As the savvy Australian novelist Christina Stead once wrote, "If all the rich people in the world divided up their money among themselves, there wouldn't be enough to go around." But as Dolly Gallagher Levi said, "Money, pardon the expression, is like manure. It's not worth a thing unless it's spread around."
So you may want to press a coin into those outreached palms offering one-night-only entertainments designed to encourage just such fertilizing behavior. Some of the beneficiaries are those who provide succor through the arts, such as Theatre Rhinoceros, which has a final chance to raise funds before announcing its second "on the road" season since leaving its longtime digs on 16th Street.
The long-running queer theater is returning to one of its temporary venues, the Eureka Theatre, for its 2010 benefit showcase on May 25. The modest $20 admission offers a bill of fare including snacks, beverages, and a raffle, and also a bursting line-up of local talent. Just some of the notable names who will perform include Leanne Borghese, Connie Champagne, Dave Dobrusky, Matthew Martin, Mike Finn, Kim Larsen, Sara Moore, Tom Orr, Brian Yates Sharber, and Jef Valentine. Partying is also promised before, during, and after the performances. Tickets are available at (800) 838-3006 or www.therhino.org.
The musical revivalists at 42nd Street Moon, finishing up their regular season this weekend at the Eureka with Very Warm for May, will move to the larger Alcazar Theatre for Kiss the Boys Goodbye: The Songs of Broadway and Hollywood in the 1940s. The June 21 fundraising event begins at 5:30 p.m., with hors d'oeuvres and a silent auction, and the show starts at 7 p.m. with such Moon regulars as Pierce Peter Brandt, Tami Dahbura, Bill Fahrner, Sarah Kathleen Farrell, Alexandra Kaprielian, Anil Margsahayam, Carly Ozard, Benjamin Pither, Darlene Popovic, and Jimmy Robertson. Tickets are $100 ($75 of which is tax-deductible, for those with interesting 1040 forms). For tickets, call 255-8207 or go to www.42ndstmoon.org.
The Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation, presenters of the popular Help Is on the Way concerts, often finds support from the casts of touring Broadway musicals for its One Night Only Cabaret events. For the June 7 show at Theatre 39 (at Pier 39), cast members from In the Heights, now at the Curran, will choose personal favorites for their song selections. Special guests include Marga Gomez (currently in Proud and Bothered at New Conservatory), Jai Rodriguez (Queer Eye for the Straight Guy), and RJ Helton (a season-one American Idol finalist). Tickets start at $38, and an additional $25 will gain you admittance to a post-show dessert party with the cast downstairs at the Hard Rock Cafe. For tickets, call 273-1620 or go to www.helpisontheway.org.
The spiegeltent that houses Teatro ZinZanni's food-and-fun extravaganzas changes gear for a special event on May 25. There will still be familiar elements, including appearances by ZinZanni veterans Joan Baez, Liliane Montevecchi, and Frank Ferrante, as well as a three-course meal served between performances, but there will also be more serious elements, as well as a philanthropic purpose, to the event titled An Evening of Giving and Saving Lives.
Actor Sean Penn will be on hand to present a slide show he has prepared on relief work being done in Haiti under the auspices of J/P Haitian Relief Organization, co-founded by Penn and Diana Jenkins, which will benefit from the ticket sales that begin at $250. The event will also feature several performances new to the ZinZanni venue, including the band Lakay founded by Haitian-native Mystic Man and San Francisco-based singer-songwriter Jerry Hannan, whose song "Society," recorded with Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, was featured in Penn's film Into the Wild. For ticket information, go to love.zinzanni.org.
Klowning around
Berkeley Rep's new summer series of performances dubbed Fireworks gets off with a genuine bang with a new show by popular actor and edgy solo artist John Leguizamo. Klass Klown, running June 1-12, is described as an uncensored look at Leguizamo's adventures in his life, from dodgy childhood to showbiz celebrity.
The Fireworks festival also includes An Evening with David Sedaris (June 14-20, but already sold out), burning-bright monologist Dan Hoyle in The Real Americans (June 24-26) and Tings Dey Happen (June 30-July 1), and radio commentator, author, and "recovered cynic" Wes "Scoop" Nisker, who explores life as we think we know it in Crazy Wisdom Saves the World Again.
Tickets are $25 for the Nisker and Hoyle shows, and $35 for Leguizamo (and half that for anyone under 30). For the extra 10 bucks for the Leguizamo shows, free tequila tasting is offered before each show thanks to Berkeley's own Tres Agaves. For tickets, call (510) 647-2949 or go to www.berkeleyrep.org.
Richard Dodds can be reached at [email protected].