Rockers on Broadway - Rocking Out and Raising Money for Broadway Cares
Taking
place on Monday night May 3rd @ 8pm will be another installment of Rockers on
Broadway at Arlene's Grocery, a benefit for Broadway Cares / Equity Fights
AIDS. BroadwayWorld.com checked in with Donnie Kehr (AIDA), and co-producer
Sabrina Gordin to see how it all came together.
The idea
for "Rockers on Broadway" came together back in 1993 when Donnie was appearing
in TOMMY. "Pete Townshend wanted to put together a jam band" reminisced Donnie
"so that everyone could feel what it was like to just be onstage singing rock
& roll, raw, without rehearsal or preparation." Fast forwarding to a few
months ago, Donnie released his first solo album "SHIFT" which had its release
party at Arlene's Grocery. The launch party was so successful, that Donnie was
invited to come back each month for a regular gig, which he only agreed to if
it could be a benefit to raise some money along with the fun. "Then, after
talking with some friends who all wanted to guest sing with me, I decided to
bring back the ROCKERS idea so that all my friends could just get up and jam
and have a great time - and it would all be for a good cause."
The
original "Rockers" Concert which was held in 1993, consisted of
Michael Cerveris, Alice Ripley, Sherie Renee Scott and Pete Townshend – quite
the lineup. Last month, to start the new series they had Broadway regulars
including Michael Cavanaugh, Will Chase, Felicia Finley, Sean Sullivan, Lori
Ann Strunk, Schele Williams, Brandon Wardell, Walter O'Neil, and Doug Storm.
Leave Comments
|  | | LIVE UPDATE: | NEWSIES, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, GODSPELL & WICKED Are in the Lead... |
|
 Robert Diamond founded BroadwayWorld.com in 2003, which has now become the largest theatre web site in the world. He also serves as the site's Editor-in-Chief, covering Broadway and beyond, with specific local coverage for 100 cities in the United States, 30 countries worldwide and 15 other related areas of entertainment - including dance, opera, fashion, concerts, comedy, films, television and more.The 2001 Syracuse University graduate (School of Information Studies) is also the owner of Wisdom Digital Media, an award-winning leading design company for entertainment and technology web sites. In his previous life, he held an executive position for the world's leading publisher of technology magazines, web sites and conferences and, as a result, was named among the "Top thirty magazine industry executives under the age of 30" by FOLIO Magazine. Diamond got his start in the entertainment field, accidentally, when he created the 'official web site' (while in college) for Michael Crawford, the popular actor and original Tony and Olivier Award-winning star of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. (He still blames Crawford - and credits him - for anything that goes particularly right or wrong during an average day.) As a respected member of the Broadway and theatre community, Diamond also served as Lead Producer for a series of sold-out shows using the BroadwayWorld.com 'brand' for a set of 'Standing Ovations' concerts, which also branched out into titles that included Holiday Shows and even more specific concerts like 'From Stage to Screen and Back Again' in tandem with publishers and movie studios. All proceeds were in turn donated to Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS, the industry's leader in aid for performers in need. Robert lives in Manhattan with his wife and two dogs, growing the business and getting little sleep. In addition, you can usually find him in a theatre many nights a week. Robert's very popular blog, 'The Broadway Pulse' appears daily on BroadwayWorld.com and he also writes weekly about theatre for the USA Network's Character Approved blog. In December of last year, Diamond was one of 5 Syracuse University Alumni, all having achieved success in the world of start-ups, business growth and venture capital, participating on a panel addressing young alumni who are currently pursuing their dreams of running their own business and experiencing the day to day challenges of a startup. It is part of the university's new Student Accelerator Program, for which Rob was recommended by Syracuse University's i-School.
|
Past Articles by This Author:
|
