Bickford Fundraiser Helps Celebrate Museum Centennial

As the Morris Museum enters its 100th year, the Bickford Theatre is proud to celebrate this milestone with the private, nonprofit museum with the theatre’s annual fundraiser.

“This is the fifth consecutive year that I've written, produced and directed the Bickford Theatre Guild fundraiser,” said Stephen Kantrowitz, Gala Producer/Director. “This year we're featuring stars from Broadway's "Porgy and Bess," "Phantom of the Opera," "Les Miserables" and many more. The cast is all set and have chosen their songs. Over fifteen established performers from Broadway and Regional theatre will perform that night. All singing their favorite Broadway showstoppers from the last 100 years.”

The fundraiser is Saturday May 11 at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are on sale now. The public can get tickets by calling the box office 973.971.3706 or visiting the museum's website at www.morrismuseum.org.

Kantrowitz and Eric Hafen, the theatre's artistic director, are looking forward to this year's event because it's also the centennial of the museum.

"The Morris Museum is an institution that celebrates art, history, science and theatre," said Hafen. "We deliberately themed our 2013 guild fund-raiser 'Give My regards to Broadway—A Century of Showstoppers' to help celebrate this historic milestone. We are also part of the year-long celebratory events throughout the year, including the centennial teas and the 100th anniversary gala on September 21."

“Couldn't be more excited to be a part of the Museum's Centennial,” said Kantrowitz. “The Bickford Theatre is one of the Morris Museum's most-revered gems and is a top meeting place for the community. To bring some of Broadway's finest talents together for one magical night is a once-if-a-lifetime experience.”         

In a few days, the guild will also be mailing out about 2,500 invitations to guild members, subscribers, previous Bickford Theatre attendees, Morris Museum members, trustees, etc ... 

“We started work on the fundraiser in January, gathering the cast and putting the show format in order. We are ably assisted by the Bickford Theatre Guild, the theatre's hard-working volunteer corps,” said Kantrowitz. “A tremendous amount of work has already taken place.”

The Executive Committee is co-chaired by Rose Pancirov, Guild President, and Linda Ferretti. They, along with a group of dedicated volunteers have been rolling up their sleeves to get this production together.

“There are nearly a dozen people working night and day to make this event a success,” said Kantrowitz. “They seek out sponsors and advertisers to underwrite costs, design and mail invitations, solicit donors for the Silent Auction, promote and market the benefit throughout the region, just about everything under the sun to make the night a sell-out.”

Here's a look back at the Bickford Theatre Guild fundraiser

• The first fundraiser was in 2009 with Masquerade: Andrew Lloyd Webber's Greatest Hits starring Broadway veterans J. Mark McVey (Jean Valjean, Les Miserables), and The Phantom of the Opera veterans Gary Mauer and Elizabeth Southard. They are both returning this year.
• 2010—Some Enchanted Evening: A Lovely Night with Rodgers and Hammerstein starring Howard McGillin (the world's longest-running "Phantom" in The Phantom of the Opera), Sandra Joseph (the world's longest-running "Christine" in The Phantom of the Opera), and Ron Bohmer (Broadway's Ragtime and A Little Night Music opposite Bernadette Peters). Ron is returning this year.
• 2011—The Best of Times: A Star-Studded Salute to the Tony Awards starring Tony Award-nominee Robert Cuccioli  (Jekyll & Hyde, Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark). Last year we presented Life Upon the Wicked Stage: Broadway's Greatest Villains, Thieves & Ladies of the Evening starring American Idol's very own Constantine Maroulis.
• 2012—the theatre presented