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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

PHOTOS AND VIDEO AVAILABLE FROM
TECTONIC THEATER PROJECT’S
“A TECTONIC CABARET”
HOSTED BY TONY AWARD NOMINEE JENN COLELLA

HONORING TONY AWARD-WINNING PRODUCER
RUTH HENDEL
WITH THE JAMES C. HORMEL SPIRIT OF TECTONIC AWARD

Photo Credit: Daniel Rader

VIDEO CAN BE FOUND HERE
PHOTOS CAN BE FOUND HERE

New York, NY (October 28, 2026) – On Monday, Tectonic Theater Project celebrated their annual benefit, A Tectonic Cabaret, hosted by Jenn Colella and honoring Ruth Hendel with the James C. Hormel Spirit of Tectonic Award. The one-night-only event was directed by Drama Desk Award nominee Emilio Ramos with musical direction by Julianne Merril.

The evening included exceptional cabaret performances from Tony Award-winning actress Nikki M. James (Book of Mormon), Tony Award-nominee Robin de Jesús (In the Heights), Tony Award-nominee Christiani Pitts (Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)), Tony Award-nominee Sam Tutty (Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)), the electric all-female percussive dance trio, Soles of Duende, the renowned NYC choir, New York Vocal Collective, and the cast of The Gorgeous Nothings by Travis Russ (premiering at PAC NYC in Winter 2027).

Proceeds from A Tectonic Cabaret will benefit Tectonic’s new play initiatives, with over 10 new works currently in development, and Moment Work education programs in NYC public schools and across the country.

For more information, please visit: https://www.tectonictheaterproject.org/

Tectonic Theater Project is a New York City based developmental theater company founded in 1991 by Moisés Kaufman & Jeffrey LaHoste and led today by Kaufman and Matt Joslyn. Tectonic plays include Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, The Laramie Project and The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, Doug Wright’s Pulitzer Prize winning play I Am My Own Wife, Kaufman’s adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ screenplay One Arm, The Tallest Tree in the Forest, Tony Award-winning 33 Variations (which starred Jane Fonda on Broadway), Kaufman’s adaptation of best-selling Venezuelan novel Las Aventuras de Juan Planchard, and the immersive theatrical event Seven Deadly Sins presented in New York City’s Meatpacking District. Tectonic’s newest play, Here There Are Blueberries, written by Kaufman and company member Amanda Gronich, was a 2024 Pulitzer Prize Finalist and winner of the 2025 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Production. In 2016, Kaufman was awarded the United States National Medal of Arts by President Obama. Tectonic’s method of devising theater is codified in the Random House book Moment Work: Tectonic Theater Project’s Process of Making Theater. Tectonic’s plays have been translated into more than 25 languages and are consistently performed around the world.

BIOGRAPHIES

Ruth Hendel has been active in New York theater for over twenty-five years and has been involved in many notable productions. Together with her husband Stephen, they developed and produced FELA! which ran on Broadway, at London’s National Theater, and toured around the globe. They executive produced Alex Gibney’s documentary FINDING FELA! and the PBS concert film The Great Irish Songbook.

Ruth’s latest theater endeavors are: A Walk on the Moon at the Laura Pels Theater,  Much Ado About Nothing with Tom Hiddleston, and Ceilidh (lead produced by previous Tectonic honoree Barbara Whitman); A few favorite shows: Maybe Happy Ending,  Buena Vista Social Club, Giant, Parade, Illinoise, Beetlejuice, Mean Girls, The Band’s Visit, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, A Raisin in the Sun, Legally Blonde, Passing Strange, Caroline, or Change. Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish (Folksbienne) and Marcel On The Train (Classic Theater).  Ruth’s first foray into the producing world …tick, tick, BOOM!!! Off-Broadway, followed by Metamorphoses on Broadway. Ruth first met Moisés and Tectonic as a co-producer on 33 Variations and Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo.

Among Ruth’s upcoming projects are: Fountain, a new musical by Christopher Anselmo and Jared Corak discovered at the O’Neill. With Mitch Marois and Max Beer (Mix and Match Productions), Cassie Pierce and team, Ruth’s office is rolling with fun and exciting projects.

Ruth is a trustee of The Jewish Theological Seminary and vice chair of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, in Waterford, CT. Ruth and Stephen are long-time congregants of Westchester Jewish Center in Mamaroneck, New York. The Hendels adore spending time with their grandchildren, ranging from toddler to teenager. In Ruth’s spare time, she weaves tallitot in many colors!

Moisés Kaufman is a Tony- and Emmy-nominated director and playwright who received the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in 2016. Broadway credits include Paradise Square (10 Tony Award nominations), Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo with Robin Williams, The Heiress with Jessica Chastain, 33 Variations with Jane Fonda (wrote and directed, Tony nomination Best Play), and Doug Wright’s I Am My Own Wife (Tony Award). Other productions include: Pulitzer Prize finalist Here There Are Blueberries, Velour: A Drag Spectacular, Las Aventuras de Juan Planchard, and Seven Deadly Sins (Drama Desk Award). He is the co-writer of The Laramie Project and the writer of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde. He’s an Obie and Drama Desk award winner and a Guggenheim fellow.

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