This is from Naomi Caryl, Co-Chair of STAGE (via Janice)

I sent an email to S.T.A.G.E. concerning the benefit last weekend and
Lucy's appearance there. I received this lovely email back that I thought
you might be interested in reading. As expected, Lucy really impressed..I am
passing this on with Naomi's permission.

Dear Janice,

Shawn forwarded your e-mail on to me and I wanted to thank you for your
contribution and your very sweet and thoughtful prayers, as well as your
conncerns for people living with HIV/AIDS.

And, I wanted to let you know that Lucy's performance was absolutely
wonderful! We all found her to be a very generous spirit and so very caring
and co-operative; it was very refreshing and deeply heart warming. The
entire show was just fantastic this year....incredibly exciting in every
way, and the caliber of talent very very high. Many people in our show had
appeared in numerous productions of Andrew Lloyd Webber's shows, here in Los
Angeles as well as New York and London, and many other cities across
America. This made for a highly exciting show, as well as an extremely well
recieved show! This was the 20th year of S.T.A.G.E.; we are the oldest and
longest running AIDS Benefit, in the world! It is unfortunate that we have
to keep doing this Benefit, but, as long as there are people in need, we
will continue. Lucy's participation was a wonderful bonus for us this
year....she has an amazing fan base...and all of you seem to care very
deeply about everything she is involved in, which is admirable and fantastic
and incredibly unusual in our experience....
So, we thank you for your contribution, (no contribution is too small, by
the way....everything helps, to be sure....), and we thank you so very very
much for your caring interest in the work we are trying to do.

I have been a Co-Chair of this event for 17 years, along with Betty
Garrett and all of us who work on this show have lost many many friends
throughout these twenty years; (just this year 3 people that both Betty and
I knew, passed on from AIDS related illnesses.)
So, it's not over, and we will continue the fight as long as we are
needed.

...snipped a bit here..........

We hope Lucy can be in the show every year....but of course, much depends
on her 'work schedule'...all the performers volunteer their time and talent
and if they get a 'paying' gig, they have to take it. Most everyone
connected to the S.T.A.G.E. Benefit are ALL volunteers. Both Betty Garrett
and I are Volunteers and feel very strongly about this cause. Right now, I
probably know at least 15 people living with HIV/AIDS, all of whom are very
dear to me, so, I hope as you do, that there will be a cure, and very soon!

Most Sincerely And With Great Thanks,
Naomi Caryl
Co-Chair for S.T.A.G.E.


I then wrote asking permission from Naomi to pass this on to the group.
She was very happy to have me do that but wanted to add the following
mention...


Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2004 4:52 AM
Subject: Re: About S.T.A.G.E. 2004....


...snipping some here....

Naomi...mentions that she had never seen Xena before but now wants to get
a DVD to watch some of it...especially now that she has met and worked with
Lucy

Then she gives me permission to send this to you.....


I'd love to add something else about the Benefit that I feel is very very
important....without David Galligan, our Director, who really is the 'heart
and soul' of S.T.A.G.E. and, I might add, a true Theatrical Genius, there
would be no S.T.A.G.E. He was one of the 3 founding people and has directed
ALL 20 years of this event. And, there are many other people who have been
involved for 16 years and 15 years and so on. (Three of the performers, Dale
Kristien, (Who played 'Christine' her in Los Angeles with Michael Crawford
in "Phanton Of The Opera'...and stayed with the show for the entire 5 year
run, has done the show 19 times. Bill Hutton who was the original "Joseph"
in "Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Coat" has done the show for 19 years;
and Linda Michele has also done it for 19 years....they all would have done
it for the complete 20, but due to special circumstances, each one missed
one year....not the same year, thank God, but each had to miss one year)

It takes a huge amount of people to get this show on; to sell tickets; to
put together our Ad Journal; to get Food donated for our Cast for 4
nights...(we feed everyone for the Dress Rehearsal as well as the 3
performances).....it is a very very big show to put on, but....very well
worth it. Anyway.... I feel that David should be mentioned because it is
his genius that pulls the show together, along with our Musical Director &
Arranger: This year the incredibly talented Gerald Sternbach.

.....snip..............snip........


Thank you for your very lovely letter and I hope this fills in some more
about S.T.A.G.E. for you. Again, we all loved Lucy and found her to be just
as you described, a real, sweet and fun person, with a generous heart. Just
as an added interest; there are no 'star' dressing rooms for this show. All
the Ladies are in the BIG Ladies Chorus Dressing Room, together, and ALL the
men are in the Big Male Chorus Dressing room together. I think that is one
of the reasons that a 'family feeling' is established so quickly. And in the
green room we have the food and a big TV moniter so that the Cast can watch
the show, after they are done, or whenever....that's one of the BEST parts
of this event....to see 20 or 30 people sitting and watching a fellow
performer and rooting for them, and applauding and 'Bravo-ing' after their
incredible perfotmances....the "Jesus Christ Superstar" section was,
awesome, as was 'The Phantom" section, too.....and closing the show was Tyne
Daly, who is always fantastic, doing an 'Anti-War song, Accapells, (no
accompiniment)...which was stunning, and such a great way to close this
fabulous show.

...snipped a bit more here........

Naomi C
Co-Chair for S.T.A.G.E.


 

19 March 2004

Lucy to appear at AIDS Project Show in San Francisco

• From a report on the Official Xena Fan Club / STAGE section, Lucy revealed she was invited to participate in the the Aids Project show in San Francisco, and she had accepted. No other information on this event is available.

The following is from Sharon Delaney

Lucy signed a fan club kit 1-4 and a kit 6 and a photo to be auctioned off for S.T.A.G.E. -- the charity she did the benefit for last weekend.
https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=201&item=4002701230
https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=201&item=4002703472
https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4002704376

Thanks,
Sharon
Official Xena Fan Club

11 March 2004

The following is an update from Sharon about the fans getting together to support Lucy at the 20th Annual Stage Fund Raiser.

Well, I'm hearing from lots of you that you're coming to the benefit and so is the ticket person for S.T.A.G.E. He's a very nice man named Sean and he said he was working until 8pm last night processing orders from all the Xena fans who have been calling in. I just got off the phone with Lucy and passed along this info. "Oh, my God, really!" she babbled excitedly. (grin) I think I found an area to meet in and I'm just going to call the Luckman to make sure they didn't pave over it. Then I'll send out a message. I was also thinking of bringing a balloon to hold. Think that would look a tad strange at a benefit? Ah, who cares. I want to make sure no one gets lost. (grin)


I took the virtual tour on the Luckman Fine Arts Complex web site where the event is taking place. The plaza has a double row of pillars and the front of the auditorium is glass. There are doors on both sides of a curved portion of the front. Directly across from the entrance there is a round sunken area. There are two steps going down into this sunken area. It doesn't look like it's meant to hold water so I don't think we'll need to bring our rubbers (grin) It would be out of the way of the crowds around the entrance doors. I just called the Luckman and they haven't paved over this sunken area and I'm definitely considering the balloon. So this is where we'll meet. Say a half hour before the show and right after.

9 March 2004

Lucy at benefit news...

The following is from Sharon Delaney:

I talked with Lucy this morning and she asked if any of the fans were going to the STAGE AIDS benefit March 12, 13 and 14 in Los Angeles www.stagela.com . As you know, she's singing and it's still a scary thing for her to do. She said if I could tell her there would be Xena fans there, she'd feel ever so much more comfortable singing for them. So I thought maybe we could get some groups together and I could let her know we'd be in the audience cheering her on and sending out good vibes We might not all be able to sit together, but maybe we could meet after the show. I'm going all three nights and you can drop me an email at outback@creationent.com  and we'll pick a spot to meet up perhaps before as well as after the show.

5 March 2004

Lucy to perform at the 20th Annual Stage (Southland Theater Artists Goodwill Event) fund raiser - March 12 -14 (three performances) of The Perfect Year: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Fund-raiser fetes Webber
Event benefits Los Angeles' AIDS Project, Free Clinic
By VARIETY STAFF - 4 March 2004

The 20th annual Stage (Southland Theater Artists Goodwill Event) fund-raiser, "The Perfect Year: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber," has schedule three performances March 12-14 at Cal State U. Los Angeles' Luckman Fine Arts Complex. 

Among the performers are Marissa Jaret Winokur (Tony winner for "Hairspray"), Tyne Daly, Lucy Lawless, Joey McIntyre, Mary Wilson (of the Supremes), Betty Garrett, Malcolm Gets, William Katt, Rod McKuen, Anthony Crivello, Ellen Greene and the Stephen S. Wise Temple Elementary Choir & Vocal Ensemble.

David Galligan directs the event, which will benefit AIDS Project Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Free Clinic.

Tickets, ranging from $30 to $200, are available by calling (323) 656-9069 or visit www.stagela.com.

The Prices are:

• General Prices -
  $30
  $60
  $100
  $150 (includes prime seating and post-show VIP reception)
  $200 (includes prime seating and post-show VIP reception)
  
  Patron Package -
  $1,700 (includes 10 $150 VIP seats, post-show VIP reception, and full-page Gold ad in commemorative ad journal)
  
  Sponsorships -
  $2,700
  $5,000
  $10,000
  $15,000
  (all sponsorships include addititonal benefits)