On Monday, October 20, 2008, the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF), Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA), and Friends In Deed will present a special benefit event, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, exactly 35 years after the classic double album was released in the USA.
Elton and a diverse group of guest artists from across the entire spectrum of the entertainment industry will perform all 17 songs from the album. The show will take place in the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City, the landmark Broadway theatre that has housed legendary shows from "The Ziegfield Follies" to "
The Lion King" to the current Broadway hit, "
Mary Poppins". Sponsored by
American Express, American Airlines, and Grey Goose, the show will be produced by Broadway veteran
Jeffrey Seller, (Rent,
Avenue Q, In the Heights).
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, written and composed by
Elton John and
Bernie Taupin, is arguably one of the greatest albums ever produced. The concert event is very straightforward: an exciting array of artists will each perform one song from the album in the order in which it was originally produced. Guest artists confirmed for the concert include
Rufus Wainwright,
Ben Folds,
Jane Krakowski, Stew,
Joey Arias,
Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters, and the casts of "Hair" and "
The Lion King".
Tickets for this extraordinary event will be available from Saturday September 13th through September 22nd for
American Express card holders, and afterwards to the general public. Tickets can be purchased by calling 212-307-4100 or by visiting Ticketmaster.
Photo Credit Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.
