Photo Flash: FROM BROADWAY WITH LOVE Celebrates Opening

On December 4, in Santa Fe at the historic Lensic Performing Arts Center Kaye Ballard, Donna McKechnie and Liliane Montevecchi were greeted by an 'SRO' crowd in a one-night-only gala performance "From Broadway with Love". The Broadway performance benefited Animal Protection of New Mexico, a non-profit organization that has been challenging historic and widespreal cruelty in New Mexico for more than 30 years. 

The show, directed by Richard Jay-Alexander, with musical direction by Christopher Marlowe, and lighting and sound by Matt Berman, received 3 standing ovations and the crowd went wild for the three ladies. In addition to numbers that they performed together, they each headlined their own section for an audience that seemed hungry for "From Broadway with Love". Each actress had their own showstopper within their section, with Liliane performing 'Folies Bergere' from NINE for which she won a Tony Award, Donna McKechnie with 'Music and the Mirror' from A CHORUS LINE for which she won a Tony Award and Kaye Ballard stopped the show cold singing 'Lazy Afternoon' and telling an extraordinary story about her opening night in THE GOLDEN APPLE, which was one of the earliest musicals to ever win a Pulitzer prize. Ballard told the audience that she hadn't sung the song in over 40 years. 

Each actress has a distinctive style and the audience ate them up. The show closed with a poignant film of before-and-after pictures of abused animals, while the girls sang Stephen Sondheim's "Not While I'm Around." The audience was literally in tears, and another ovation followed. A very glamorous party was held down the street at the Eldorado Hotel, which coincidentally, is a pet friendly hotel - one of many in Santa Fe. 

In attendance were many prominent Santa Feans, including Ali MacGraw. People also flew in from all over the country, including artist Hillary Knight, who designed the show's glamorous poster, which is also available for sale, signed by all three ladies. There is already talk of a possible tour, very much in the style of '4 Girls 4' which toured the US extensively back in the late 70s.