Bradley Cooper to Host 2019 Arthur Miller Foundation Honors; Sutton Foster, Raúl Esparza, Darren Criss Will Also Appear

Tony-nominated actor Bradley Cooper has been named host of the 2019 Arthur Miller Foundation Honors. The evening will celebrate the power of public school arts education and honor those who have made significant contributions to the arts in their own way. Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw have signed on to co-chair the event alongside Rebecca Miller, Sandi Farkas, Janine and Michael Smith. The honors will take place on November 18 at Second Floor in New York City.

The celebration will raise funds for the foundation's public school theater education programs, featuring notable talent from film, television and Broadway. This year, the foundation will feature the songs of Cole Porter in a production directed by Tony winner Michael Mayer (Little Shop of Horrors). The evening will include one-night-only performances, including appearances by Tony winner Sutton Foster (The Music Man), Emmy winner Darren Criss (American Buffalo), four-time Tony nominee Raúl Esparza (Seared), Tony winner Lena Hall (Bat Out of Hell), Tony nominee Christopher Jackson (Freestyle Love Supreme) and winner of the Hoofer Award for tap artistry, Ayodele Casel.

The evening will include a musical performance from students impacted by Arthur Miller Theater Education Program, directed by original Hamilton Broadway cast member and AMF Master Artist Council member Sasha Hutchings, who is currently starring as Ado Annie twice a week in Oklahoma!, winner of the 2019 Tony Award for Best Revival.

To honor the legacy of great American playwright Miller and his own public school education, the Arthur Miller Foundation (AMF), led by Executive Director Jaime Hastings, is a nonprofit organization that provides greater access and equity to quality theater education for public school students. AMF partners with the NYC Department of Education to support in-school theater education, by providing theater teachers with the resources they need to build, grow and sustain quality theater programs. Additionally, AMF has a scholarship program with The City College of New York, which increases the number of theater teachers in public schools.

The Arthur Miller Foundation Honors is AMF's largest event of the year that raises the funds necessary to execute their programs. They have recently conducted a program study including the impact that theater education has on social-emotional learning, and are convinced now more than ever that theater education must be an integral part of the school day.