A Shakespeare Cabaret featuring songstress Susan Marshall
Awarding Harding Academy Educator Janelle Phipps as our Teacher of the Year
Benefiting TSC’s innovative Education and Outreach Programs
Saturday, April 20 at 6:00 pm on the Tabor Stage
We will host our 15th annual Children’s Literacy Gala on Saturday, April 20 at 6:00 pm: “A Shakespeare Cabaret featuring songstress Susan Marshall.”
We will also honor longtime Harding Academy educator Janelle Phipps with our second annual Teacher of the Year Award sponsored by the Jack Jones family.
All proceeds from the Gala will go toward our Jack Jones Children’s Literacy Fund and the Barbara B. Apperson Angel Fund: supporting a variety of Education and Outreach Programs for the coming year and making possible as many as 30,000 points of contact with children and participants of all ages in over 50 area schools, detention centers, and the Memphis V.A. Hospital.
Our Gala will feature the award presentation to Ms. Phipps, her remarks, a festive buffet feast, open bars, fun live and silent auctions, and a chance to enter and win the drawing for a Broadway Trip for Two to NYC sponsored by Pat and Thane Smith.
The centerpiece of the evening, sponsored by Gossett Motor Cars, will be the 45-minute “Shakespeare Cabaret” performance by award-winning Memphis singer Susan Marshall as she lends her inimitable R&B/Soul stylings to songs from Broadway musicals inspired by Shakespeare’s plays: West Side Story, The Lion King, Kiss Me, Kate!…and more. TSC’s Dan McCleary, Stephanie Shine, Nic Picou, Lauren Gunn, and the acting company will share the stage to provide fun snippets of the plays.
Attire is festive. Seating will be limited to 150 guests.
We annually work with children ages 5-18, primarily in Title 1 schools, as well as incarcerated youths and military Veterans in near-daily programming that develops students’ literacy, desire to read, and compassion. Those acclaimed programs include the Romeo and Juliet Project, the Macbeth Initiative, Feast of Crispian-South, Poetic Justice, and Juvenile Justice.
About Performer Susan Marshall
sponsored by Gossett Motor Cars
Recording artist Susan Marshall has released five critically-acclaimed solo albums: Susan Marshall Is Honey Mouth, Firefly, Little Red, Decorations of Red, and her latest 639 Madison. The former front lady for 90’s rock/soul band The Mother Station is also known for her performances with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, as well as her 15-year residency at Itta Bena, located on Beale Street just above B.B. King’s.
She has toured internationally as part of the Afghan Whigs, as well as Cat Power & The Memphis Rhythm Band. She has appeared on Austin City Limits, The Late Show With David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and the BBC’s Later…with Jools Holland. She also has been a featured artist for Sun Studio sessions on PBS. Susan is also known for her studio and stage work with a wide range of superstars: Al Green, Lucinda Williams, Keith Richards, Norah Jones, Lenny Kravitz, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ann Peebles, Don Bryant, Foy Vance, North Mississippi Allstars, Solomon Burke, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Primal Scream, and Katharine McPhee. Her studio background vocal work has garnered multiple gold and platinum record awards, as well as the distinction of having sung background vocals on five GRAMMY-nominated records, as well as a Gram Parsons tribute featuring Norah Jones, Lucinda Williams, and Keith Richards.
About “Teacher of the Year” Janelle Phipps
sponsored by the Jack Jones Family
A Texas native, Janelle Phipps has taught English at all levels from 4th to 12th grade at Harding Academy for 28 years. Not appreciating Shakespeare until her college years, she determined early in her career that her students would translate, see, hear, and play with Shakespeare’s language and characters to grasp the depth of human emotion and behavior found in his works. She currently teaches Honors 9 students, on-level Capstone senior classes, and AP Literature and Composition. She has taught AP Literature and Composition for 18 years and has served as an AP Reader, scoring exams for the past decade. She is the school’s Poetry Out Loud coordinator, and her students have finished in the top five in district in all but the first year. Harding has produced two state winners. She has been an English and Journalism teacher in rural Blevins and Saratoga, AR. Education: M.S. in Instruction and Curriculum from University of Memphis; B.A. in English from Harding University. Ms. Phipps was named “Teacher of Year” at Harding Academy’s Upper School in 2015.
Ms. Phipps was a member of TSC’s inaugural state-wide Teacher’s Advisory Council, and she was one of the first educators to bring the Romeo and Juliet Project to a school. She has ensured her students have participated with TSC every season.
Platinum, Gold, and Silver tables (ranging from four to eight seats each) are available for purchase now by calling TSC’s Gala Coordinator Stephanie Shine at (901) 759-0620. Additional information about the sponsorships and evening is available here.
Gala Sponsors
Buffet Dinner Sponsor:
The Sims Family Charitable Trust
Performance Sponsor:
Gossett Porsche
Teacher of the Year Award Sponsor:
The Jones Family
Live Auction Sponsor:
Nancy R. Copp
Broadway Trip Drawing Sponsors:
Pat and Thane Smith
Open Bar Sponsors:
Susan and RJ Moskop
Platinum Tables:
Camp Tabor
Nancy R. Copp
Davis Commodities
Anne and Mike Keeney
Ernest and Pat Kelly
Dorothy O. Kirsch
Elizabeth and Jerry Marshall
Reid and Chris Sanders
(in honor of Nancy Copp)
The Sims Family Charitable Trust
Irene and Fred Smith
Pat and Thane Smith
Jeannie and Owen Tabor, Jr.
Deborah Dunklin Tipton
Gold Tables:
Doug and Heather Baldwin
Frank and Brenda Bluestein
Jim and Louise Calandruccio
Kathryn and Jim Gilliland
Elise and Richard Jordan
Hon. Sheri Lipman
Ultimate Ballroom
Wholesale Shutters and Blinds
Silver Tables:
Jack and Kathy Blair
Rhea Clift
Blanche Deaderick
Miles Mason Family Law Group
Pete Pranica
Bronze Supporters:
Donald Hayes
Scott Lewis
Raymond Walsh
Donors:
Gloria and Edward Felsenthal
Kathryn and Jim Gilliland
Guests may choose from three Sponsorship levels to secure a dining table and theatre seats:
PLATINUM 8-TICKET PACKAGE ($5,000)
- Eight of the best reserved seats in the theatre for the performance and Teacher of the Year Award ceremony;
- Reserved dining table with open bars;
- Recognition in our event program, posters, social media, and from the stage that night;
- Festive dinner buffet and dessert;
- Partial tax-deductible gift to TSC.
GOLD 6-TICKET PACKAGE ($2,500)
- Six of the “Second Best” seats in the theatre for the performance and Teacher of the Year Award ceremony, after above Sponsors;
- Reserved table for Sponsor and guests;
- Recognition in our event program, posters, social media, and from the stage that night;
- Festive dinner buffet, dessert, and multiple open bars;
- Partial tax-deductible gift to TSC.
SILVER 4-TICKET PACKAGE ($1,500)
- Four seats in the theatre for the performance and Teacher of the Year Award ceremony, after above Sponsors;
- Festive dinner buffet, dessert, and multiple open bars;
- Reserved table for Sponsor and guests;
- Partial tax-deductible gift to TSC.
Guests also may purchase Early Bird single Bronze Tickets for $125 each now through March 31. After that, Bronze Tickets are $175. Bronze Tickets provide the buffet, open bars, and side-seating in the theatre. Reserve one or more Bronze Tickets online here or by calling us at (901) 759-0604.
A portion of purchased sponsorships and tickets is a tax-deductible gift to TSC, which is located at 7950 Trinity Road, Memphis, TN 38018-6297.
