Patti LuPone Joins San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus for Spring Fundraising Event at Home of Ann & Gordon Getty

Evening raises much-needed funds for outreach, youth engagement and touring

SFGMC presenting composer Jake Heggie with 2016 Champion Award

Today, we announced our spring fundraising event at the home of Ann & Gordon Getty in San Francisco on Tuesday, March 29, 2016 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., featuring two-time Tony Award winner Patti LuPone, and honoring composer Jake Heggie with a Champion Award.

The evening is presented by the Bob Ross Foundation, Terrence Chan and Edward Sell and Putnam Automotive Group, and includes a cocktail reception, followed by an intimate salon performance by Broadway superstar Patti LuPone and a select ensemble of SFGMC singers.

“Entering the iconic Getty House is a thrill all by itself,” writes Dr. Timothy Seelig, SFGMC Artistic Director. “It is a veritable art museum perched high above the gorgeous bay. Entering the exquisite music salon for an intimate concert with Patti LuPone raises that experience to a level few will experience in their lives. And all of this to support the amazing outreach programs that are central to SFGMC’s mission – it’s truly amazing.”

One of the hallmarks of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus is its tireless outreach fulfilling its mission of community, activism, and compassion. The Chorus and its ensembles perform approximately 40 non-ticketed appearances annually. These are in a wide range of venues and audiences including public schools, elder facilities and benefit concerts for amazing nonprofit organizations.

The funds raised at the home of Ann & Gordon Getty will assist in continuing these performances in the Bay Area, deepen engagement with local youth programs and underserved communities, as well as help seed future tours.

Miles Walls, SFGMC Development Coordinator, elaborates, “The funds raised will assist in continuing our outreach efforts across the Bay Area, as well as help seed national and international tours. This summer, the Chorus will perform a benefit in Colorado Springs, raising much-needed awareness and funds for people living in a very conservative area of our country, and plans are also underway for SFGMC to be the first openly gay chorus to travel to China in 2018 as part of our 40th anniversary.”

Dr. Seelig continues, “Patti LuPone is spectacular in a concert with a packed house, full symphony orchestra, sets, costumes, lights – all of it. But imagine sitting in a stunning music salon, in an iconic San Francisco mansion with only 80 other people, Patti and a grand piano - up close and very personal. This experience is truly once in a lifetime, and a great moment for SFGMC.”

Thanks to the generosity of one of our donors, as well as the kindness of Ann & Gordon Getty for donating their home for the event, the expenses for the evening are entirely underwritten. 100% of all donations go directly to the Chorus, which funds our touring, youth and outreach initiatives.

For more information, please click here.

About Patti LuPone

Patti LuPone is a two-time Tony Award winner for two now-legendary stage performances: as Argentina’s controversial First Lady Eva Peron in the Broadway premiere of the musical Evita; and as Madame Rose, the mother of stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, in the most recent Broadway revival of the classic musical Gypsy.

This summer, she will take on her latest stage role, that of cosmetics pioneer Helena Rubenstein, in the world premiere of the new Scott Frankel-Michael Korie-Douglas Wright musical War Paint at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre.

Select highlights of her stage career include performances as Lucia in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations); Mrs. Lovett in John Doyle’s production of Sweeney Todd (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Award nominations); Maria Callas in Master Class; Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes (Drama Desk Award; Tony Award nomination); Moll in The Cradle Will Rock; Nancy in Oliver!; The Reporter in Accidental Death of An Anarchist; and Rosamund in The Robber Bridegroom (Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations). A long-time collaborator of writer-director David Mamet, she starred on Broadway in his plays The Anarchist, The Old Neighborhood, and The Water Engine; off-Broadway in The Woods and Edmond; and appeared in his films State and Main and Heist. She is a founding member of both the Drama Division of New York’s Juilliard School and John Houseman’s The Acting Company.

In London, she was the first American actor to appear with the Royal Shakespeare Company in their production of Les Misérables, in which she created the role of Fantine. For that performance, as well as for a reprise of her performance as Moll in a West End engagement of The Cradle Will Rock, she was the first American actor to win London’s coveted Olivier Award.

Patti LuPone’s film credits include Parker, Union Square, City By The Sea, Just Looking, Summer of Sam, Driving Miss Daisy, and Witness. Her television credits include appearances on “Girls,” “American Horror Story: Coven,” “30 Rock,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Glee,“ “Ugly Betty,” “Will & Grace,” the Emmy winning telecasts of “Passion” and “Sweeney Todd,” “Oz,” “Monday Night Mayhem,” “Evening At the Pops” with John Williams and Yo Yo Ma, “Frasier” (Emmy nomination), “Law & Order,” “The Water Engine,” “L.B.J,” and “Life Goes On.” She returns to “Penny Dreadful” this season as Dr. Seward, after receiving critical acclaim and a Critics’ Choice Award nomination from her performance last season.