TPAC partners with Broadway Cares & A CHORUS LINE To Support Flood Relief

Broadway Cares, in partnership with the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and the cast and crew of the A CHORUS LINE national tour, will make a donation of $47,892 to The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee to help to those affected by the May 1, 2010 floods.

All money received, donated by patrons of TPAC, was raised for The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee through the auspices of Broadway Cares to support the Metro Nashville Disaster Response Fund and the Tennessee Emergency Response Fund's flood relief efforts.

"It was a blessing that TPAC was spared by the floods, and our decision to move forward with programming was met with enthusiasm," said Kathleen O'Brien, TPAC's president and CEO. "This is Music City, after all, and the show must go on. However, we wanted to do something to let this great city know we cared. We approached the show and Broadway Cares with this idea, and within an hour people from all over the country had worked out the details to make this happen. I cannot begin to express the gratitude I feel toward the cast and crew for their generosity, complete strangers in most cases, giving their time and effort to help out their host city. And the Nashville Broadway community stepped up to the plate very generously. That huge number speaks for itself. The contributions will help so many in need, and I've never been more proud to be part of the theatre community. Art heals in many ways."
Following each of the first seven performances, the cast and crew of A CHORUS LINE spread throughout Andrew Jackson Hall, armed with donation buckets and hand-held credit card machines. The show donated autographed merchandise as an incentive for donations, which sold out most nights.

"Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is proud to facilitate the fundraising efforts of the national tour of A CHORUS LINE at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center to support the critical outreach and financial assistance being made by the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee to the people of Nashville at this most challenging time," said Tom Viola, executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. "We salute the audiences whose amazing response and generosity have made this possible, proving that ‘what we do for love' has many meanings in the great state of Tennessee."
To make a donation to The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, please visit www.cfmt.org/floodrelief for more information. For non-emergency assistance, please call the community hotline at 615-862-8574. For information, referral and crisis intervention services available throughout Middle Tennessee, dial 2-1-1. For information about volunteering, please contact Hands On Nashville at www.hon.org. Flood victims can call the Middle Tennessee Red Cross at 615-250-4300.

A CHORUS LINE

The original production of A CHORUS LINE opened at The Public Theater's Newman Theatre On May 21, 1975 and transferred to Broadway's Shubert Theatre On July 25, opening there on October 19 of that year. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Score and Book, and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. It ran for nearly 15 years, closing on April 28, 1990 after 6,137 performances. A CHORUS LINE remains the longest-running American musical in Broadway history. The current national tour of A CHORUS LINE premiered in Denver in May 2008. Future tour stops include Austin, TX (May 11-16); Sacramento, CA (May 18-30); and Los Angeles, CA (June 1-13).
BROADWAY CARES

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 BC/EFA has raised over $175 million for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States. BC/EFA is the major supporter of seven programs at The Actors' Fund - including The AIDS Initiative, The Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative, The Al Hirschfeld Free Health Clinic, The Dancers' Resource and three supportive housing residences. BC/EFA also awards annual grants to over 400 AIDS and family service organizations nationwide.

THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE

In partnership with Davidson County's Office of Emergency Management, The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee has activated its Metro Nashville Disaster Response Fund and the Tennessee Emergency Response Fund to help to those affected by the May 1, 2010 floods. Donations of any size are welcome. Grants from the fund will support relief and restoration in the Davidson County and Middle Tennessee areas. The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee oversees more than 730 charitable funds, providing customized philanthropic solutions with great flexibility for donors, nonprofit organizations and the community. In the past 18 years, The Community Foundation has distributed more than $470 million to community programs and institutions. It is located at 3833 Cleghorn Avenue, #400, Nashville, Tennessee 37215. For more information, call 615-321-4939 or 888-540-5200 or visit www.cfmt.org.

TENNESSEE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
The Tennessee Performing Arts Center is a private, non-profit corporation dedicated to providing and supporting the presentation of the performing arts to the citizens of Tennessee. Its four stages are home to Broadway in Nashville at TPAC, Nashville Ballet, Nashville Opera, Tennessee Repertory Theatre and a variety of special engagements. TPAC administers one of the largest and most comprehensive arts-in-education programs in the United States, offering learning opportunities for children and adults. The organization has served more than 1.5 million students from pre-school to high school over the past two decades. For more information, visit the web site, www.tpac.org.

 

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