Goldberg, Busch, Lypsinka & Batt Bring Kirkwood's LEGENDS! to Life in One Night Only Benefit Reading 3/23

Friends In Deed will present a legendary trio as Charles Busch, Whoopi Goldberg and Lypsinka star in the first-ever New York presentation of the infamous Broadway-play-that-wasn't, LEGENDS!. Written by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner James Kirkwood (A Chorus Line), the play will be presented in a special One Night Only staged reading benefit on Monday evening, March 23 at 8PM at Town Hall (123 West 43rd Street).

Directed by Mark Waldrop, the presentation will feature a script that has been adapted for this reading by John Epperson. Also starring Bryan Batt ("Mad Men") with additional casting to be announced, the special event is a benefit for Friends In Deed - The Crisis Center for Life-Threatening Illness^TM.

A hilarious comedy about two glamorous, Hollywood has-beens and arch-rivals forced to consider working together on a new project to resuscitate their careers, LEGENDS! is one of the most notorious theatrical properties ever written - notably for what happened behind-the-scenes. Originally presented in a 1986 year-long, pre-Broadway tour starring Carol Channing and Mary Martin, it closed on the road before making it to New York. The juicy on and off-stage antics were chronicled and immortalized in playwright James Kirkwood's own non-fiction account, Diary of a Mad Playwright: Perilous Adventures on the Road with Mary Martin and Carol Channing. In 2007, the play was again presented as a pre-Broadway national tour, this time helmed by "Dynasty" co-stars Joan Collins and Linda Evans. Also failing to make it to New York, the production had its backstage wars chronicled in lurid detail by Ms. Collins in a two-part series in London's Daily Mail. 

Tony-nominated and Drama Desk Award-winning actor, writer, director and drag legend Charles Busch (star of the film adaptation of his play Die Mommie Die and author of Broadway's The Tale of the Allergist's Wife) will take on the role of former film fatale, Sylvia Glenn.
Award-winning actor, writer, fashionista and lip-synching pioneer who defies categorization Lypsinka (I Could Go On Lip-Synching!, The Passion of the Crawford, his recent Medea-based play My Deah) will sink her claws into the part of the seemingly-saintly Leatrice Monsee.

Rounding out the trio is Oscar, Tony, Emmy and Grammy Award-winning icon Whoopi Goldberg (star of Ghost, producer of Thoroughly Modern Millie, host of AMC's "Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel" and the album Whoopi Goldberg; plus current moderator of ABC's "The View"), who will essay the role of the quick-witted servant Aretha.

"Mad Men" series regular Bryan Batt (as closeted art director Salvatore Romano) will play Martin Klemmer, the producer scheming to get the two film stars to work together. No stranger to the stage, he's been featured in nearly a dozen Broadway shows (La Cage aux Folles, Sunset Boulevard, Beauty & the Beast) and created the role of Darius in the stage and film versions of Jeffrey.

LEGENDS! is being directed by Mark Waldrop, whose credits include Bea Arthur On Broadway and the Drama Desk Award-winning Off-Broadway revue, When Pigs Fly, for which he also provided book and lyrics. As a lyricist, he is the recipient of the prestigious Edward Kleban Award.
Set Designer is three-time Emmy Award winner Ray Klausen, Costume Designer is Fabio Toblini and Lighting & Sound Designer and Production Manager is Matt Berman. Choreography is by Josh Rhodes. Costumes will be made by Eric Winterling, Inc., Euroco Costumes, Inc., Studio Rouge and Tricorne, Inc. Hairstyles are by Katherine Carr and Gerard Kelly.  

Additional casting will be announced in the coming weeks, and the evening will also feature some onstage surprises.

Founded by Mike Nichols and Cynthia O'Neal in 1991, Friends In Deed - The Crisis Center for Life-Threatening Illness^TM - has helped transform many thousands of lives through a wide array of free programs and services. It provides emotional and spiritual support for anyone diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-threatening physical illnesses. Support is also available for family, friends, and caregivers of those who are ill, and anyone dealing with grief and bereavement. Friends In Deed also runs an HIV prevention program for teens in NYC public schools, having already reached over 100,000 at-risk students. All services are free of charge. For more information, visit www.friendsindeed.org or call (212) 925-2009.

$250 VIP Seating, which will include admission to an after-party, is currently available by calling (800) 996-5433.

Tickets ($100, $75 and $60) will be available soon through TicketMaster at www.ticketmaster.com or (212) 307-4100. Beginning March 2, tickets will be available at the Town Hall box office (123 West 43rd Street). Town Hall box offices hours are Monday through Saturday, 12 Noon - 6PM.
For more information and updates, visit www.friendsindeed.org.

THE LEGENDS:

 
Charles Busch (Sylvia Glenn) is the author and star of such plays as Psycho Beach Party, Times Square Angel, The Lady in Question, Red Scare on Sunset, You Should Be So Lucky, Queen Amarantha, Flipping My Wig and Shanghai Moon. His play Vampire Lesbians of Sodom ran five years in New York and is one of the longest-running plays in Off-Broadway history. He wrote a new libretto for the 1955 musical Ankles Aweigh for Goodspeed Opera and adapted the book of the Truman Capote/Harold Arlen musical House of Flowers for a tour directed by Geoffrey Holder which starred Patti LaBelle. He co-authored and appeared in the Off-Broadway musical Swingtime Canteen, where he had the great honor of singing "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" with Maxene Andrews of the Andrews Sisters. He has also written books for the musical The Green Heart (Manhattan Theatre Club) and the Broadway musical Taboo. Busch starred as the fabulous Mame Dennis in a memorable staged reading of Auntie Mame at the American Place Theatre in 1999 with the late Peggy Cass recreating her original role of Agnes Gooch. He's also played Mame in full productions at Maine's Ogunquit Playhouse and the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor. In 2000, MTC produced his play The Tale of the Allergist's Wife starring Linda Lavin, Tony Roberts and Michele Lee. It was nominated for a Drama Desk for Best Play and won Busch the Outer Critics' Circle John Gassner Award for Playwriting. It moved to Broadway, was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Play and ran 777 performances. He has written and starred in the film versions of his plays Psycho Beach Party and Die Mommie Die, the latter of which won him the 2003 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance. That same year he was given a special Drama Desk Award for career achievement. Television work includes two seasons as Nat Ginzburg in the HBO series "Oz," plus appearances on "Lipstick Jungle" and "One Life to Live." His first novel Whores of Lost Atlantis was first published in 1993. His plays were published together in the anthology The Tale of the Allergist's Wife and Other Plays (Grove Press) and his films in the recent Die Mommie Die and Psycho Beach Party: The Screenplays of Charles Busch (Alyson Books). In 2005, Charles appeared with his long-time stage partner, Julie Halston, in a gala benefit for the Actors' Fund of America at Broadway's Music Box Theatre entitled Charles Busch and Julie Halston: Together on Broadway. Mr. Busch made his directorial debut with the film A Very Serious Person, which premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival (Honorable Mention). His play Our Leading Lady was presented by MTC in 2007 starring Kate Mulgrew. The New York stage premiere of Die Mommie Die opened at the New World Stages in 2007, with Charles reprising his starring performance. His latest play, The Third Story, premiered at LaJolla Playhouse and is currently being staged by MCC at the Lortel Theatre. He is the subject of the critically-acclaimed documentary film The Lady in Question is Charles Busch. A native New Yorker, Busch graduated from Northwestern University and is a member of the Dramatist's Guild. www.charlesbusch.com.

Whoopi Goldberg (Aretha) is one of an elite group of artists who have won the Grammy (Whoopi Goldberg, 1985), the Academy Award (Ghost, 1991), the Golden Globe (The Color Purple, 1985 and Ghost, 1991), the Emmy (as host of AMC's "Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel," 2002) and a Tony (producer of Thoroughly Modern Millie, 2002). Whoopi worked in theatre and improvisation in San Diego and the Bay Area. It was there that she created the characters which became "The Spook Show" and evolved into her hit Broadway show, Grammy Award-winning album and the HBO special that helped launch her career. Whoopi made her motion picture debut in The Color Purple (Academy Award nomination, Golden Globe Award) and her performance in Ghost earned her the Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. Other films include Jumpin' Jack Flash; Clara's Heart; The Long Walk Home; Soapdish; The Player; Sarafina!; Sister Act; Made in America; Corrina, Corrina; Boys on the Side; Eddie; The Associate; Ghosts of Mississippi; How Stella Got Her Groove Back; Girl, Interrupted; Kingdom Come; Rat Race; and The Lion King. On Television, Whoopi appeared for five seasons on "Star Trek: The Next Generation," starred in "Bagdad Café," hosted her own syndicated late-night talk show and starred in and executive produced the NBC sitcom, "Whoopi." In addition to many television dramas, movies and mini-series (include "In the Gloaming," "The Wonderful World of Disney's Rogers & Hammerstein's Cinderella," "A Knight in Camelot," "Alice in Wonderland" "The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns" and "It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie"), her many television appearances include her own HBO specials, hosting three of ABC's "A Gala for the President at Ford's Theatre," nine "Comic Relief" telecasts, four Academy Awards (three Emmy nominations) and the 2008 Tony Awards. She currently appears as moderator on ABC's long-running talk show "The View." As a producer, she executive produced The Lifetime original drama series "Strong Medicine," the longest-running original drama created for basic cable and the first cable show to go into syndication. From 1998-2002, she executive produced and appeared in the center square on the Emmy-winning "Hollywood Squares." She executive produced Lifetime's "What Makes a Family," Showtime's "Ruby's Bucket of Blood" and executive produced and starred in TNT's "Call Me Claus" and Showtime's "Good Fences." Theatrically, Whoopi executive produced the hit Broadway musical Thoroughly Modern Millie (six Tony Awards, including Best Musical). She was also a producer on George C. Wolfe's Harlem Song, her own Tony and Emmy-nominated Whoopi...The 20th Anniversary (also on HBO) and the Broadway revival of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (in which she also starred). She will also produce Sister Act for the stage which will open in London in June 2009. Her other Broadway appearances include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Xanadu. In 1992, Whoopi made her debut as an author with her children's book, "Alice." Her other titles include "Book," "Whoopi's Big Book of Manners" and "Sugar Plum Ballerinas." In 2008, she introduced her own line of bedding, called G Beds by Whoopi. Whoopi has been honored with multiple NAACP Image Awards, numerous People's Choice Awards and five Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, as well as various awards and honors for her many humanitarian efforts. In addition, Whoopi has placed prints of her hands, feet and braids in the forecourt of the famed Grauman's Chinese Theatre and received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Whoopi is also a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations.

John Epperson (Leatrice Monsee / Adaptation) was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, a long way from the exciting worlds in which LYPSINKA travels: movies (Witch Hunt with Dennis Hopper, Wigstock: The Movie, Angels In America, Kinsey, Another Gay Movie and Another Gay Sequel); television (HBO specials Sandra After Dark with Sandra Bernhard, and Dragtime; George Michael's video Too Funky, PBS's The United States Of Poetry and special features on the Mommie Dearest and Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? DVDs); fashion (appearing in the Paris, Tokyo and Los Angeles shows of haute couture designer Thierry Mugler, modeling for Valentino, Pauline Trigere, Barneys New York, and launching lines of cosmetics for Prescriptives and Isabella Rossellini); advertisements (The Gap, LA Eyeworks, Naya Spring Water, Ilford Film); theater including I Could Go On Lip-Synching!, The Fabulous Lypsinka Show, Lypsinka! Now It Can Be Lip-Synched, Lypsinka! A Day In The Life (New York Theater Workshop, two Drama Desk nominations, including Most Unique Theatrical Experience; revived in 1993 Off Broadway at The Cherry Lane Theatre), Lypsinka! As I Lay Lip-Synching, Lypsinka Must Be Destroyed!, Lypsinka IS Harriet Craig!, Lypsinka! The Boxed Set (2001 Drama Desk nomination, Washington, D.C. Helen Hayes Award win for Outstanding Non-Resident Production / Outstanding Lead Actor nomination, wins for Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle Award, Best Sound Design and L.A. Weekly Theatre Award for Best Solo Performance); and special events (such as Doin' What Comes Natur'lly, on Broadway with Bette Midler, Elaine Stritch and Patti LuPone, and London's Meltdown Festival curated by Morrissey). Formerly a rehearsal pianist at American Ballet Theater, Mr. Epperson's theatrical career was launched in the mid-1980s when he wrote the book, lyrics and music of Ballet Of The Dolls and Dial "M" For Model at La Mama ETC. 1999 brought Epperson's dramatic stage debut in Messages For Gary at The New York Fringe Festival. In 2004 Mr. Epperson appeared Off Broadway in The Roaring Girle with The Foundry Theatre. The same year he was the subject of a stage festival at DC's Studio Theatre, which included his autobiographical piece John Epperson: Show Trash, As I Lay Lip-Synching, and his play, My Deah, the Medea tale set in The New South. Also in 2004 Epperson played The Stepmother in the New York City Opera production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella at Lincoln Center's New York State Theater. The play My Deah opened in an Obie Award-winning production Off Broadway in October 2006 and is now published and licensed by Samuel French. His acclaimed Off Broadway show The Passion of the Crawford, a fantasia on the personality of Joan Crawford, toured to California and Washington, D.C. Lypsinka launched the 2007 Spring collection of MAC Cosmetics centered around the Barbie doll. Epperson and Lypsinka are the subjects of an Emmy-winning television documentary for PBS. He provided the preface for the Rizzoli photo book Persona, and is the author of a new screenplay Happy Everything. Mr. Epperson has also written for The Guardian (U.K.), The New York Times, The Washington Post and Interview. The sequel to My Deah is in the works. www.lypsinka.com

Bryan Batt (Martin Klemmer) is a native New Orleanian, actor, designer, fundraiser and civic activist in both his hometown and New York. Bryan can be seen on TV as series regular Salvatore Romano on AMC's critically-acclaimed, Emmy, Golden Globe and Peabody award-winning dramatic series "Mad Men." Theatrically, Bryan is most proud of having created the role of Darius in both the New York and L.A. (Drama Logue Award) productions - as well as the film adaptation - of Paul Rudnick's ground-breaking comedy Jeffrey. Broadway leading and principal roles include the 2005 revival of La Cage aux Folles, Beauty & the Beast, Seussical-The Musical, Sunset Boulevard, Saturday Night Fever, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Starlight Express and Cats. Off Broadway: Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back, Forbidden Broadway Cleans Up Its Act (Drama Desk nomination). He has also appeared in numerous Off-Broadway, Television, Cabaret, Concert and Benefit productions. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he organized, hosted and/or performed in numerous events and fund raisers both in New York and in New Orleans benefiting Habitat For Humanity, Second Harvest Food Bank, NO-AIDS Task Force, The Contemporary Arts Center, LA-SPCA, Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre, The Preservation Rescore Center, New Orleans Museum of Art, Friends of City Park and more. In fall of 2005 He created "Magazine Street Retail Relief" an event to promote local businesses and give to various charities (www.magazinestreetretailrelief.com). While in evacuation he also initiated the web site www.helpthecityofneworleans.com which lists information and links to businesses, restaurants and services as they re-opened and continues to do so. Five years ago, he and his partner of 19 years, Tom Cianfichi, opened Hazelnut, a fine gift and home accessories shop (featured in The New York Times, House Beautiful, In Style, Traditional Home, Southern Accents and more) (www.hazelnutneworleans.com). Through the sales of his signature "New Orleans Toile" and "Pontchartrain Beach designs," Hazelnut has been able to generously contribute to local charities.

James Kirkwood (Playwright) was born in California to theatrical parents. His mother was actress Lila Lee, a leading lady in over 90 films, making the transition from silents to talkies and his father, James Kirkwood, Sr., acted on the stage and in pictures and also directed films including many with Mary Pickford. Before taking up a writing career Mr. Kirkwood was one half of the comedy team Jim Kirkwood and Lee Goodman. They played engagements in New York and London as well as making regular appearance on "The Garry Moore Show, " "The Ed Sullivan Show," and had a radio show on WOR for several years. In addition to numerous television appearances, Mr. Kirkwood appeared on the late CBS-TV daytime soap Valiant Lady for four years. He was also featured on Broadway in Small Wonder and played opposite Tallulah Bankhead in Welcome Darlings. Mr. Kirkwood's novels include There Must Be a Pony! which he dramatized for the stage starring Myrna Loy, and the made-for-TV movie version starring ElizaBeth Taylor and Robert Wagner; Good Times/Bad Times; P.S. Your Cat is Dead! which was also adapted for the stage with Keir Dullea and Tony Musante and made into a motion picture by Steve Guttenberg; Some Kind of Hero, which was made into a motion picture starring Richard Pryor; and Hit Me With A Rainbow. In addition, he wrote a nonfiction book, American Grotesque. As co-author with Nicholas Dante of A Chorus Line, he won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, among other honors. His play U.T.B.U. (Unhealthy to be Unpleasant) starred Tony Randall, Thelma Ritter and Alan Webb on Broadway. His last non-fiction book, Diary of a Mad Playwright: Perilous Adventures on the Road with Mary Martin and Carol Channing was about the road tour of his play Legends which toured in 2007 starring Joan Collins and Linda Evans. Mr. Kirkwood was nearly finished with the first draft of a new novel, I Teach Flying, when he passed away in 1989.

Mark Waldrop (Director) served as Production Supervisor and created material for Bette Midler's 1999 Divine Miss Millennium tour. Broadway: Bea Arthur, Just Between Friends (2002 Tony Award nomination, Special Theatrical Event.) Pre-Broadway: Russian on the Side staring Mark Nadler (San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia). Off-Broadway and in Los Angeles: Howard Crabtree's When Pigs Fly, (1997 Drama Desk Award, 1997 Outer Critics Circle Award, Obie; Best Director nominations: Drama Desk and L.A. Ovation Awards.) Off-Broadway: Game Show; Pete 'n Keely; Listen to My Heart; two outings with the political satirists Capitol Steps; Whatnot (Richard Rodgers Production Award); and John Epperson's politically incorrect Southern Gothic take on Euripides, My Deah. Also: Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 (City Center Encores); Three of Hearts, the Songs of Mary Rodgers, starring Faith Prince (Rainbow & Stars.) Regional: Into the Woods at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theater; Romeo & Bernadette, (New Jersey's Paper Mill and Miami's Coconut Grove Playhouses); Gypsy starring Betty Buckley (Paper Mill); and again, starring Judy Kaye (at the 5th Avenue); Adventures in Love (St. Paul's Ordway Theater); and Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (Maryland's Olney Theater.) At the MUNY in St. Louis he directed Damn Yankees and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Cabaret: Solo shows for dozens of performers, including Sutton Foster, John Lloyd Young, and Rebecca Luker in venues like the Lincoln Center American Songbook series, Joe's Pub, and Feinstein's. Mr. Waldrop is also a prize-winning lyricist (Edward Kleban Award) and writer. Last year he wrote the 75th Anniversary edition of the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular.

Josh Rhodes (Choreographer). Choreography credits include Broadway: Three Generations (Kennedy Center); Bonnie & Clyde: A Folktale (New York Musical Theater Festival); All Singin'! All Dancin'! and Broadway By the Year: 1954 (Town Hall); Chess and Dreamgirls (North Carolina Theater); Working (Asolo Rep); Barnum (Asolo Rep and Maltz Jupiter); Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (Ogunquit Playhouse); and the upcoming Paper Mill production of 1776 and Old Globe production of Working. He was also associate choreographer for Follies at Encores! and assistant choreographer for both South Pacific at Carnegie Hall and The Drowsy Chaperone (Broadway, National Tour and West End), which earned a Tony nomination for Best Choreography. As a performer, his numerous credits include the Broadway productions of The Boy From Oz, Man of La Mancha, Urban Cowboy, Bells Are Ringing, Sweet Smell of Success, Chicago and Fosse, as well as the Encores! production of Can-Can and the Paper Mill production of Red, Hot and Blue. Film and TV performance credits include The Producers and the PBS broadcast of Fosse, in which he can been dancing the iconic number "Steam Heat."

Ray Klausen (Scenic Designer) has designed over 350 productions for theatre and television in England, Monte Carlo, Germany, Mexico, Australia and Canada. Broadway: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Liza's At The Palace..., On Golden Pond, Brooklyn-The Musical, Big River, Comedy Tonight, Waiting in the Wings, Bea Arthur on Broadway. Off-Broadway: Pete ‘n' Keely and My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish and I'm in Therapy. Other NYC productions: My Favorite Broadway at Carnegie Hall and City Center and My Fair Lady at Avery Fisher Hall. Regional theater: The Mark Taper Forum (5 shows), St Louis Rep (3), The Kennedy Center (6), Prince Music Theatre (2) and Reprise! in Los Angeles (3). Other productions: Jazz Legs in Berlin, Jubilee! at Bally's Grand, Las Vegas, Hello Hollywood, Hello! at the MGM Grand in Reno, Big River at the Deaf West Theater in Los Angeles (Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle and Ovation awards) and at the Mark Taper in Los Angeles. His television credits include sets for Diana Ross, Martha Graham, Michael Jackson, Liza Minnelli, Ann-Margret, Elton John, Princess Grace, Barbra Streisand, Madonna and yes, even Elvis. He created the set designs for 27 "American Music Awards," 6 "Academy Awards," 10 "Kennedy Center Honors," 11 "American Film Institute Tributes," 2 "Tony Awards," "A Night of 100 Stars," and series for the Smothers Brothers, Pearl Bailey, Sammy Davis Jr., Andy Williams and Cher. He is the recipient of numerous awards including 3 Emmy Awards as well as the Hoffman Eminent Scholar Chair from Florida State University. He is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama. www.rayklausen.com

Fabio Toblini (Costume Designer). A New York City based designer whose work includes plays, musicals, opera, contemporary dance and ballet, Fabio was born and raised in Verona, Italy. He studied fashion design in Milan, and designed several collections in Europe before moving to New York City in 1991. Fabio is the recipient of the 2008 TDF/Irene Sharaff Young Master Award. Off-Broadway he's designed the world premieres of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Intrigue with Faye (MCC) and Batboy, the Musical (Lucille Lortel Award nomination). Other musicals include the national tours of Fame, Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar (currently starring Ted Neeley). Recurrent holiday productions include A Christmas Carol at the Ford's Theatre, DC and The Nutcracker at Ballet Arizona, choreographed by Ib Andersen. Upcoming is a new musical production of The Creature from the Black Lagoon at Universal Studios Hollywood. Although Mr. Toblini finds the cliched association between his ethnicity and profession repugnant, he reluctantly admits that his Italian background does come in handy--unfailingly, with intoxicating results, actually-- especially on the opera stage, where his delicious accent, Mediterranean looks, and loving attention to detail are cherished by performers of all tessituras and genders, especially those verging on a nervous breakdown. His many opera productions include Tales of Hoffmann and L'Opera Seria, (Nationale Reisopera, Holland), Zar und Zimmermann (Tiroler Landestheater, Austria), Maria de Buenos Aires and Dido and Aeneas (Gotham Chamber Opera, NYC) and Macbeth (Portland Opera Company). Regional credits include: the Old Globe, American Players Theatre, The Alley Theatre, the Children's Theatre Company, Minneapolis , The Guthrie, and The Shakespeare Theatre, DC. www.fabiotoblini.com

Matt Berman (Lighting & Sound Designer/Production Manager) just finished designing and Stage Managing Liza's At The Palace... and is currently touring with Liza as well as continuing his design work and tours with Sam Harris, Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker, and Karen Mason. Previous Broadway credits include Bea Arthur on Broadway and Nancy LaMott - Just In Time for Christmas. Mr. Berman heads his own design company, and has worked with an array of artists that include Brian Stokes Mitchell, Lea Salonga, Bernadette Peters, Victoria Clark, Sam Harris, Karen Mason, Michael Feinstein, Linda Eder, Stephen Schwartz and more. He has also worked in every type of venue from Feinstein's and Carnegie Hall to The Paris Opera and from The Hollywood Bowl to The Acropolis in Greece. Matt is currently the Resident Designer for the prestigious Lincoln Center's American Songbook Series. With Mr. Waldrop, Matt has had the great pleasure to work on Hey Love, Bea Arthur on Broadway, My Deah, Listen to My Heart: The songs of David Friedman, Bonnie & Clyde and now Legends!.

Founded by Mike Nichols and Cynthia O'Neal in 1991, Friends In Deed - The Crisis Center for Life-Threatening Illness^TM - has helped transform many thousands of lives through a wide array of free programs and services. It provides emotional and spiritual support for anyone diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-threatening physical illnesses. Support is also available for family, friends, and caregivers of those who are ill, and anyone dealing with grief and bereavement. Friends In Deed also runs an HIV prevention program for teens in NYC public schools, having already reached over 100,000 at-risk students. All services are free of charge. For more information, visit www.friendsindeed.org or call 212.925.2009.

LEGENDS! 2009 Photo Credit: TIMOTHY WHITE

Original LEGENDS! Photo Credit: courtesy of GIFFORD WALLACE