David Cassidy on the Web
Dallas Summer Musicals gala hits the high notes of last 70 years
Friday, April 30, 2010
By Robert Miller
www.dallasnews.com
The nonprofit Dallas Summer Musicals is celebrating its 70th anniversary with a 2010 Curtain Call Gala Saturday at the Music Hall at Fair Park.
It will feature performances by seven fabulous entertainers, each one representing a decade of the Dallas Summer Musicals.
How many readers remember 1949, when Nanette Fabray was starring in Bloomer Girls at the Fair Park Bandshell and a cricket landed in her bosom, sending her into hysterics and rendering her unable to continue?
That kind of problem could never happen after the venue moved inside to the Music Hall. That's progress.
Curtain Call is presented by Park Place Motorcars Dallas and benefits Dallas Summer Musicals and its children's outreach and educational programs.
Chairs are Wendy and Michael Jenkins, president and managing director of the Dallas Summer Musicals.
Honorary chairs are James M. Nederlander, chairman of the Nederlander Organization, and Philip J. Smith, chairman of the Shubert Organization.
The evening's agenda includes a cocktail reception, live and silent auctions, a gourmet seated dinner followed by the show, dessert, cocktails and dancing.
The Stars of Broadway will include song and dance vignettes by Mitzi Gaynor, David Cassidy, Tom Wopat, Ben Vereen, Cathy Rigby, Jay Johnson and a special finale by Sutton Foster, who plays Princess Fiona in Shrek, the Musical, all directed by Jeff Calhoun.
Dallas Summer Musicals is presented by Comerica Bank. Season sponsors are American Airlines Inc. and WFAA-TV (Channel 8). Major donors include:
$50,000: Park Place Motorcars Dallas.
$25,000: Richard H. Collins, Dallas Southwest Osteopathic Physicians Inc. and the Meeker Vineyard.
$15,000: American Airlines, Fulbright & Jaworski LLP and Thompson & Knight LLP/Thompson & Knight Foundation.
$10,000: William and Wendy Boothe, Diane and Hal Brierley, Mrs. Trammell Crow, S. Roger Horchow, the Rosewood Corp., and Dee and Charles Wyly.
$2,500: Baylor Health Care System, Ben E. Keith Co., Lucy and Henry Billingsley, Edwin L. Cox, Nancy M. Dedman, Paddy and Barry Epstein, Jolie and Bart Humphrey, Meredy McClure, Cynthia and Lester Melnick, Geraldine "Tincy" and Vance Miller, Ted and Gay Munselle, Mark and Dell Rieth, Lynne and Bob Thompson, Mrs. John R. Watson, and Drs. Kimberly J. Yamanouchi and James R. Sackett.
Tickets to the black-tie affair are $500. Visit dallassummermusicals.org and click on "2010 Curtain Call Gala."
Tickets for a chance to win a Smart car, donated by Smart Center Dallas, are $70 each. Call 214-413-3959.
