Dana Ivey, Brad Oscar and More Join THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE to Benefit BC/EFA

Two-time Tony Award nominee and celebrated screen actress Dana Ivey (Sunday in the Park with George, Heartbreak House, Driving Miss Daisy) is set to appear as Aunt Mary, the steadfast no nonsense matriarch of the Drexel Biddle family in Walt Disney's The Happiest Millionaire, celebrating its 50th anniversary in a concert benefitting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Also joining the cast is two-time Tony Award nominee Brad Oscar (The Producers, Something Rotten!, Big Fish) as eccentric amateur boxer and alligator collector Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Nicholas Barasch (She Loves Me, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Encore's Big River) as love interest Angier Duke, Luca Padovan (Marvin's Room, School of Rock, Disney's Newsies) as Livingston Biddle, Sam Poon (The King and I, Macbeth, Billy Elliot) as Tony Biddle and Cherish Myers (Mary Poppins) as daughter Cordy Biddle.

Ms. Myers will share the role of Cordy with previously announced cast member Lesley Ann Warren (Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, Victor/Victoria) as she and Joyce Bulifant (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Airplane!) reprise their original film roles.

The cast also includes Christopher Carothers (son of original Happiest Millionaire screenwriter AJ Carothers), Tyler Fauntleroy and Jason Pintar.

The Happiest Millionaire celebrates its 50th anniversary with two performances, at Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street), Sunday, December 3rd, at 7pm and 9:30pm. Adapted by Doug Thompson and Alex Beck, from the screenplay by A J Carothers, produced by Happiest Musical LLC, Doug Thompson and Brice Corder, with direction by Alex Beck, musical staging by Jason Wise and musical direction by Mark Hartman (Avenue Q, Sondheim on Sondheim, Silence! The Musical). Casting by Caralie Chrisco.

The Happiest Millionaire, premiering in 1967, is the final live action Disney production to be overseen by Walt Disney, himself. Containing over 80 minutes of Golden Age Disney music and dance, the fantastic score was written by Mary Poppins composers and Disney legends, Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman. Originally starring such icons as Fred MacMurray, Greer Garson, Gladys Cooper and Geraldine Page, The Happiest Millionaire also welcomed the Hollywood screen debuts of Tommy Steele, John Davidson and Lesley Ann Warren. Set in 1916 Philadelphia, the film is based on the real lives of eccentric renaissance man, alligator collector and boxing enthusiast, Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, and his daughter Cordy, a fiercely independent fighter who, like all Disney princesses, wants to discover the world on her own terms.

All proceeds will solely benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Tickets go on sale October 30th at joespub.com. For Pre-Sale VIP Packages and Individual VIP ticket information, email tickets@HappiestMillionaire.com.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is one of the nation's leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources, and generosity of the American theatre community, since 1988 Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has raised more than $300 million for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is the major supporter of the social service programs at The Actors Fund, including the HIV/AIDS Initiative, the Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative and the Samuel J. Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts. Broadway Cares also awards annual grants to more than 450 AIDS and family service organizations in all 50 states, providing lifesaving medication, healthy meals, counseling and emergency assistance.

For more information, visit Broadway Cares online at broadwaycares.org, at facebook.com/BCEFA, at instagram.com/BCEFA, at twitter.com/BCEFA and at youtube.com/BCEFA.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride