Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Working

Well, it's official. If something is posted on Playbill.com, then it is definitely official.

Actors' Fund to Present a Working Benefit Concert in Chicago

By Andrew Gans
07 Feb 2007

The Actors' Fund of America will present a benefit concert of Working March 5 in Chicago.

The concert, which will benefit the Actors' Fund as well as Chicago's Season of Concern, will be held at The Harris Center for Music and Dance. Show time is 7:30 PM.

Working, which was adapted by Stephen Schwartz based on the Studs Terkel book of the same name, features songs by Schwartz, Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers, Susan Birkenhead, Stephen Schwartz and James Taylor. The musical, according to press notes, "paints a vivid portrait of the men and women the world often takes for granted. It is a highly original look at the American landscape that is simply impossible to forget." The original 1978 Broadway cast included Patti LuPone, Joe Mantegna and Bob Gunton.

The Actors' Fund, which was founded in 1882, is a non-profit organization that provides for the social welfare of all entertainment professionals. Some of the many programs The Actors' Fund provides include a nursing home and assisted living care facility; senior and disabled programs; mental health services; chemical dependency services; entertainment industry assistance programs; the Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative; the AIDS Initiative; and supportive housing on both coasts.

The Harris Center is located at 205 East Randolph Drive in Chicago, IL. Tickets, priced $50-$500, are available by calling (312) 334-7777.

Visit www.actorsfund.org for more information.

I am so excited about this concert and what it will mean for both Season of Concern and The Actors Fund. So many people in the theatre community in Chicago don't know anything about The Actors Fund, their services, their programs. Many people don't even know The Actors Fund has an office in Chicago.

They do. As Season of Concern's Executive Director, I share office space with The Actors Fund Midwest Coordinator. Season of Concern provides a major grant to The Actors Fund's Chicago office each year to ensure their presence in the Windy City and throughout the Midwest.

This concert will highlight the partnership of our two organizations, but more importantly, it will inform people in Chicago's entertainment industry of the incredible services and programs available to them through The Actors Fund.

And to all of you who collect audience donations after performances, hold special benefit performances for us, or make personal donations to Season of Concern on a regular basis, know that your generosity and hard work for us is going right back into our community to help our own. Thank you.

What is WORKING? Well, this little clip will give you an idea.

Eileen Brennan in a musical. Who woulda thunk it?


5 comments:

Lance Noe said...

ACTUALLY.... Mrs. Brennan was "Mrs. Molloy" in "Hello, Dolly" on Broadway, she had also created the title role in the long-running Off-Broadway musical, "Little Mary Sunshine

Lance Noe said...

what the fuck are three corner britches? guess i am too young to remember those.


btw i saw jurassic park the other day on tv and thought of you... is that really the way they were when you were young? tell us all oh great and wise OLD owl!

oh yeah, peace and love!

Stephen R. said...

Lance - "Three corner britches" is a Southern term for "diapers"... you know... just like that astronaut woman with the fatal attraction wore as she drove 900 miles to Florida to pepper spray the woman trying to steal her man - - not her husband, mind you - - her man!!

What was it like back then? Well, little does everyone know that I was the host of the world's first game show - - the original DEAL OR NO DEAL. The women help palm frons over the numbers (we didn't have briefcases yet) and the grand prize was "fire" and "the wheel."

Bitch.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Noe is perfectly correct. Ms. Brennan was, at one time, a soprano; and then, all too suddenly, a basso gravelico. This same metamorphosis happens to many young gay "tops," (notice the small case 't'); they're standing over the sling one moment, and then, in a sudden flash of hormonal reconfiguration, they fall in.

Stephen R. said...

Aaron - I joyously associate all too well with that "sudden change"...

...the soprano to the basso, I mean... :)