AWRT Gracies Silver Shines; A-List Performers Take on Broadway.

Entertainment Editors

LOS ANGELES--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--April 13, 2000

The Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT) is celebrating the silver anniversary of the AWRT Gracie Allen Awards with a sterling line-up of entertainers.

The audience at the Hudson Theatre in New York on Monday, April 17, will be treated to a gala evening featuring outstanding talent befitting such a milestone.

AWRT Gracies host, Kathie Lee Gifford, performs a Broadway number. Widely recognized for her long run as co-host of "LIVE With Regis & Kathie Lee," Gifford is also an accomplished actress and singer. As one of Good Housekeeping's most admired women in America, she takes pride in having established two children's shelters in New York City.

Lea DeLaria will also lend her vocal abilities to the show. A groundbreaking comic and award-winning actress as well as a singer, DeLaria has won critical acclaim everywhere she has turned her talents. She won Obie and Theatre World Awards for her performance in the Public Theatre's "On the Town." Played to sold-out houses, her one-woman show, "It's Delightful, It's Delicious, It's DeLaria," has been featured on numerous television shows, and has produced two CDs.

On the piano at the AWRT Gracies will be John McDaniel, a highly accomplished conductor, composer, arranger and Grammy Award-winning record producer. Besides leading the band for "The Rosie O'Donnell Show," for which he has received multiple Emmy nominations, McDaniel serves as the supervising music director for the current Broadway revival of "Annie Get Your Gun." He conducted the Broadway revivals of "Grease" and "Chicago," and has been a featured pops conductor with numerous symphony orchestras.

Rounding out the evening's entertainment is Jagged Edge, a quartet that blends traditional soul harmonies with rugged contemporary sensibilities. Their emotionally charged, earthy R & B hits a chord with audiences everywhere, as evidenced by the success of "Gotta Be" from their debut disc, "A Jagged Era." With the recent release of their second album, "JE Heartbreak," Brian, Brandon, Richard and Kyle have come a long way from their days as teenagers singing at church youth rallies in their native Atlanta.

The excitement of the evening will continue at the after-party, where Jazzical will entertain the guests with jazz interpretations of classical music motifs. Jazzical brings a greater awareness and appreciation for both musical styles as they fuse the two traditions into a new, exciting genre.

The Gracies are the AWRT Foundation's means of honoring programming by women, for women and about women as well as outstanding individual achievements. Gracie Allen was a pioneer in radio and television whose spirit embodies these awards. The 25th Annual AWRT Gracie Allen Awards are sponsored by TUMS and The Bank of America. Kasper/Anne Klein is sponsoring the reception.

The Foundation of American Women in Radio & Television was the first professional broadcast education foundation. Created in 1960, the Foundation is the philanthropic arm of AWRT, and supports and promotes educational projects, public service campaigns, charitable programs and other activities.