Cast Of A CHORUS LINE Raises $63,000 For AFC And BC/EFA

Two entertainment industry charities: The Toronto-based Actors' Fund of Canada and New York-based Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA)are able to increase their service to the community by a total of $63,000 this winter courtesy of audiences attending Toronto performances of A Chorus Line during the last two weeks of November. The show was presented by Mirvish Productions at the Canon Theatre.

The charities are splitting donations collected by cast members of the US national touring company of A Chorus Line from audiences during the Toronto stop on their North American tour and from a cabaret featuring performers from the show which was held at the Gladstone Hotel on November 24.

The fundraising appeal at A Chorus Line is the latest in a series of fundraising events benefiting the Actors' Fund of Canada at Mirvish Productions performances. Says Producer David Mirvish: "Mirvish Productions is a longstanding supporter of the Actors' Fund of Canada, having provided a venue for their fundraising at our performances of Dirty Dancing and We Will Rock You in the recent past. We believe deeply in the Fund's mission to help vulnerable members of our industry bounce back from adverse circumstances so that they can return to entertaining audiences through doing the work they love."

Adds Actors' Fund Executive Director David Hope: "Through consistently granting permission for us to raise funds through audience appeals at their shows, Mirvish Productions has become a major benefactor of the Fund. In addition to the revenue the Fund is realizing from A Chorus Line, Mirvish audiences have donated over $32,000 to the Fund at performances in the last 18 months. We are very grateful to Mirvish Productions for the many occasions on which it has supported the Actors' Fund and the leadership they have shown in the theatre world and the wider community."

The Actors' Fund of Canada The Lifeline for Canada's entertainment industry and provides emergency financial aid for industry members in crisis. The Fund is a registered charity that paid out a record high of $540,000 in rent payments, grocery money, utility payments and other basic living expenses in 2008 and over $3.7 million in emergency financial aid in the last 10 years.

Performers and others who work behind the scenes in Canada's performing arts and entertainment industries can apply for assistance from the Fund, which has helped over 10,000 entertainment industry workers recover from illness, injury or other circumstances causing severe economic and personal hardship since it was founded in 1958. The Actors' Fund of Canada receives no government funding and is wholly sustained by support from individuals and entertainment industry organizations.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) is the leading industry-based, not-for-profit AIDS fundraising and grant making organization in the United States. BC/EFA is the on-going, committed response from the American Theatre community to an urgent worldwide health crisis. By drawing upon the talents, resources, and generosity of this community, BC/EFA raises funds for AIDS-related causes across the United States. Since its founding in 1988, BC/EFA has raised over $140 million for critically needed services for people with AIDS, HIV or HIV-related illnesses.

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