Honorees will be Marsha Gordon, President & CEO of the Business Council of Westchester (formerly the Westchester Chamber of Commerce), Ronald McDonald House Charities/ALPS Management/Lynn Samaha (franchisee of 12 McDonalds Restaurants in Westchester and the Bronx), and the John H. & Ethel G. Noble Charitable Trust through Deutsche Bank, all for their support of Westco.

Entertainment for the evening will feature Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress/singer Leslie Uggams.  Also appearing will be comedienne Marilyn Michaels.

Leslie Uggams has just finished starring on Broadway in the hit musical Thoroughly Modern Millie.  She has recorded more than 10 albums and received a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Broadway Musical Comedy as the lead in Hallelujah, Baby!  Her musical-variety series The Leslie Uggams Show was on CBS-TV, and she won an Emmy Award as co-host of NBC-TV’s Fantasy.

She made her dramatic film debut opposite Charlton Heston in the MGM film Skyjacked.  However, it was Leslie’s portrayal of “Kizzy” in the most watched dramatic show in TV history, Alex Haley’s Roots, that won her worldwide recognition as a dramatic actress - including the Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress, an Emmy nomination for Best Leading actress and a coveted Golden Globe Nomination from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.  In addition to ongoing concert dates, Leslie has been seen on Broadway in the musicals Blues In The Night and Jerry’s Girls. 

She starred as Reno Sweeney in the National Company of the Lincoln Center Production of Anything Goes and later reprised the role on Broadway.  She has appeared with the Cincinnati Pops, The Washington Symphony Orchestra and the Rhode Island Symphony, and performed before 300,000 people during the Memorial Day concert on the Washington Mall.  Leslie is receiving rave reviews for her new CD On My Way To You - The Songs of Marilyn and Alan Bergman.

Marilyn Michaels is known to television audiences from her frequent appearances on The Tonight Show, Regis Philbin, and The Howard Stern Show, and in commercials for top national brands.  She narrated the Emmy Award winning PBS show Reading Rainbow. She is a favorite at the casino-hotel resorts in Atlantic City and Las Vegas, and has shared the stage with the likes of such household names as Don Rickles, Bob Hope, Alan King, Jerry Lewis, Milton Berle, and Jack Benny. Early in her career, she was featured on The Red Skelton Show and The Jackie Gleason Show, and starred as Fanny Brice in the national touring company of Funny Girl. She later appeared on tv’s The Love Boat and One Life To Live. Her shows Night of 101 Stars and Broadway Ballyhoo consistently receive rave reviews. She is an enthusiastic fan of improvisation, and is renowned for her impersonations of such icons as Katherine Hepburn, Ethel Merman, Judy Garland and Cher, as well as for her “three-minute production” of The Wizard of Oz in which she portrays all of the characters from the MGM movie!

Founded in 1979 by Susan Katz, who serves as Executive Director, Westco continues to set standards of excellence in quality performing arts programs.  Westco’s mission is to foster and promote knowledge, understanding and appreciation of live theater for all audiences.   Special emphasis is given to productions for children and families.  In addition, Westco provides numerous community-based workshops for children and an expansive hospital touring program.  Primary program activities include the presentation of musical adaptations of children’s classic literature, folktales and legends. 

In the past 25 years, Westco has:

q         Performed at such Westchester venues as Westchester Broadway Theatre, The  Music Hall in Tarrytown, the Irvington Town Hall Theater, the Emelin Theater, the  Rochambeau Theater in White Plains, and the Westchester County Center, as well as in Rockland County at the Antrim Playhouse in Suffern.

q         Presented more than 1,750 performances of more than 250 different family-oriented shows ranging from a series of Theater For Young Audiences as well as fully-staged Broadway musicals, comedies, dramas, Shakespeare and original shows.

q         Performed for more than 500,000 audience members.

q         Entertained more than 50,000 children in hospitals and critical care facilities with shows and performers, at no charge to the institutions or children.

q         Provided more than 7,400 at-risk children ages 3-5 from federally-funded Head Start agencies with free tickets to attend our productions.

q         Provided year-round Creative Theater Workshops for more than 4,000 children ages 5-13, introducing them to the performing arts.

q         Provided performing arts workshops for children with Down Syndrome.

q         Provided performing arts workshops for more than 1,000 children from low income families.

q         Provided The Nature of Poetry, a program featuring published poets which includes poetry readings and activities for young children.

q         Provided work opportunities in the theater arts with an estimated 2,000 acting roles, 1,500 musician positions, and 1,000 positions for directors, writers, composers, costume & scenic designers, and stage technicians

Tickets for the Gala are $175 per person.  To make a reservation or for more information on Westco’s programs, call Westco at 914-761-7463.