Stage and screen stars joined the Stella Adler Acting Studio at the Rainbow Room to celebrate the legacy of their late founder and theater legend, Stella Adler. The evening presented honors to Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Steven Spielberg (via video), and John Travolta (who arrived with wife Kelly Preston) for their outstanding achievements in the arts. Following the awards, the audi-ence experienced “A Salute to Musical Theater,” a musical tribute by Roy Scheider and Gordon Hunt, under Hunt’s direction, featuring Lucie Arnaz, Larry Luckinbill, Audra MacDonald, Patti LuPone, and the angelic voices of the Boys Choir of Harlem. Among the guests of Ellen Adler (Stella’s daughter) and Tom Oppenheim (Stella’s grandson, who runs the Studio), were Sidney Lumet, Zoe Caldwell, Elaine Stritch, and Peter Bogdonavich.

Adler’s brilliant career (beginning as the sole American to have studied privately with the legendary Russian director, Konstantin Stanislavski) was adorned with lifetime achievements in acting, directing, teaching, and mentoring some of the greatest American actors. Along with Harold Clurman, Adler instilled the passion and principles of the Group Theatre into such star-studded alumni as Susan Sarandon, Anthony Quinn, Harvey Keitel, Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando, and Warren Beatty. Stella’s profuse contributions to the theater and to the acting craft still merit these standing ovations!