Nathan Lee Graham鈥攖he Grammy- and Obie-winning star of Mid-Century Modern, Theater Camp, and Priscilla Queen of the Dessert鈥攚ill be honored at the 13th annual Night of a Thousand Judys.
The Pride concert to benefit The Ali Forney Center will be presented June 2 at Joe's Pub. Graham will receive the second annual Judy Icon Award, which recognizes the recipient鈥檚 contributions to queer culture and achievement of legendary status, following in the footsteps of namesake Garland.
Jeremy Katz, the Emmy- and GLAAD Award-winning producer and manager, will also be celebrated with the inaugural Good Judy Award, which recognizes an industry leader for longtime dedication to uplifting the LGBTQ+ community.
Written and hosted by Justin Elizabeth Sayre, the evening will begin at 7 PM with a VIP post-show reception to follow. Performers will be announced at a later date.
Night of a Thousand Judys honors the late entertainment icon Judy Garland with songs from her career as a movie star, recording artist, and stage performer. Peter James Cook will direct the evening with choreography by Jason Wise and musical direction by Drew Wutke.
Sayre said in an earlier statement, 鈥淲e are under attack. Every day, the LGBTQ+ community is the target of this bully regime鈥檚 sick denial of our very personhood. All the strides that we鈥檝e made in the almost 60 years since Stonewall are slowly being chipped away. So what can we do in the face of so much hate? We can do what we have always done: Be defiantly brave and celebrate all that makes us special. At this time, a celebration of the heroic spirit of Judy Garland is more important, and supporting places like The Ali Forney Center, which supports homeless LGBTQ+ kids. As hospitals, even in New York, start denying them gender affirming care, as the federal government starts denying their gender identity, we as a community have to come together and show these fascists just how out, proud, and powerful we can be. Judy did this over and over. When people counted her out, she鈥檇 make another comeback, showing up bigger and brighter than ever. It鈥檚 time for a comeback for our power, our defiance, and our strength. But don鈥檛 call it a comeback. We鈥檝e been here all the time, and we鈥檙e not going anywhere.鈥�
Graham may be best known for the films Zoolander, Zoolander 2, Sweet Home Alabama, Hitch, and Theater Camp. On the small screen, he has also been seen in The Comeback, Scrubs, Absolutely Fabulous, Law & Order: SVU, Broad City, LA to Vegas, and Katy Keene. He can currently be seen as Draque Noir on the Hulu series Woke. His stage appearances include the original Broadway casts of The Wild Party and Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and he starred as Hermes in the national tour of Hadestown.
President of The Katz Company, Katz has produced live concerts worldwide, including PBS and streaming platforms. As executive producer of The Lesbian Bar Project, he won a New York Emmy and GLAAD Special Recognition Honor. Additional credits include Date My House, Lachey鈥檚: Raising the Bar, They Ready, First You Dream, Afterlives, Queer Chronicles, and Ravi Roth鈥檚 travel series. He has also produced two Off-Broadway shows, music albums, and served as a creative consultant for the Obie Awards.
The Ali Forney Center is
the nation鈥檚 largest agency dedicated to helping LGBTQ homeless youth.
Night of a Thousand Judys is produced by Dan Fortune and Adam J. Rosen.
Tickets are available .
