Theatre stars and luminaries gather at Carnegie Hall on May 15 for the 17th New York Pops Gala Concert. The show benefits the Pops' education programs and its Summermusic concert program in greater New York City.
As reported earlier, Summermusic comprises a program of Broadway show tunes, standards and light classical music featured in a series of New York City concerts. The shows are held in Brookhaven, NY (June 24), Damrosch Park in Lincoln Center (June 26), the World Trade Center Plaza (July 3, celebrating the arrival of the tall ships for July 4), Prospect Park (Aug. 5) and Staten Island's Snug harbor (Aug. 6).
Kevin Kline, Marin Mazzie, Barry Bostwick, William Warfield, Marni Nixon, Sally Ann Howes, Peter Jennings and Mark McEwen are among the celebrities expected to attend the Carnegie Hall gala on May 15.
At Carnegie Hall, the New York Pops will be conducted by Skitch Henderson and Kevin Kline, with singer William Warfield performing a recital of the narration to Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait," for which he won a Grammy Award.
The program will also include Tony nominated Marin Mazzie, Marni Nixon and Sally Ann Howes from the Tony-nominated show, James Joyce’s The Dead, and original Grease cast members Barry Bostwick, Jim Canning, and Walter Bobbie (staging by Patricia Birch). The gala hosts will be CBS' Mark McEwen and Peter Jennings, and syndicated columnist Liz Smith.
Among the guests scheduled to attend the dinner dance at The Plaza following the concert are William Warfield, Marni Nixon, Sally Ann Howes, Barry Bostwick, Jim Canning, Walter Bobbie, Wynton Marsalis, Hal and Judy Prince, Michael Feinstein, Mark McEwen, Peter Jennings, Liz Smith, Nina Bernstein Simmons, Marilyn Horne, Peter Jennings, Jean and Ralph Baruch, Schuyler and Catia Chapin, Mr. and Mrs. Norton Belknap, Elizabeth & Alexander Bernstein, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Bradford, Mr. and Mrs. William F. Buckley, Jr., Skitch and Ruth Henderson, Rev. Wendell Foster, Gerald and Patricia Schoenfeld, Mary Rodgers Guettel, Franz Xaver Ohnesorg, and the Steinway Piano family.
Some 500 guests are expected to attend the musical tribute to New York City, with benefit concert tickets ranging from $35 -$150. Tickets for both the concert and the dinner dance range from $500 - $1,500 and tickets for tables with concert boxes range from $5,000 - $15,000. The event honoree is Honorable Schuyler G. Chapin, Commissioner, Department of Cultural Affairs New York City and the event gala chairman is Gerald Schoenfeld, Chairman of the Shubert Organization.
For information contact Rebecca Woodman, at the New York Pops, at (212) 765-7677.
-- By Murdoch McBride
