Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event (STAGE) is the longest-running annual benefit for AIDS worldwide. In its three decades-long history, more than 350 stars of Broadway, film and television have performed music from the Great White Way while raising millions of dollars for HIV/AIDS organizations in the Los Angeles area.
This year’s 32nd Anniversary STAGE Gala takes place on Saturday, June 18 with two performances at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the beautiful Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, celebrating the music from Broadway’s most prolific and celebrated living composer, Stephen Sondheim, with musical numbers from “Gypsy,” “Pacific Overtures,” “Company,” “Passion,” “Follies,” “Sunday in the Park with George” and “A Little Night Music,” among other legendary Broadway scores.
Musical selections will be performed by an All-Star Cast including Broadway and ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” sweetheart, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Amber Stevens West from NBC’s hit comedy series, “The Carmichael Show,” acclaimed actress June Squibb, who received a 2014 Academy Award nomination for her performance in “Nebraska” and STAGE veterans Rita Moreno, James C. Mulligan, Robert Yacko, Julie Garnye, Radmar Jao, Deborah Nishimura, Tedd Szeto and Peter Varvel, plus other surprise guests.
Begun in 1984, STAGE is the longest-running annual HIV/AIDS fundraiser in the world. To date, STAGE has raised more than $5 million for HIV/AIDS organizations in the Southland, with co-creator David Galligan having staged and directed all 32 productions.
I have attended the annual benefit for several years and I can tell you it is always a fun star-filled evening of great entertainers both onstage and in the audience!
Funds raised through STAGE support a variety of AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) programs, including its Vance North Necessities of Life Program food pantries; freestanding and mobile dental clinics; in-home health care; housing assistance; HIV prevention and testing efforts; and a range of other services on which thousands of Angelinos affected by HIV/AIDS depend. STAGE is among the most enduring and valuable sources of private support for the organization’s HIV/AIDS care, prevention, and advocacy work. Please visit www.apla.org and www.aplahw.org to learn more.
For tickets and detailed information about The 32nd Anniversary STAGE Gala, Sondheim No. 5 Benefitting APLA, visit www.stagela.com. Tickets range from $75 to $275. The production is directed by David Galligan with Music Director Michael Orland, with two performances on June 18 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the Wallis Annenberg Center located at 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. On-site valet parking, underground self-parking, with metered street parking available.
