Tisch Grad Rachel Helson Is Youngest-Ever Producer Nominated for a Tony

       Rachel Helson, a 20-year-old who will graduate from the Tisch School of the Arts in September 2009, became the youngest-ever Tony Award-nominated producer of a play as Neil LaBute’s Reasons To Be Pretty was named a nominee for Best Play on May 5.
        Helson is an above-title producer on Reasons To Be Pretty, which marks her second Broadway commercial venture; she was also an associate producer on last summer’s [title of show]. She earned her very first Broadway producing credit, however, while still an NYU freshman with a benefit performance of “The Rocky Horror Tribute” show, starring Neil Patrick Harris, Kevin Cahoon, and Kate Reinders in April 2007. The proceeds from that production benefited Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Helson recently produced a second Komen benefit, “The Pink Campaign on Broadway,” and collectively she has raised more than $100,000 for the breast cancer organization.
        A native of Louisville, KY, Helson received a B.F.A. in acting from Tisch. She is currently working with her literary agent, Frank Weimann of Literary Group International, on her first book, What Are We Waiting For?: Permanently Redefining Youth’s Role in American Philanthropy. She is also an actor in Kevin Spacey’s Old Vic, New Voices Network and has performed with the company Off-Broadway.
        —Richard Pierce