The National Tour of the 2009 TONY Award winning Best Musical HAIR will join forces with several local Chicago actors to stage a “Be-In” during their stop in Chicago.
The concert event will benefit the non-profit Broadway Impact, a marriage equality organization founded by original tribe member and TONY Award nominee Gavin Creel.
The National Tour tribe has helped keep the spirit and the legacy of HAIR alive with three hugely successful be-in performances in D.C, Seattle, and Los Angeles and is pleased to welcome some of the Chicagoland area’s finest local actors into their commune as part of their efforts. The night of music will feature cast members singing their favorite tunes to benefit and raise awareness to the fight for equality.
The event will be held from 6:00-8:00p.m. on Monday, March 14, 2011 at Sidetrack Chicago located at 3349 N. Halsted in Chicago. General Admission tickets are $25 and will be available at the door.
I love when ideas beget new ideas and someone is continually coming up with an idea I wish I’d had. Kickstarter is the new kid on the block with a great idea. This website a great way for artists, filmmakers, musicians, designers, writers, illustrators, explorers, curators, performers, and others to bring their projects, events, and dreams to life. The word “project” is just as important as “creative” in defining what works on Kickstarter. A project is something finite with a clear beginning and end. Someone can be held accountable to the framework of a project — a project was either completed or it wasn’t — and there are definable expectations that everyone can agree to. This is imperative for every Kickstarter project. The way it works is: you post your project on the site and come up with different “rewards” at different levels to encourage funding. Some “rewards” can be a simple as “At $10 you receive good karma for helping foster creativity” to “At $50 you get a copy of the finished CD autographed by the artist” to “At $1,000 you get VIP seating at the first screening of our independent movie and Associate Producer credit.” You choose the most interesting “rewards” you can think of, pitch your idea on the site and go. And here’s the one caveat: If funding fails, all pledges are canceled and that’s that. There are good reasons for this. 1. It’s less risk for everyone. If you need $5,000, it’s tough having $2,000 and a bunch of people expecting you to complete a $5,000 project. 2. It allows people to test concepts (or conditionally sell stuff) without risk. If you don’t receive the support you want, you’re not compelled to follow through. 3. It motivates. If people want to see a project come to life, they’re going to spread the word. There are lots of great success stories already. A friend of mine from Broadway, Deidre Goodwin, is currently raising funding to develop a DVD called “The Broadway Warm-up” with her partner Kim Stern. Both are Broadway veterans and understand the need to warm-up thoroughly before a show. In addition to avoiding injuries, it gives you a time to center yourself before a performance. I think the idea is excellent – it’s a 30 minute combined vocal and physical warm-up. Efficient and focused. The girls tell the story much better than I do. I really encourage anyone – whether you’re a college performing arts student, a community theater participant or a theater professional – to check it out. And if you feel it, donate something. I did. And it doesn’t have to be a lot. Even a little gets the “producers” of these projects to their goal. And you get to be a part of someone’s creative journey. AND at the very least you receive good karma in doing so. Even if you only pitch in $15, that’s the cost of a cocktail or two. I say, sometime this week when you sit down to have a drink or dinner, order a club soda and lime, send the money you saved in that one sitting to The Broadway Warm-up and toast the creative spirit of Deidre and Kim. And feel good you did something to help. Most of the people who read this blog have some creative or entrepreneurial spirit. Kickstart someone else’s dream today, then start your own. Get out there and make something happen instead of waiting for something to happen. To see more about The Broadway Warm-up, click here. From there you can explore other projects and what Kickstarter is all about.
My dear Carol Channing celebrates her 90th birthday today. I recently performed with her again last month (picture above) in the opening number of the Gypsy of the Year competition, which is a major charity event for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. She brought the house down as only she can. For those that don’t know, I spent two and a half incredible years performing with Carol in the last Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!. I eventually became the production supervisor where she would ask me for notes – on how to perform the role of Dolly Levi! As if I could tell her anything she didn’t already know. A quick Carol story: when I was supervising Dolly on tour, one day we had a particularly long and dreadful travel day – two planes, a bus, a train and a donkey or two – to get to what Carol called “a soccer arena” where we would perform the show that night. In the sound check Carol looked down and realized that the musician’s pit was 25 feet beneath us. This was the pit that I had to leap over every night in the middle of the Hello, Dolly! number. For the first time in 30 years of doing the show she decided this was dangerous. After the sound check she came looking for me to ask if someone could put a net or something between the pit and the stage in case those of us who jumped over the pit happened to fall into it. At this point, I had 30 minutes before the performance and was taking a long shower to rid myself of the long travel day. This being a “soccer arena” the showers where open showers in a locker room. Covered in soap and standing under the water I suddenly heard a very low baritone voice say “Randy.” I turned and there was Carol, in the open showers with me, smiling. She waited for me to turn and went into her concerns about the pit, a net and all sorts of other things as I stood there completely naked. When she finished expressing her concerns I said, “Absolutely Carol. But right now I’m soaking wet, taking a shower.” She looked me up and down, smiled and said “Oh! Yes, of course. Well, you know – we’re all just show folk,” and then turned and left me to finish my shower. Nudity was nothing to this old pro who had changed costumes in the wings for decades. Celebrate our fabulous Carol Channing today. As she likes to say – the first 90 years are the hardest…
