Theater News

Carolee Carmello and Gregg Edelman to Star in Rags Benefit

Carolee Carmello and Gregg Edelman
(© Joseph Marzullo/Retna)
Carolee Carmello and Gregg Edelman
(© Joseph Marzullo/Retna)

Real-life couple Carolee Carmello and Gregg Edelman will play the lead roles of Rebecca and Nathan in the World AIDS Day benefit concert presentation of the musical Rags, to be held at the Nokia Theater in Times Square on Monday, December 11, beginning at 7pm.

Rags has music by Tony Award winner Charles Strouse, lyrics by Academy Award and Grammy Award winner Stephen Schwartz, and a book by Tony winner Joseph Stein. The musical tells the story of Rebecca, an immigrant who finds herself alone in America with her young son and goes through the “melting pot” experience. Although the show had only a very brief run on Broadway in 1986, it received five Tony nominations. The roles or Rebecca and Nathan were originally played on Broadway by Teresa Stratas and Larry Kert.

This will be the fourth annual World AIDS Day staged concert presented by Jamie McGonnigal in association with The Joey DiPaolo AIDS Foundation. Stafford Arima and Mark Hartman will serve as director and musical director, as they did for last year’s concert performance of The Secret Garden. MTV correspondent Sway will host the event.

The concert will also feature Harvey Fierstein, Lainie Kazan, Eden Espinosa, David A. Austin, Struan Erlenborn, Max von Essen, Lewis Cleale, John Treacy Egan, Stacia Fernandez, Aaron Berk, David Josefberg, Colin Hanlon, Lisa Jolley, and Anne L. Nathan Proceeds from the Rags concert will benefit The Joey DiPaolo AIDS Foundation and Camp TLC (Teens Living with a Challenge), a residential summer camp for young people with HIV/AIDS.

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