Plans announced Tuesday for the May 2 gala also will include some of Broadway's biggest stars.
President John F. Kennedy asked Stevens in 1961 to help establish a National Cultural Center, which was later named in honor of the 35th president. Stevens led the center's fundraising and programming for years until 1988.
Stevens also was founding chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts and executive producer of more than 200 Broadway shows, including "West Side Story."
The veteran producer died in 1998. He would have been 100 this year.
The benefit gala will support the center's programming.
