PHOTO FLASH: John Cullum, Mark Jacoby, Chita Rivera, et al. at The Visit Benefit

On Wednesday, November 30, The Actors Fund and the Vineyard Theatre presented a one-night-only benefit concert performance of John Kander and Fred Ebb’s The Visit, starring Tony Award winners Chita Rivera and John Cullum. The show was presented at Broadway’s Ambassador Theatre with direction by Carl Andress and choreography by Ann Reinking.

The evening’s guests included Jen Garvey-Blackwell, Joseph P. Benincasa, Charles Busch, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka, and Scottsboro Boys castmates Derrick Cobey, Colman Domingo, Forrest McClendon, Julius Thomas III, Sharon Washington, and Christian Dante White.

The show, based on Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s play and featuring a book by Terrence McNally, centers on Claire Zachanassian (Rivera), who was driven from her hometown in disgrace when she was 17, having been betrayed by her lover Anton Schell (Cullum). Several decades and seven husbands later, Zachanassian has become the richest woman in the world, yet her hometown has fallen on hard times. When Zachanassian returns with an offer to save the town, salvation comes with an outrageous price tag.

The cast also featured Mark Jacoby as The Mayor, along with Linda Balgord, D.B. Bonds, Matthew Deming, Alan H. Green, James Harms, Michael Hayward-Jones, Joy Hermalym, Howard Kaye, Doug Kreeger, Mary Ann Lamb, Jerry Lanning, Ryan Lowe, Brianne Moore, Karen Murphy, Brian O’Brien, Kevin Reed, Hal Robinson, Dana Steingold, Rebecca Strimaitis, and Jeremy Webb.