Donna Lynne Champlin Launches Online Auction to Raise Funds for ALS

Broadway's Donna Lynne Champlin (Sweeney Todd, Billy Elliott, Hollywood Arms) announces Ode To Joy, a national online auction of one-of-a-kind Broadway, film and TV memorabilia donated by her friends and colleagues in the entertainment industry to raise funds for her sister-in-law Joy Parker, one of a handful of young women in the United States living with ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The auction will go live today, Tuesday, June 10 and continue through Friday, June 20.

Please visit www.simplejoysonline.net/odetojoy.

Donations have been pouring in from the personal collections of Carol Burnett, Stephen Sondheim, Harvey Fierstein, Marc Shaiman, John Doyle, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Lily Rabe, Emily Skinner, Marni Nixon, Justin "Squigs" Robertson, Stephen Schwartz, Bill Russell, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Sir Alan Ayckbourn, Rebecca Luker, Kristin Chenoweth, and many more.

"I am really blessed to have such amazing friends and colleagues who have been extraordinarily generous with their donated items," says Ms. Champlin. "Our goal is to raise enough money in order to purchase a Tobii eye gaze, a speech generating device which will allow Joy to continue to work in social media at the WXXI-PBS station in her hometown of Rochester, NY, as well as give her a higher quality of life as the disease progresses."

Some highlights of the auction include:

• An original ink-drawing by Guys and Dolls composer Frank Loesser, donated from the private collection of his widow Jo Sullivan Loesser and his daughter Emily Loesser
• Next to Normal music notes from the Pulitzer Prize-winning score signed by composer and lyricist Tom Kitt
• "Glee" script signed by the entire cast
• Terrence McNally's personal show jacket from his Tony winning play Love! Valour! Compassion!
• A one on one, hour long meeting with 22 time Tony award winning, legendary Broadway director and producer Harold Prince in his office at Rockefeller Center

In 2013, Joy created and submitted a very personal video piece called Terminal Freedom (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_blgF8iz0xY) which was chosen by Madonna and celebrity curator David Blaine and was awarded a $10,000 grant for the MDA from the Ray of Light Foundation. In addition to the online auction, there will also be a local Ode to Joy event in Rochester, NY on Saturday, June 21st at the First Unitarian Church of Rochester where there will be BBQ, family entertainment and a separate live local auction of Rochester based donations. Information for the live local event (and direct donations to Joy's Tobii eye gaze) can be found at www.simplejoysonline.net/odetojoy.

All donations and winning bids are tax deductible, as the Ode To Joy online auction and the local Rochester, NY event will be done in partnership with the (all-inclusive and very LGBT friendly) First Unitarian Church of Rochester.

Ms. Champlin recorded a brief video (http://youtu.be/1UI2itYDMJM) with all the details about the auction, as well as a sneak peek at some of the amazing donated items.

Joy has been married for 12 amazing years to Mike Champlin, enjoys daughters Kate and Nicole, and two naughty cats named Buddy and Scottie. A photographer and artist for more than 30 years, Joy works as a Web Coordinator for WXXI Public Broadcasting. In April 2010, Joy was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). Since then, she has raised thousands of dollars for the Greater Rochester Muscular Dystrophy Association and The ALS Association; Upstate Chapter, including a generous grant from Madonna's Ray of Light Foundation.