Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event (S.T.A.G.E.), the longest-running annual benefit for AIDS worldwide, has announced its 31st anniversary spectacular event to support AIDS Project Los Angeles. Scheduled for May 9, 2015, at the renowned Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, this year’s theme, TO BROADWAY, FROM HOLLYWOOD…WITH LOVE, will present music from Broadway shows that originated as Hollywood feature films, performed by an All Star Cast.
As recalled by stage and screen legend Carole Cook, “We called it ‘the plague’. They called it ‘the gay disease’. There wasn’t even a name.” The time was 1984. We would come to know the disease as AIDS. But in 1984, all anyone knew was that gay men were becoming ill and sadly, dying. What Michael Kerns and James Carroll knew was that someone had to do something to help ease the suffering and with that Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event was born. Calling on former Dramalogue scribe and theatre director David Galligan, the group began what is now a 31 year tradition of putting on a benefit with proceeds to benefit those afflicted with AIDS and their families in the Southern California area.
Choosing a different theme each year, typically showcasing composers such as Leonard Bernstein, the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Lerner and Loewe, S.T.A.G.E. calls on the best and the brightest talents in stage and screen to bring the production to life, and this year is no different. A tough act to follow after the 30th anniversary gala “S.T.A.G.E. Goes to the Movies” complete with TCM’s own Robert Osborne and Oscar winner Shirley Jones, among other luminaries of stage and screen, TO BROADWAY, FROM HOLLYWOOD…WITH LOVE is once again under the direction of David Galligan, with musical director Brad Ellis waving his own magical baton. Already onboard for the 31st spectacular is Carole Cook, making her 29th appearance at the S.T.A.G.E. LA event.
In its decades-long history, more than 300 stars of Broadway, film, and television have performed music from the Great White Way and the Silver Screen while raising millions of dollars for HIV/AIDS organizations in the Los Angeles area.
TO BROADWAY, FROM HOLLYWOOD. . .WITH LOVE takes place on May 9, 2015 at 8:00 pm at the Saban Theatre, 8440 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California 90211. For more information or to purchase tickets go to www.stagela.com.
