S.T.A.G.E. LA announces showstopping cast for its 32nd annual gala “Sondheim No. 5”

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Susan Anton, Barrett Foa, Loretta Devine, Allison Janney and Andrea Marcovicci are among the galaxy of Broadway, Film and Television stars lending their talents to the 32nd annual Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event (STAGE), Sondheim No. 5, with two performances on Saturday, June 18th at the beautiful Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.  David Galligan directs with Michael Orland as Music Director.  Performances will be at 2:00pm and 8:00pm.

Also performing in Sondheim No. 5 will be Cortes Alexander, Alexandra Billings, Mary Jo Catlett, James Clark, Carole Cook, Davis Gaines, Jason Graae, Alvin Ing, Branden James, Jean Louisa Kelly, Vicki Lewis, MaryJo Mundy, Madison Claire Parks, Bruce Vilanch and Lisa Vroman.

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Carole Cook. Photo by Chris Kane (2015). Courtesy of STAGE LA.

This will be the fifth STAGE presentation of music by Stephen Sondheim, one of Broadway’s most iconic and beloved composers.   Often referred to as “the greatest and perhaps best-known artist in the American musical theater,” with a five-decade canon of contributions to musical theatre and film, Sondheim has garnered an Academy Award, eight Tony Awards (including a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre), a Pulitzer Prize, eight Grammy Awards, a Kennedy Center Honor and in 2015, awarded the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom.  In recent years his Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Into the Woods were made into successful feature films.

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Photo by Chris Kane (2015). Courtesy of STAGE LA.

STAGE is the longest-running annual HIV/AIDS fundraiser in the world.  Started in 1984, to date, STAGE has raised more than $5 million for HIV/AIDS organizations in the Southland.  Co-created by Michael Kearns, the late James Carroll Pickett, David Galligan and Susan Obrow, STAGE continues to be a vital and essential fundraiser more than three decades later.  David Galligan has staged and directed all 32 productions.

Photo by Chris Kane (2015). Courtesy of STAGE LA.
Photo by Chris Kane (2015). Courtesy of STAGE LA.

Funds raised through S.T.A.G.E. support a variety of AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) programs, including its Vance North Necessities of Life Program food pantries; freestanding and mobile dental clinics; in-home health care ; housing assistance; HIV prevention and testing efforts; and a range of other services on which thousands of Angelenos affected by HIV/AIDS depend. S.T.A.G.E. is among the most enduring and valuable sources of private support for the organization ’s HIV/AIDS care, prevention, and advocacy work. Please visit www.apla.org and www.aplahw.org to learn more.

Additional casting to be announced.

S.T.A.G.E. LA presents “Sondheim No. 5”
Saturday, June 18, 2016
2pm & 8pm

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Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
9390 N. Santa Monica Boulevard
Beverly Hills, California 90210

 

 

For tickets and detailed information, visit: www.stagela.com