Entitled Living in the Bonus Round 2010, the Jan. 13 evening at the Theatre at St. Clement's will benefit St. Clement's weekly food pantry and monthly free veterinary clinic for low-income families in Hell's Kitchen. (Well-behaved pets are welcome at the concert.) The 7 PM concert will boast the talents of composer/lyricist Schalchlin, playwright/actor Brochu, Stephen Bienskie, Amy Coleman, Michele Mais, Jennifer Wren and John Fitzgerald.
In a statement composer Schalchlin said, "When Jim and I arrived at St. Clement’s this past November with Zero Hour, I saw a line of people outside the building that stretched down the block. I thought, ‘Oh, great! We’re a hit and we haven’t even opened yet! Upon closer inspection, we saw they were waiting for bags of groceries being given out by a team of teenagers, volunteering community service for the day. And I thought, ‘How great is that? A theater that gives out food to the poor.’ . . . My father was a Baptist minister in southeast Texas. I watched his tiny congregations of paper mill workers and subsistence farmers always reaching out to people with barely enough to survive. Also, for several years, AIDS put me in that position of going from service to service, begging for help just to get through another month. When I attended the Sunday morning service at St. Clement’s, I witnessed what I saw growing up, a small congregation devoted to providing basic services to people (and their pets!) in need. And I wanted to help. Plus, they let people bring their pets to church with them. So we decided to make the show open to people and pets. As admission, bring what you can, pay what you can afford."
Theatre at St. Clement’s is located at 423 West 46th Street. For more information call (212) 246-7277 or visit www.BonusRound.com.