Benefit Performance Of THE LAST SESSION To Include Creators & Original Cast 6/23

A concert presentation of the 1997 semi-autobiographical Off-Broadway cult hit musical, The Last Session, featuring the creators and original cast members from the GLAAD Media Award and L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award winning New York and Los Angeles productions, will be presented on Wednesday, June 23, at 8pm, at the Theatre at St. Clement's, as a benefit for their food pantry and free veterinary clinic. Tickets are $20 or whatever one can afford. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Steve Schalchlin, composer and lyricist, and recent nominee for Best Lead Actor in a Musical by the L.A. Ovation Awards for The Big Voice: God or Merman, leads veteran cast members from the New York and LA companies, including Amy Coleman as the hard-charging tough Janis Joplin-like blues singer, Vicki; and Michele Mais (currently starring in Rock of Ages), whose performance as Tryshia, the self-described diva, garnered her the L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress. Also, in the cast will be newcomer, Tom Rhoads, in the pivotal role of Buddy, a young musical evangelist, and 2010 Drama Desk Award winner for his performance in Zero Hour, Jim Brochu, who also wrote the book.

The Last Session, which debuted in New York in 1997, played at the 47th Street Theatre for six months, to rave reviews, and Best Musical nominations from the Drama League and the Outer Critics Circle. Then, in a subsequent production on the west coast at the Laguna Playhouse, it won in all five categories it was nominated by the LA Drama Critics Circle, including Best Production, Best Book, Best Music, Best Lyrics, and Best Supporting Actress. It was also awarded the GLAAD Media Award for Best L.A. Theatrical Production and the Oscar Wilde Award for promoting understanding of GLBT persons in the media.

The Last Session was created when composer/lyricist Steve Schalchlin, dying from late stage AIDS in 1995, began writing songs as musical therapy. Soon, life partner and playwright, Jim Brochu, took the songs and created "The Last Session" based on characters from Steve's life. Schalchlin starred in the first workshop, in 1996, while hooked up to an I.V. and fighting for his life. Luckily, the new protease inhibitor drugs came along just as the workshop was beginning, and by the end of the three week run, he had begun to come back to life. Simultaneously, he had been documenting his progress online, becoming the world's first AIDS blogger. His site, now called Living in the Bonus Round, became a world-wide sensation among healthcare professionals and he was invited to lecture and sing a solo concert at Harvard University about the then-new concept of online health support groups. Schalchlin and Brochu, following the success of The Last Session, repeated their Off-Broadway success with another critically acclaimed hit, The Big Voice: God or Merman?

For tickets and more information, please call 212/246-7277.

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