thank you! - Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

JENNIFER
HOLLIDAY
IN CONCERT
October 28, 2003
Tony Award-winner Jennifer Holliday returned to
the New York stage for “one night only” at Town Hall on October
28 with her concert, Romance in the Dark, presented by BC/EFA.
Directed by Donna Drake, the show was a celebration of love
songs from the canon of great black Broadway musicals including
Purlie, Bubbling Brown Sugar, and, of course, Dreamgirls, as well as the
work of music legends Fats Waller and Duke Ellington.
Highlights included a gorgeous rendition of “A Sleepin’ Bee”
from the Truman Capote/Harold Arlen classic House of Flowers,
under the musical direction of Daryl Waters, and the eagerly
anticipated “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going.” Proceeds
from the evening were shared by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights
AIDS and the Harlem United Community AIDS Center. On
hand to sing with Jennifer were The Heritage Ensemble, Jason
Samuels Smith of Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk; Keith David of
Jelly’s Last Jam, and Norm Lewis of Sideshow and Amour. In addition
to the sold-out concert, the evening was a celebration of the
Dreamgirls’ star’s birthday. After the concert, Planet Hollywood in
Times Square rolled out the purple carpet for Jennifer, her
friends, family, and VIP guests.
Bring In da Noise, Bring in da Funk star Jason Samuels joined Jennifer Holliday
in a “song and tap” duet; Jennifer was joined by Keith David in a medley of
Duke Ellington’s best, Jennifer reprised her signature song from Dreamgirls,
“And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going.”
BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS
events
36
NOTHING
LIKE A DAME
March 13, 2003
The 8th annual Nothing Like a Dame, billed as “the
thinking woman’s vaudeville,” was presented by BC/EFA at the St.
James Theatre on March 13, raising $200,000 for The Actors’
Fund’s Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative. Highlights of
the 2003 edition included Bebe Neuwirth performing her
signature version of “All That Jazz”, The Producers’ Cady Huffman
assuring us that “Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries,” La Bohéme’s
Jessica Comeau reprising her stunning rendition of “Musetta’s
Waltz;” and electrifying performances by Georgia Me and Mayda
del Valle from from Russell Simmon’s Def Poetry Jam on Broadway.
Kate Mulgrew took her night off from Off Broadway’s TeaatFive
to make sure Katherine Hepburn could drop by for a chat. Rosie
Perez made an appearance, fresh from The Vagina Monologues. A
tribute medley to Tony Award-winning lyricist Adolph Green –
husband of PNWHI founder, Phyllis Newman – was performed
by Sutton Foster, Mary Bond Davis, and Judy Kaye. One of this
year’s Honorary Dames, Harvey Fierstein, (Edna Turnblad in
Hairspray) appeared as himself, singing Jerry Herman’s, “I
Am What I Am.” After the performance, the evening’s stars,
volunteers, sponsors, and major donors joined the BC/EFA and
Actors’ Fund staff for a party generously donated by John’s Pizza.
The 2003 Dames included Kamilah Martin, Shayna Steele, and Judine Richard,
“the Dynamites” from Hairspray; Kate Mulgrew as Katharine Hepburn,
Women’s Health Initiative client Zazel O’Garra; and diva Dames Ann Richards, former
governor of Texas, and gossip columnist Liz Smith in a one-time-only “Texas Duet.”