The Prince Music Theater and the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amFAR) will make music together May 24 at a gala AIDS benefit honoring legendary Broadway producer-director Harold Prince.
"HALlelujah! A Gala Tribute to Harold Prince" is the title for the evening, conceived by Parade librettist Alfred Uhry and directed by Parade choreographer Patricia Birch. Tickets are still available, beginning at the $250 level.
The evening will include appearances by performers who have punctuated Prince's 45-year career in musical theatre: Joel Grey, Rita Moreno, Barbara Cook, Rufus Bonds Jr., John McMartin, Anthony Crivello, Elaine Stritch and more.
A 6 PM dinner at Toto Restaurant will precede the gala, held in the Prince Music Theater, the new complex named for Philadelphia native Prince. Prince Music Theater was formerly called The American Music Theater Festival.
Prince, who is nominated for Best Director of a Musical for Parade, will be in attendance. For more information, call (215) 972-1019.
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The Prince Music Theater began in 1984 as The American Music Theater Festival, devoted exclusively to the development and presentation of music theatre works. In that time, 70 productions, two Drama Desk Awards, one OBIE Award, one Grammy nomination, three Broadway and two Off-Broadway productions, 16 albums and one international TV broadcast have been linked to the company, which changed its name in 1999.
Prince Music Theater's scope includes opera, musical drama, musical comedy, experimental work and cabaret. Coming up at Prince is the new E.Y. "Yip" Harburg revue, Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Yip Harburg's America.
The company's new home on the Avenue of the Arts in Philadelphia includes a 450-seat mainstage theatre. Official opening was March 17, 1999.
-- By Kenneth Jones
