York and around the country, and also as the delightful hostess
of her popular variety stage show, Jamie deRoy & friends most recently at Birdland and the Laurie Beechman Theatre.
This series has raised noteworthy funds for many charitable causes, including The Jamie deRoy Cabaret Initiative division
of The Entertainment Community Fund, formerly The Actors Fund.

Performing was the path that led Ms. deRoy to her next insatiable passion: producing. What began as a serendipitous
foray into off-Broadway with The Compleat Works of Wllm Shakspr (Abridged) grew quickly into her being a producer
on more than 150 productions on Broadway, off-Broadway, regionally and internationally. Her diverse list of credits
includes recently lauded revivals of Merrily We Roll Along and Sunset Blvd to daring new works such as John Proctor Is
the Villain, The Band’s Visit, Leopoldstadt, The Ferryman, and Stereophonic. She also was a producer on two Ahrens &
Flaherty Broadway revivals, Once on This Island and Ragtime. Jamie is also a board member of Primary Stages and has
helped produce over 30 productions for this legendary New York City institution.

Beyond theater, Jamie maintains a powerful presence on the New York nightclub scene. She served as Vice President,
President and now President Emeritus of the Manhattan Associations of Cabarets & Clubs. A pioneering figure in public
access television, first as a host of Cabaret Beat, and then her own cable show Jamie deRoy & friends which has aired
for more than 35 years, bringing the best of New York’s nightlife and theater scene directly into viewers’ homes. Recently,
she has added a co-host to the show, her director of three decades, Barry Kleinbort.

he was also Emmy-nominated for The Biggest Little Operas in New York for Channel 13’s City Arts. Her credits also
include producing the award-winning documentaries Rick McKay’s Broadway: The Golden Age and its
sequel Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age, which celebrate the history and legacy of Broadway through the personal
stories of some of its most prominent figures. Currently, she is a producer on the acclaimed documentary, USA: Land of
the Mustaches.

For her efforts, deRoy has won 15 Tony Awards, 15 Drama Desk Awards, nine MAC Awards, four Audience Choice Awards,
and 14 Drama League Awards. Her dedication to promoting and supporting theater has also earned her the MJHI
Manhattan Jewish Hall of Fame honor and various Lifetime Achievement recognitions from prestigious organizations
such as CaB Magazine, The York Theatre (Founders Award), Primary Stages, the Backstage Bistro Award for Outstanding
Achievement for Contributions to Cabaret, and the MAC Ruth Kurtzman Benefit Series Award for her Jamie deRoy &
friends Cabaret Initiative.

Her decades-long career stands as a testament to her deep commitment to fostering the creative spirit of the city, making
her an enduring and influential figure in New York’s bustling entertainment world.

Press contact: Dan Fortune / dan@fortunecreative.com