Tribute to Rufus Wainwright

I’m told one of our former trustees, Peggy Hughes-Fulmer, had a dream that she was walking down Nassau Street and saw a sea of people walking by with McCarter umbrellas. I’m taking that as a good omen.

This June, Burt Bacharach, a legend of popular song who has enjoyed resurgence in popularity thanks to appearances in all three Austin Powers films and American Idol, will be making his McCarter Theatre debut when he headlines our 30^th Annual Gala Benefit. In celebration of Mr. Bacharach’s award winning song, and of all the extraordinary artists like him who have tread McCarter’s boards for the last 78 years, we’ve asked 15 artists to each turn a plain white golf umbrella into a masterpiece. Every umbrella will be a tribute to a different actor, entertainer, play or production from McCarter’s illustrious history.

This project has really captured the imagination of our artists. Our first arrival, by local artist Ben Sullivan, was created in honor of the wonderful Rufus Wainwright, who made his second appearance on the Matthews stage a few weeks back. The design replicates the album cover of Mr. Wainwright’s most recent CD, a recreation of Judy Garland’s famous concert at Carnegie Hall. Mr. Wainwright graciously lent his signature to his umbrella following the concert.

As you can probably imagine, it’s a difficult task to work with such an unstable canvas. But to complicate things even further, we challenged our artists to make their final design functional… that is, it should be able to withstand a rain storm or at the very least, open and close.

Early (and brave) participants include Eugene Lee, Jay McPhillips, Cindy Boone, George Vogel, Benchley Sullivan, Karen Steinhagen, Sorat Tungkasiri, Leah Targon, Lelia Novak, M. Teresa Simao, Nesrin Avci, Carrie Ballenger, H. Patricia Tieman and Eva Mantell.

These fantastic creations will be auctioned off at the gala and all the proceeds will be used to support McCarter’s Educational and Artistic programs. Check out our website in the coming months for a photo gallery of all the final designs. Better yet, you can help make Peggy’s dream a reality by coming to the gala and bidding on them in person!

Posted by Jennifer Alexander-Hill, Stewardship and Events Director at McCarter Theatre.

Photo by T. Charles Erickson

Have you seen A Seagull in the Hamptons? What did you think? Do you agree with the newspaper reviews, or disagree? Favorite parts of the show? Things that weren’t to your taste? Post a “citizen response” or read what other people are saying by clicking on the “comments” link below. We can’t wait to hear what you think!

If you want to include a picture with your review, email it to me and I’ll make sure it gets attached.

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre.  Photo: David Andrew Macdonald and Morea Baccarin in “A Seagull in the Hamptons” at McCarter Theatre.

Live at the Princeton Public Library, Emily Mann and Maria Tucci talk about how Emily’s adaptation of Chekhov’s The Seagull differs from the original, and how it has stayed the same. There are a bunch of other videos from the library event, which you can find on McCarter’s YouTube channel. Post your comments below by clicking on “comments.”

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre.