Sunday night, December 10th at Joe's Pub at the Public Theater, BroadwayWorld.com celebrated the holidays with an exciting, star-studded concert to raise money for Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS. It also blew the roof out! Santa, his elves and everything but the kitchen sink were on show and brought cheer and cheers for all. The cast dressed to kill and thrill.
Directed by Richard Jay-Alexander, produced by Robert Diamond, hosted by Broadway Beat's Richie Ridge, musically helmed by Ben Toth, and stage managed by Sabrina Gordin, "BroadwayWorld.com on Ice" was full of laughter and tears.
BroadwayWorld.com, in their program, extended special thanks to the many people, sponsors and organizations that helped to make the evening possible including: Michelle Bossy, Alex Botero, Joe Brent, Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS, Craig Brockman, Darren Cohen, Kenneth Cole, Frank Conway, David Cook, Steven and Marcia Diamond, Annie and Marvin Einhorn, Bonnie Friedman, Andrew Gans from Playbill, Terry Goldman and Electric Artists, Wayne Harada, Tommy Hilfiger, Elissa Josephsohn, Jeremy Katz, Michael Lavine, Linda Lenzi, Bob Mackie, Walter McBride, Joe McFate, Peter Milrose of Milrose Music, Blake Ross—Ken Sunshine Consultants, Stuart Ross, Primary Stages, Bobby McGuire, Preston Ridge, Bradshaw Smith, Elie Tahari, Eddie Varley and all the staff, crew and GREAT wait staff at Joe's Pub.
We wanted to share some fun photos with you to remember a very special evening.
Photos by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.
Forever Plaid (Scot Fedderly, Rodney Peck, Robert Randle and Christopher Youngsman)
wishing Plaid Tidings to all - "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
BroadwayWorld.com Editor-in-Chief and the
evening's producer, Robert Diamond - dressed as an elf
(though we think he looked more like a jester!)
welcoming the audience
Robert Diamond
Broadway Beat's Richie Ridge hosted the show
with grace, warmth, humor - and a wealth of musical
theatre knowledge
Richie Ridge
Christine Pedi performs "Roxie Santa"
Christine Pedi
Christine Pedi
Jason Tam brought a touch of his native Hawaii to the crowd
with a Hawaiian Christmas song
Jason Tam sings "Mele Kalikimaka"
Jason with leis flown in for the night from Honolulu.
Audience leis compliments of Junior, Lou & T
Felicia Finley brought sexy back for the holidays
with "Santa's Back in Town"
Felicia Finley
Felicia Finley and the Jingle Boys
Felicia Finley
Michael Arden sings "The River"
Michael Arden
Michael Arden
Michael Arden
Laura Bell Bundy sings "Christmas Time is Here" from her new holiday CD
Laura Bell Bundy
Laura Bell Bundy
Steven Brinberg as Simply Barbra
...singing "Jingle Bells" from Streisand's first Christmas album
Steven Brinberg
Simply Barbra introduced Lauren Frost, who audiences remember as
playing "young Barbra" in the 2000 Streisand Timeless Tour.
Frost remarked "you look different than I remember!"
as she walked on stage.
Lauren Frost and Steven Brinberg
Lauren Frost singing "My Favorite Things"
Lauren Frost
Lauren Frost
Ruben Flores, with the Jingle Boys - Josh Walden and Kurt Domoney
Ruben Flores brought his unique Latin touch and language to the show with
"Feliz Navidad / White Christmas"
Ruben Flores
Performing a scene from the 1968 musical Promises, Promises!,
Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry take us to Clancy's Bar on
Christmas Eve.
Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry
Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry sing "A Fact Can Be a Beautiful Thing"
Jill Eikenberry
Kurt Domoney, Jill Eikenberry and Josh Walden at Clancy's Bar
Jill Eikenberry
Jill Eikenberry
Richie Ridge then introduced Broadway musical theatre legend and Promises, Promises!
original Fran Kubelik - Jill O'Hara, who lit up the stage and brought the audience to cheers
as she reclaimed two songs from the stage role that she created.
Jill O'Hara sings "Whoever You Are, I Love You" and...
"I'll Never Fall in Love Again"
Jill O'Hara smiles at a cheering audience and acknowledgement from the band
Hugh Panaro brought bitter back to Christmas and stopped the show with
Maltby and Shire's "I Don't Remember Christmas"
Hugh Panaro
Hugh Panaro
Hugh Panaro
The "Jingle Boys", Kurt Domoney & Josh Walden - provided back up for many of the
evening's stories from Broadway musicals that host Richie Ridge shared with the audience.
Richie regaled us with snippets from Broadway shows that had Christmas scenes
or themes, as well as offstage tales of shows that opened or closed around the holiday season.
Josh Walden and Kurt Domoney
Mary Cleere Haran sang "No Love, No Nothin'" and
"What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?"
Mary Cleere Haran
Mary Cleere Haran
Mary Cleere Haran
Nikki Renee Daniels reminded the audience that "there's no place like home"
for the holidays, with a full-throttle "Home" from The Wiz.
The audience erupted into wild applause as she knocked the song
into the stratosphere...
Nikki Renee Daniels
Nikki Renee Daniels
Nikki Renee Daniels
Laila Robins read an emotional piece from the AIDS Quilt Book. She had
the entire audience in tears, reminding everyone why we were there and
what the holidays mean to people.
She then sang "She Thinks His Name Was John"
The crowd gave her an overwhelming response as many people
didn't expect to hear her sing and to have such a great voice!
Natalie Toro reprised her hit character last seen at
BroadwayWorld.com's Standing Ovations IV -
"Googie Gomez" from The Ritz
...and lit up the stage for the holidays
in another Bob Mackie gown
Josh Walden and Kurt Domoney as Googie's "Bathhouse Boys"
"We Need a Little Christmas" with Googie's unique Latin spin
Josh Walden, Natalie Toro and Kurt Domoney
Josh Walden
Kurt Domoney
Josh Walden, Natalie Toro and Kurt Domoney
The BIG finish!
Director Richard Jay-Alexander came on stage to thank the audience, the musicians
and his cast and told a story about Les Miserables before
introducing Craig Schulman to sing the evening's final song.
Richard Jay-Alexander sported
a gold leather Valentino jacket
Richard got emotional as he spoke about Craig and memories
of his portrayal of Jean Valjean.
Craig Schulman brought down the house and closed out the show with
Les Miserables' prayer "Bring Him Home"
...it was dedicated to the idea of stopping senseless
death in troubled times. The audience went crazy!
