Tonya Pinkins Joins THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE Benefit at Joe's Pub

Tony Award Winner and three-time nominee, Tonya Pinkins (Caroline, or Change, Play On!, Jelly's Last Jam) joins the cast of Disney's The Happiest Millionaire, celebrating its 50th anniversary in a concert that will benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Pinkins will portray Mrs. Cordelia Biddle, the wise and understanding wife of eccentric millionaire Anthony J. Biddle (played by two-time Tony nominee Brad Oscar). The production also welcomes John Charles McLaughlin (The Irish Rep's Crackskull Row) as the Biddle's charming Irish song and dance everyman butler and Cameron Bartell as Charlie Taylor, suitor to young Cordy Biddle.

Previously announced cast includes Lesley Ann Warren and Joyce Bulifant (reprising their roles from the film), two-time Tony nominee Dana Ivey (The Importance of Being Earnest), Nicholas Barasch (She Loves Me), Luca Padovan (School of Rock), Sam Poon (The King and I), Cherish Myers (Disney's Mary Poppins), Christopher Carothers (son of original screenwriter A J Carothers), Tyler Fauntleroy and Jason Pintar.

The Happiest Millionaire celebrates its 50th anniversary with two benefit 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 Justin Henry and musical direction by Mark Hartman (Avenue Q, Sondheim on Sondheim, Silence! The Musical). Casting by Caralie Chrisco.

The Happiest Millionaire film, 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 range from $79 to $499 and are on sale now at joespub.com. For more information visit 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.