ReVision Theatre of Asbury Park & Broadway Speaks OUT Present ReVision Theatre’s 2010 Season Launch Party 2/21
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by BWW News Desk
Feb 22, 2010

ReVision Theatre, along with Broadway Speaks OUT, is proud to kick off their 2010 season with a bang. This special concert event will feature HAIR’s Anthony Hollock (Mr. Broadway 2009) as well as a multitude of other Broadway notables to be announced in the coming weeks.

ReVision Theatre’s 2010 season will consist of The Who’s Tommy (July 8-25), The Bikinis: World Premier (August 12-22), and The Rocky Horror Show (October 21-31).
To attend this event for free you must either become a member of ReVision Theatre at $25 a membership for individuals and $40 for couples, which gives you a one year membership to the theatre, this gives you benefits, discounts, and special events invitations.
You may also attend by renewing your expired membership or if you are a current member.

The Who’s Tommy will run from July 8-25. This rock opera is known the world round and boast music and lyrics by Pete Townshend, book by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff, and additional music and lyrics by John Entwistle and Keith Moon.

The Bikinis is a world premier event. This new musical beach party will run from August 12-22. Written by Ray Roderick and James Hindman it has musical arrangements by Joe Baker.

The Rocky Horror Show will run from October 21-31. This exotic musical about a transsexual from Transylvania has a book, music, and lyrics by Richard O’Brien.

ReVision Theatre is a professional regional theatre company dedicated to producing invigorating theatre with a fresh new perspective reaching the diverse community of Asbury Park, Monmouth County and beyond. ReVision Theatre produces reinventions of previously produced classics, overlooked or forgotten work in a new way, and new work with a fresh voice. The company serves as a nurturing home for local artists and writers. ReVision Theatre also believes in the importance of theatre education and teaches children and adult theatre classes. ReVision Theatre produces readings, workshops, cabarets, concerts, and fully staged productions.

ReVision Theatre is headed by it’s two producing artistic directors David E. Leidholdt and Thomas Morrissey.

Broadway Speaks OUT In the fall of 2008 Proposition 8 took place in California, denying thousands of couples the right to marry. Upon hearing this news Marti Gould Cummings and his partner Anthony Hollock formed Broadway Speaks OUT!

As a member of the Broadway community, Anthony, encouraged Marti to start a talk show online by interviewing friends of theirs who have appeared on Broadway. This grew into a very successful endeavor, even leading to a hit concert series, benefiting LGBT organization in NYC.

Broadway Speaks OUT! has attended The Tony Awards, The Drama Desk Awards, Logos NewNowNext Awards, just to name a few. Due to all of this BSO has had the opportunity to interview the likes of Liza Minnelli, Bette Midler, Audra McDonald, Gavin Creel, Rosie ODonnell, and countless others about how their careers are helping to pave the way for LGBT Equality.

In edition to this red carpet coverage, BSO! has a weekly live show hosted by Marti, Anthony, and David Singletary. This show brings in thousands of viewers every Tuesday night at 10pm. The topics discussed cover a wide variety of hot topics relating to the mission of BSO!

The Broadway Speaks OUT! concert series has benefited organizations such as Broadway Impact and The Ali Forney Center for Homeless LGBT Youth. Each concert features a wide variety of TV Stars and Broadway entertainers. Each performer brings their uniqueness to the stage by performing songs or giving inspirational speeches about why equality is important for all people. BSO has raised thousands of dollars to help the fight for Equality in NYC, they are now taking the show on the road and will be hosting benefits in LA, Chicago, & London in 2010.

BSO! is a resident artist at Space on White studio.

This event is also being sponsored by 42Below Vodka.

Philly.com
City’s ‘green machine’ gets a new leader
Pa. Horticultural Society names Drew Becher to succeed Pepper.
By Virginia A. Smith

Drew Becher, an urban warrior who has spent 15 years promoting community gardens, tree-planting, and environmental education for underserved children in Chicago, Washington, and, most recently, New York City, is the new president of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Philadelphia’s “green machine.”

He succeeds Jane G. Pepper, 64, who retires June 1 after more than three decades of association with the society, the last 25 years at its helm.

Since 2006, Becher, 40, has been executive director of the New York Restoration Project, a high-profile endeavor founded by the actress and singer Bette Midler in 1995 to improve New York City’s parks, neighborhood gardens, and open spaces.

“He’s high-energy, smart, articulate, and enthusiastic about the impact that greening can have on a community – a direct fit,” said John K. Ball, the society’s board chairman and a member of the committee that authorized an international search for Pepper’s replacement in late 2008.

It took a year for Phillips Oppenheim executive recruiters to winnow 220 candidates from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom down to 30, then to seven, and finally to just one. Oddly enough, the search ended where it began – in Philadelphia.

Although Becher (BECK-er) stays at an apartment in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood during the workweek, for four years he’s owned a home in Chestnut Hill with his partner of 14 years, Eric Lochner, chief marketing officer for Kenexa Corp., a human-resources software company in Wayne.

During a lengthy interview at his home here, Becher said he was thrilled about the horticultural society job, calling Philadelphia “the center of landscaping and horticulture.”

“I’ve been tracking this organization for 20 years. It’s one of the few I was really interested in,” Becher said, recalling that when he worked for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, “I came to the Philadelphia Flower Show to spy because we were trying to create a flower show.”

Becher spied, too, at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square and Chanticleer in Wayne, two of this region’s premier public gardens. “We stole a lot of ideas for Chicago,” he said.

The society declined to release Becher’s salary, saying only that it was “in line with standards for nonprofit leaders in this region.” According to the New York Restoration Project’s latest federal tax documents, Becher earned $197,500 in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2008. Pepper’s salary had been $200,000 until she took a voluntary 10 percent pay cut last year because of economic pressures.

Since Becher took over the New York Restoration Project in 2006, its annual budget has gone from $5 million to $13.2 million. He currently oversees 90 employees, plus 30 staffers at the New Leaf, a restaurant near the Cloisters museum, which the restoration project manages.

The horticultural society, by comparison, has 16,000 members, 112 employees, and a $21 million budget.

Becher grew up in Dayton, Ohio, where his family’s steel-fabrication business was a community mainstay for 150 years before going under in the mid-1990s. He describes himself as an average student who had a strong interest in history, art, and urban planning, even at a young age.

He was a frequent hiker, a credible soccer player, and an excellent golfer (12 handicap) who – without prompting from his parents – mowed lawns and weeded flower beds for family and neighbors. At 12, he was the youngest person ever to win his Ohio township’s “Most Beautiful Yard” contest.

In high school, Becher started his own landscaping business and got a real estate license – yes, he sold some houses – before enrolling at the University of Cincinnati, where he studied urban design and planning.

There, he took it upon himself to maintain the plantings around fraternity and sorority houses and launch a campus beautification campaign that eventually became the college’s landscaping master plan. “It all got done,” Becher said.

After his 1993 graduation, he headed to DePaul University in Chicago for a master’s degree in public administration. He completed the course work, but before his thesis was written he responded to a notice on a school bulletin board that would put his career in fast-forward.

Becher landed an internship in Chicago’s City Hall, which led to a succession of positions with Daley, working on the administration’s celebrated “green” agenda. The journey culminated in a job as chief of staff for the city’s large, self-taxing Park District, where Becher oversaw 2,800 employees and a budget of $150 million.

Around this time, the Chicago Sun-Times dubbed Becher a “creative 33-year-old whiz kid.”

Next stop: Washington’s planning office, where he worked two years on the District of Columbia’s sustainability agenda.

Then, in 2006, Becher was recruited away to the New York Restoration Project, where he has raised $6 million to revitalize 22 community gardens on 140 acres of vacant land. He also lined up corporate partnerships with BNP Paribas, a global banking group, Bloomberg L.P., Target, Toyota, Home Depot, and others.

In 2007, Becher helped found the 10-year MillionTreesNYC initiative, which the restoration project leads. Total trees planted in the city’s five boroughs to date: 310,000.

Maria Rodale, chief executive of Rodale Inc., the book and magazine publisher in Emmaus, Pa., is on the restoration project’s board and on the search committee that hired Becher there.

“He has this rare balance. He literally loves fund-raising and, at the same time, he has the knowledge of landscaping and gardening and how to work with people on the ground, so he can both go to Target and get huge sponsorships but also manage hundreds of green-collar employees,” said Rodale, granddaughter of the late J.I. Rodale, who founded Rodale Inc. in 1930.

Becher said it was too soon to outline what he might do at the society, but he did share these tidbits about himself:

He’ll have to buy a car for his new job. He plans to seek out Mayor Nutter and City Council. He likes his office “out in the open, in a big bullpen.” He looks forward – no joke – to speaking to every group and garden club that will have him. He’s an iPhone kind of guy; he even has apps for plant guides.

And he thinks of nonprofits as companies. “Tree-plantings, neighborhood events, all of our gardens, they’re all our products, and all of our gardeners are our customers,” Becher said.

“If you have good products and treat customers right, they will help you,” he added, emphasizing that to engage corporate sponsors, “you have to mesh the organizations, make their brand better and our brand better. Then you exceed their expectations.”

Sounds much like Pepper, who has guided a revolutionary evolution, one might say, at the 183-year-old society, the oldest such group in the country.

Historically, the society was devoted to horticulture and those with the means to pursue it. Today, the tent is big and wide, and horticulture is a means to an end – the end being a better quality of life in city neighborhoods and beyond.

Besides the yearly flower show, the society is best known for its Philadelphia Green program, a messianic mix of cultivating community gardens, planting trees, reclaiming abandoned properties, and sprucing up public spaces, such as the Azalea Garden and Logan Square.

The Becher announcement, shared with society employees yesterday, ends more than a year of anxiety over a replacement for Pepper, who was 39 when she took the top job.

The 2010 Flower Show – from Feb. 28 through March 7 at the Convention Center – will be her last as president. Though Becher has been to the show before on those aforementioned spy missions, he’ll also be on hand to greet show-goers.

This time, as president-elect.

ArtDaily.org
Red Dot Art Fair Returns Returns to NYC and Moves to Skylight
Feb 10, 2010

NEW YORK, NY.- Red Dot Art Fair announced its return to New York City, March 4 – 7, 2010.

Red Dot Art Fair will partner with MillionTreesNYC, a project initiated by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and New York Restoration Project (NYRP) Founder Bette Midler. Led by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and NYRP, MillionTreesNYC has a goal to plant and care for one million trees across the City’s five boroughs over the next decade. The opening reception on Thursday, March 4th, will benefit this great initiative. All donations will support future tree plantings and each benefactor will be awarded a custom certificate from MillionTreesNYC.

Red Dot Art Fair will move this year to Skylight NYC, a newly renovated contemporary event space located on 10th Avenue and 36th Street. This new location will provide a convenient access to the Chelsea Art District, The Armory Show and other high-profile fairs that run simultaneously, such as Scope Art Fair and Pulse Art Fair. Red Dot will proudly display “Space Crystallization”, an art installation designed and created for our event by Ludwika Ogorzelec.

The New York Observer will be the media sponsor of Red Dot Art Fair. Under the guidance of the new Editor, Kyle Pope, this iconic newspaper continues its investment in New York’s art world. Concerning itself with the business of art, as well as reviewing shows, The Observer’s Culture section continues to set the standard for our city’s art aficionados. Red Dot is proud to be a part of this exciting process.

Red Dot Art Fair strives to create a venue for galleries that seek to present work of lasting value and beyond current trends. Approximately 30 international modern and contemporary art galleries specializing in emerging, mid-career and established artists will feature painting, sculpture, photography and works on paper. The intimate boutique size of the fair will provide visitors with a relaxed environment in which to discover new artwork.

Dear Friend,

You know what’s fun about taxes? (Seriously.)

Giving tax-deductible gifts on New Year’s Eve!

We here at New York Restoration Project (NYRP) would LOVE to be your organization of choice this year. Won’t you please make a generous and secure online donation today?

And guess what? I’ll DOUBLE IT, since my challenge is still on until the ball drops in Times Square. Now, that’s a reason to celebrate – break out the funny hats and noise-makers!

See? I told you taxes could be fun.

Best wishes for the New Year,

Bette

P.S. Don’t forget: Until midnight tonight, your TAX-DEDUCTIBLE donation will be matched, dollar for dollar. If there was ever a time to be generous, this is it! Click here to make your contribution. But the matching gift offer expires with 2009, so please contribute right away!

This is my niece’s young husband, Brandon…fighting for his life while awaiting a liver donor.

He is much loved by his wife, Krissy, his two young boys, Kaden & Rylan, and all his family & friends.

We will be participating in a fundraiser to help cover some of his medical expenses including a silent auction back in Iowa. I’ll be asking Bette, Toni, my friend with the Chicago Bears, Brian McCaskey (& anyone else I can think of), if they can contribute something towards this most worthy cause.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart,

~Rhae

To follow Brandon’s story & progress -
Go to: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/brandonmueller

PS:

My sister, Lorie (Krissy’s mom), writes:

We are collecting for the silent auctions and raffles for both benefits: January 31 and March 20. I would love some big ticket item(s) that would sell raffle tickets. Monetary donations can be sent directly to:

Brandon Mueller Benefit Account
EDSB (East Dubuque Savings Bank)
475 Cedar Cross Road
Dubuque, IA 52003

Checks can be made out to: Brandon Mueller Benefit Account

Michael Holloway of Cali’s Living Life…Boomer Style magazine has thrown has written an extremely funny article supporting BLB’s fundraiser for Bette’s Birthday. I’ll copy/paste a little of it and then send you on your way to their magazine:

Bette Midler’s Birthday Fundraiser – She’ll Never Forget It You Know!

“I will never forget it, you know! I was having tea with my girlfriend Clementine, and suddenly the doorbell rang. I answered the door, there was a delivery boy with two dozen roses.

The card read ‘Love, from your boyfriend Ernie.”

I said to Clementine, “Do you know what this means? For the next two weeks, I am going to be flat on my back with my legs wide open!” CLICK HERE

Way to go Michael….Good sell, mate!!!

Love, Mister D

Mister D: Let’s really use our voting muscle on this one. We have the numbers and the power to get this done. Let’s not disappoint Jamie. Remember we can vote more than once….Thank you so much!

Hello fellow BetteHeads. I have a big favor to ask which I rarely do, but this is an important one. My friend and longtime, fellow BetteHead, Jamie McKnight is, once again, being recognized by the Philadelphia Phillies by being nominated for People Magazine’s All Star Campaign for her work with Teens 4 Good. What is “Teens 4 Good” You ask?

Teens 4 Good is doing amazing things. We create urban farms and sell our produce to local restaurants. We do service projects like helping build homes for families who were devestated by the floods in New Orleans. We even get to hang out with the Mayor, State Representatives, important business people and other influential people. Most importantly, we make a difference in the world by inspiring other teens to give back to their communities.

Of course, Ms. McKnight’s inspiration came straight from Ms. Bette Midler and she’s been working hard for over 10 years following in Ms. M’s Divine green footsteps. I’ve known Jamie for a long time and she’s no slouch. One of the hardest working people I know. This lady actually walks the walk and talks the talk, I promise.

Anyway, her program is getting a lot of recognition these days in the city of brotherly love and I’d like to ask for your help in getting the word out for her by voting for her and her program, Teens 4 Good, as they have been recognized by the Philadelphia Phillies and nominated for People Magazine’s All Star campaign: https://www.peopleallstars.com/peopleallstars/

If she wins. she gets to go to the ALL Star Game in St Louis to represent all of the Philly region and compete for the grand prize…an interview/article in People Mag!! Yahooeee!! Of course there, she could mention our Divine leader and maybe, just maybe she could give us a little shout out, too.

Jamie said she would really appreciate it. She and her group are looking for funding to take their efforts city wide (and into multiple cities) and if they can get the nomination for the Philadelphia region, it would be a BIG boost for their campaign. She thanks you all from the bottom of her heart

Voting is 6/8 – 6/24! When you go onto this website, click on the Phillies logo and you will see her pic come up (which I have put up here also), along with 2 other nominees for the Philadelphia region. Vote for ME (Jamie)!! You can vote as many times as you’d like (that means more than once) This means a lot to Jamie and it means a lot to me, yours truly, Mister D!!!! So follow directions and CLICK HERE

Apr 27, 2009 09:00 ET
Ovation TV and Gardenburger® Join Forces for Unique Promotional Partnership Titled “Seeds of Inspiration: Gardenburger at The Hudson Guild”

Gardenburger and Artist, Fritz Haeg Will Be Featured in a Series of Interstitials on Ovation TV Showcasing Progress of an Edible Garden at the Hudson Guild in Manhattan

LOS ANGELES, CA and NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwire – April 27, 2009) – Ovation TV, the only television channel dedicated to the arts and contemporary culture, and Gardenburger®, makers of the original “veggie burger,” are sponsoring “Seeds of Inspiration: Gardenburger at The Hudson Guild,” an edible, urban garden by Fritz Haeg, artist and author of “Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn.” A series of interstitials featuring the various stages of the garden, from planting to harvest, will air on Ovation TV and be sponsored by Gardenburger. Ovation TV will also create a microsite on its own OvationTV.com site with Gardenburger information, links, and unique offers. Gardenburger’s media agency partner Starcom worked with Ovation TV and its cultural agency ForYourArt to develop this collaborative project.

“Gardenburger makes for an ideal partner because they saw the broader creative possibilities in working with Ovation TV,” said Deborah Cuffaro, VP of Ad Sales, Ovation TV. “By being open communicators and collaborators with Gardenburger and Starcom, we were able to highlight Gardenburger’s commitment to community gardens and real food in a unique television experience.”

Ovation TV and Gardenburger will co-sponsor an edible garden that will be planted in the unused triangle of land at the entry to the Hudson Guild at Chelsea Eliot House on 26th Street at Tenth Avenue. This garden will feature crops and natural vegetation that were growing on Manhattan 400 years ago, when the native Lenape people lived on the island — foods that will now benefit the Chelsea Guild in their efforts to educate and provide for children in their community.

Ovation TV will film the opening ground breaking, planting, irrigation, care and harvesting for a series of interstitials to air on the channel through September 2009. In addition, OvationTV.com will host a microsite at www.ovationtv.com/programs/gardenburger/ featuring more information about the garden, tips from Gardenburger on how to create your own edible garden, and unique Gardenburger offers.

“In just a quarter century, Gardenburger has helped change the way people eat,” said Peter Brennan, Senior Brand Manager, Gardenburger. “Today, we remain committed to providing real, good food from this good Earth — both in our veggie burgers that people find at their stores and in our community-based initiatives. We’re excited to be partnering with Ovation TV and Fritz Haeg to make The Hudson Guild’s edible garden a reality.”

Fritz Haeg, the artist/gardener/educator/architect who created “Edible Estates,” developed the idea as an ongoing project designed to replace suburban lawns in the United States and England with highly productive domestic edible landscapes. These functional art-farms challenge preconceptions about land use and subvert what Haeg refers to as “the toxic uniformity” of suburbia.

The Mannahatta Project will serve as landscape ecology consultants, The New York Restoration Project (NYRP) will act as producer of the project and the project is presented by Friends of the Highline. NYRP will set up a permanent system for the maintenance, management and oversight of the garden in partnership with Hudson Guild.

Further Background: Chelsea Elliot Houses are part of a large complex of public housing towers owned and managed by the New York Public Housing Authority (NYCHA) in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Hudson Guild is based in Chelsea Elliot House and was founded in 1895 to build community in Chelsea and beyond through a broad range of programs and services. New York Restoration Project (NYRP) is a nonprofit founded by Bette Midler in 1995 to partner with individuals, community-based groups, and public agencies to reclaim, restore, and develop under-resourced parks, community gardens, and open space in New York City, primarily in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Eric Sanderson is a landscape ecologist based in New York City and founder of The Mannahatta Project.

About Gardenburger

Gardenburger® is the original veggie burger made with real, natural ingredients including a variety of vegetables and whole grains. At Gardenburger, we believe that people need a balanced diet to live a healthy lifestyle. That’s why we cultivate great tasting foods that meet a diverse array of nutritional needs. Our product line includes a variety of veggie patties, including The Original, Veggie Medley®, Black Bean Chipotle, Sun-Dried Tomato Basil and Portabella. Gardenburger products can be found in the frozen food or natural food sections of grocery stores and in natural food stores nationwide. For more information, visit the Gardenburger web site at www.gardenburger.com.

About Ovation TV: Ovation TV is the only multi-platform network devoted to art and contemporary culture. The network creates and curates one-of-a-kind programming about all the art people enjoy most, from the popular to the avant-garde and everything in between. The channel reaches a national audience of 30 million-plus households through carriage on DirecTV (channel 274), Dish Network (channel 157) and on cable and telco systems in major markets across the country. Ovation TV’s programming is also available on video on demand (in both standard and high definition). Ovation TV’s popular website (http://www.OvationTV.com) is a dynamic experience, featuring information about local and national happenings in the art world, as well as a vibrant community of artists who have downloaded over 60,000 pieces of original art.

NOTE TO JOURNALISTS:

For video on “Seeds of Inspiration: Gardenburger at the Hudson Guild,” see: http://community.ovationtv.com/_Gardenburger-Seeds-of-Inspiration/video/616798/16878.html

To Purchase Tickets: Click Here

To purchase tickets: Click Here

For more information, please call our events office at 212.573.6933