Comedian Jerry Seinfeld's final concert at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre on Aug. 9 will be recorded for release as an album, according to Reuters. The album, to be in stores by Sept. 22, will bear the same title as the concert series, "I'm Telling You for the Last Time." It will be released on Universal Records. Seinfeld recently signed a deal with Universal.
Seinfeld begins his five-day Broadway concert stand Aug. 5. Each date, from Wednesday, Aug. 5, to Saturday, Aug. 8, will feature two concerts each, at 7 PM and 10 PM. Shows on Sunday, Aug. 9, will be at 5 PM and 9 PM. The last concert will be broadcast live on HBO at 9 PM (ET). Doors at the Broadhurst Theatre will close at 8:45 PM sharp.
Seinfeld will donate his income from the concerts to programs benefiting students in the New York City public schools. The money will be distributed through Public Education Needs Civic Involvement in Learning (PENCIL) and ArtsConnection.
The proceeds to the comedian's last pre-Broadway gig played in Des Moines, IA, Jul. 31 and Aug. 1 -- were not given to charity. But, then again, there were no proceeds. Just before showtime, Seinfeld decided to grant refunds to ticketholders at all four concerts. The comic intended the gesture as a reward to his fans, said a spokesperson for Seinfeld's publicist, Elizabeth Clark. At a set of earlier concerts in Omaha, the generous comic gave away 2,000 tickets.
In other news, publicist Merle Frimark said an account in the New York Post that had "Seinfeld" veterans Jason Alexander and Jerry Stiller joining their TV colleague on stage at the Broadhurst was "not true." The same article said that scalpers were selling tickets to the sold-out concerts for as much as $1,500. "We sent a letter to Mr. Seinfeld in late May asking him and other popular artists on Broadway to do whatever they can to help us with the ticket scalping problem," said David Corvette, a spokesman for New York Attorney General Dennis Vacco. Vacco has been conducting an investigation into ticket sales corruption for the past two years. Corvette said the attorney general's office had not heard back from Seinfeld. He added, however, that the office would look into the accusations. "We would be interested in following up any reports of scalping tickets."
