2024 GALA

Jesse Tyler Ferguson is a Tony Award-winning actor, author, producer, and host known not only for his creative work but for his ongoing advocacy in the LGBTQIA+ community. 

Ferguson recently wrapped his return to Broadway in the revival of playwright Richard Greenberg’s Tony®- winning play, Take Me Out, opposite Jesse Williams. He earned his Tony Award® in the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play, for his role as accountant “Mason Marzac.” He also received an Outer Critics Circle Award, as well as a Drama League Distinguished Performance Award nomination for this role. 

He was recently seen in Universal’s Cocaine Bear directed by Elizabeth Banks. The thriller also stars Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson and Ray Liotta. He was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Most Frightened Performance for his work in the film. 

In May 2023, he launched his newest podcast Dinner’s On Me where he breaks bread with big-name friends—old and new—for a delicious meal and candid convos that can only happen over a glass of wine. Shot in some of his favorite restaurants across Los Angeles and New York City, his guests range from people like Julie Bowen, Kristen Bell, Fred Armisen, Jesse Williams, Niecy Nash-Betts, and so many more. They’ll get vulnerable about everything from relationships and family history, to mental health and imposter syndrome. They’ll laugh about Jesse’s attempted modeling career and being starstruck by Beyoncé. 

His scripted podcast Gay Pride & Prejudice was released exclusively on Spotify in May 2022. This is a modern adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice from Spotify and Gimlet. When same-sex marriage finally becomes legal, Bennet struggles to find belonging when his chosen family suddenly begins coupling off and settling down. Ferguson executive produced and lent his voice to the podcast. 

Ferguson also produced the documentary Broadway Rising under his A Kid Named Beckett Productions. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and tells the inspiring journey back to the stage and the toll of the pandemic on the Broadway community after a historic closure. The feature-length documentary follows subjects from all areas of the Broadway community — stage doormen, wardrobe technicians, playwrights, producers, actors, ushers, dancers, and directors — to paint a full picture of the strength and diversity of the people on the stage and behind the scenes & their resilience, hope and dedication of being part of Broadway’s reopening. The documentary distribution rights were acquired by Vertical Entertainment in September 2022. 

Ferguson served as an executive producer on David France’s BAFTA-winning documentary, Welcome to Chechnya, based on the anti-gay purges in Chechnya of the late 2010s. The film was also nominated for an Emmy Award and took home the Grand Jury Prize at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival as well as the Panorama Audience Award at the Berlin International Film Festival. The documentary made the short list in the ‘Documentary Feature’ category for the 93rd Academy Awards and received a prestigious Peabody Nomination. 

In March 2021, Ferguson and co-author Julie Tanous released his first cookbook, Food Between Friends. Published by Clarkson Potter, the cookbook pays homage to their hometowns as they whip up modern California food with Southern and Southwestern spins. 

Ferguson starred as the widely beloved character “Mitchell Pritchett” on the Award-winning ABC comedy Modern Family, which ran for an impressive 11 seasons. The show has earned five Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series, a Golden Globe Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. Ferguson has also received five Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and four People’s Choice Award nominations for Favorite Comedic TV Actor on behalf of the show. Additionally, Ferguson hosted the reboot of HGTV’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in 2020 as well as the prestigious James Beard Awards in 2017 and 2019. 

Ferguson made his Broadway debut at the age of 21 as “Chip” in George C. Wolfe’s revival of On The Town. He later went on to originate the role of “Leaf Coneybear” in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Ensemble Performance, Distinguished Performance nominee, Drama League Awards). In 2017, Ferguson won the Drama Desk Award for Best Solo Performance for his outrageous 40-character turn in the Broadway production of Fully Committed. The show also earned him a Drama League Nomination for Distinguished Performance. 

He has worked extensively with The New York Public Theatre’s Shakespeare in the Park in such notable productions as The Merchant Of Venice, The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Distinguished Performance nominee, Drama League Awards) and The Comedy Of Errors (Distinguished Performance nominee, Drama League Awards). Other theatre credits include world premieres of Grand Horizons (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Log Cabin (Playwrights Horizons), Where Do We Live (Vineyard Theatre) and Little Fish (Second Stage), as well as “Sir Robin” in Spamalot and “Leo Bloom” in The Producers, both at The Hollywood Bowl. 

A longstanding advocate for marriage equality and LGBTQIA+ rights, Ferguson co-founded Pronoun, previously known as Tie The Knot, in 2012 with his husband Justin Mikita. Since 2012, Tie The Knot has released a collection of products – in collaboration with some of their favorite fashion and design partners – inspired by their favorite art, fashion, and more – with all proceeds benefitting LGBTQ organizations and causes worldwide. In 2021, after years of progressive awakening in racial, gender and queer movements and beyond, and recognizing the inevitability of intersectionality necessary to equality’s progress, Pronoun was born. The organization has proudly raised over 1.5 million dollars and has supported important and impactful LGBTQIA+ orgs across the nation.

Christina Poon brings a distinguished 25-year career in the hospitality sector and currently spearheads the transformative initiatives at W New York Union Square, showcasing a relentless pursuit of excellence and innovation within the industry. As a Board Member for the Union Square Partnership, Christina shares the Vineyard Theatre’s active commitment to community engagement as well as the economic impact of the vibrant Union Square neighborhood as a destination location.

Rosemarie Bray has been a longtime supporter of the arts, teaching music to students and creating a multi-pronged arts program for high school students first at Washington Irving High School and continuing at Union Square Academy for Health Sciences. The Vineyard’s Education Program is proud to have partnered with Rosemarie for the past twenty years offering students free performances of plays, musicals, talk-backs and discussions.