Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS is pleased to announce that Tony Awardâ winner Donna McKechnie and noted theatre columnist Michael Riedel will join the previously announced two-time Tony Awardâ winner Donna Murphy in the eagerly anticipated benefit performance of PAMELA'S FIRST MUSICAL, a new musical with music by Tony Award® winner Cy Coleman, lyrics by Tony Award® winner David Zippel, book by Tony® & Pulitzer Award winner Wendy Wasserstein and directed by Tony Award® nominee Graciela Daniele.
In addition, Lila Coogan has been cast in the role of 'Pamela.' Coogan is currently appearing as 'Jane Banks' in the Broadway production of
Mary Poppins.
The special concert of PAMELA'S FIRST MUSICAL will be held on Sunday, May 18 at 3 PM at Town Hall (123 West 43rd Street) with a reception at Sardi's immediately following. Proceeds will benefit BC/EFA and Theatre Development Fund's Open Doors Program, which Wasserstein founded.
Murphy leads the cast in the role of Pamela's beloved "Aunt Louise." The all-star cast also includes
Lynn Ahrens,
Christian Borle,
Carolee Carmello,
Sandy Duncan,
Gregg Edelman,
Christine Ebersole,
Stephen Flaherty,
Kathie Lee Gifford,
Adam Heller,
Richard Kind,
Robert Klein,
Tommy Tune and many others. Special guest
David Garrison makes an appearance as Producer Bernie S. Gerry.
This delightful one-act musical, based on Wasserstein's 1996 children's book, tells the story of a young girl from the suburbs who spends an unforgettable birthday with her eccentric, sophisticated Aunt Louise (Murphy) attending a lavish Broadway production and meeting all the glamorous, creative people who made it possible.
The concept of staging Wasserstein's 1996 children's book began several years ago. Though Zippel had originally approached Wasserstein about making it into a television movie, they eventually began working with
Cy Coleman to turn it into a live stage show. Five years ago, the trio worked to develop the piece, which was essentially complete at the time of Coleman's death in 2004. It was set to premiere in 2005, but the production was eventually cancelled due to Wasserstein's tragic death from lymphoma at age 55. Zippel and Daniele, who had directed two workshop productions of PAMELA'S FIRST MUSICAL, have continued working on the project over the last few years. The benefit performance on Sunday, May 18 at Town Hall will be the first public presentation of the show.
PAMELA'S FIRST MUSICAL comes with one of the most impressive pedigrees imaginable. Three-time Tony Award® winner
Cy Coleman wrote the music for
Sweet Charity, City of Angels, Little Me, Barnum, The Will Rogers Follies and The Life. In a Broadway career that spanned over 50 years, Coleman served as a composer, arranger, producer, writer, lyricist, creative consultant, musical director and musician.
Wendy Wasserstein won the Drama Desk, Tony and Pulitzer Prize for her seminal 1989 work The Heidi Chronicles, the story of an art historian who makes the decision to raise a child on her own, a choice reflected in Wasserstein's own life as an adoptive parent. Her other plays included the Broadway hit The Sisters Rosensweig (1993), An American Daughter (1997), Isn't It Romantic? (1984) and Third (2005). Wasserstein's first novel Elements of Style was published posthumously in 2006.
 A dancer, writer, director, choreographer and 10-time Tony Award® nominee, Graciela Daniele's credits include The Pirates of Penzance (1981), The Rink (1984), Once on This Island (1991), Ragtime (1998),
Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life (2005), and 1996's Chronicle of a Death Foretold, which she wrote, choreographed and directed.
David Zippel won a Tony Award® for the score to 1990's innovative City of Angels. His other credits include The Woman in White and The Goodbye Girl as well as crafting songs for the legendary
Barbara Cook. He's also a two-time Oscar nominee for the Disney films Hercules and Mulan.
Tickets for PAMELA'S FIRST MUSICAL may be purchased by calling BC/EFA at (212) 840-0770 x: 268 or online by visiting www.BroadwayCares.org.
Ticket packages to PAMELA'S FIRST MUSICAL are:
FRIENDS of CY and WENDY @ $1,000 – 1 Prime Center Orchestra seat; 1 ticket to the VIP post-show reception at Sardi's; the event poster signed by the PAMELA'S FIRST MUSICAL cast.
FRIENDS of AUNT LOUISE @ $500 each – 1 Prime Center Orchestra seat; 1 ticket to the VIP post-show reception at Sardi's; the event Playbill signed by the cast
FRIENDS of PAMELA tickets @ $250 each – 1 VIP Center Orchestra seat or Front Mezzanine ; 1 ticket to the VIP post-show reception at Sardi's
RESERVED GENERAL Admission tickets @ $95
Includes 1 orchestra seat or front mezzanine.
RESERVED BALCONY Admission @ $60
BROADWAY CARES/ EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS (BC/EFA) is the nation's leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fund raising and grant making organization. BC/EFA is the on-going, committed response from the American theater community to an urgent worldwide health crisis. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of this community, BC/EFA raises funds for AIDS-related causes across the United States. Since it's founding in 1988, BC/EFA has raised over $140 million for critically needed services for people with AIDS, HIV and other related illnesses.
PAMELA's FIRST MUSICAL is sponsored by The New York Times, Continental Airlines & Sardi's
For more information, please visit the BC/EFA website at
www.BroadwayCares.org
