NEW YORK, NY: Theatre Benefits are "Bring Your Own Falafel." (10/26/09)

By a happy series of coincidences, I ended up at a theatre benefit last night. The benefit was for The Actors Fund and was honoring the late great Frank Loesser (music and lyrics: Guys and Dolls, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, etc).

Not having any time before the event, I was delighted when my friend Nick brought me a falafel to eat in the lobby. Wasn't that lovely? It was a delicious falafel too. Like, so good it was distracting- so when I turned around and Annette Benning was sixteen inches in front of me and looking at me awkwardly, I realized it was because I had a falafel to my face. Surprise! Luckily I ran away in time for Barbara Walters to walk by. She doesn't strike me as the falafel type. Annette's cool though- legit.

The event was amazing- a perfect mix of ballads and booms. Paul McCartney was a highlight of the show. Lovely man- very charismatic... rather short, though- that surprised me. He sang "On a Slow Boat to China," which is about a man who likes a woman. The woman is a little slow to thaw, so he predicts that if he got her on a slow boat to China (with him), she might love him by the time they disembark. I don't know about that. I mean- what if she gets seasick? She would hate him before they even left the mooring. Another favorite number was "Junkman," sung by Debbie Gravitte. "Junk man" is about a woman whose man cheated on her, so she sings about breaking him in half and giving him to the junk man with the rest of her garbage. A little intense, but Ms. Gravitte was SO sassy and hysterical.

As wonderful as these songs were, it got better. John Stamos came on to do something from "How to Succeed in Business..." All the feelings I had when I was 7 years old came flooding back. I realized I had never really stopped loving him. Let me tell you- Uncle Jesse's still got it. And he can sing AND dance. I need a cold compress or something- that man can wear a suit...

However FAR AND AWAY the best part of the night was when a muppet named Abby Cadabby came onstage. She was SO excited to be on Broadway- as she should be- it's quite an accomplishment! She was charming the crowd when OUT OF THE BLUE (quite literally) she was joined by none other than GROVER AND COOKIE MONSTER! I'M NOT KIDDING. AND IT WAS OLD SCHOOL COOKIE MONSTER TOO, HE WASN'T TALKING ABOUT VEGETABLES! HE WAS DEMANDING COOKIES! The trio sang a lovely songcalled "Inchworm," which is about stopping to appreciate the things around you. Well, when you are being serenaded by your two bluest friends from childhood, it's hard to NOT appreciate the things around you! The song was the loveliest part of the evening- heartwarming, sincere, dynamic, and smart, everything wonderful. Delicious.

The event was marvelous. The Actors Fund does such tremendous work to help struggling people in the theatre (not just actors- everyone), between providing health insurance, to temporary housing, to emotional support. Artists are too important to let starve. To help The Actors Fund reach their $12.5M goal, please visit www.actorsfund.org.



Images courtesy of www.wikipedia.org.