Photos & Video: Inside Tectonic Theater Project’s A TECTONIC CABARET, Hosted by Jenn Colella

On Monday, Tectonic Theater Project celebrated their annual benefit, A Tectonic Cabaret, hosted by Jenn Colella and honoring Ruth Hendel with the James C. Hormel Spirit of Tectonic Award. The one-night-only event was directed by Drama Desk Award nominee Emilio Ramos with musical direction by Julianne Merril.

The evening included exceptional cabaret performances from Tony Award-winning actress Nikki M. James (Book of Mormon), Tony Award-nominee Robin de Jesús (In the Heights), Tony Award-nominee Christiani Pitts (Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)), Tony Award-nominee Sam Tutty (Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)), the electric all-female percussive dance trio, Soles of Duende, the renowned NYC choir, New York Vocal Collective, and the cast of The Gorgeous Nothings by Travis Russ (premiering at PAC NYC in Winter 2027).

Proceeds from A Tectonic Cabaret will benefit Tectonic’s new play initiatives, with over 10 new works currently in development, and Moment Work education programs in NYC public schools and across the country.

For more information, please visit: https://www.tectonictheaterproject.org 

Tectonic Theater Project is a New York City based developmental theater company founded in 1991 by Moisés Kaufman & Jeffrey LaHoste and led today by Kaufman and Matt Joslyn. Tectonic plays include Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, The Laramie Project and The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, Doug Wright’s Pulitzer Prize winning play I Am My Own Wife, Kaufman’s adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ screenplay One Arm, The Tallest Tree in the Forest, Tony Award-winning 33 Variations (which starred Jane Fonda on Broadway), Kaufman’s adaptation of best-selling Venezuelan novel Las Aventuras de Juan Planchard, and the immersive theatrical event Seven Deadly Sins presented in New York City’s Meatpacking District. Tectonic’s newest play, Here There Are Blueberries, written by Kaufman and company member Amanda Gronich, was a 2024 Pulitzer Prize Finalist and winner of the 2025 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Production. In 2016, Kaufman was awarded the United States National Medal of Arts by President Obama. Tectonic’s method of devising theater is codified in the Random House book Moment Work: Tectonic Theater Project’s Process of Making Theater. Tectonic’s plays have been translated into more than 25 languages and are consistently performed around the world.

Photo Credit: Daniel Rader

Christiani Pitts Sam Tutty

Jenn Colella

Nikki M. James

Robin De Jesús

Soles Of Duende

The Gorgeous Nothings

The New York Vocal Collective