Broadway Sings for Pride
It’s been a more horrific week of news stories than usual. Perhaps even more ghastly is that three terrible incidents occurred in a 1-2-3 punch in a location that houses the “happiest place on Earth.”
Beginning with the sick stalking and murder of a young singer on Saturday and morphing into the unthinkable massacre that occurred at a place where people go to have a good time and be carefree, to the terrible tragedy of what can happen when humans and nature collide, Orlando, Florida has been besieged by unbearable pain.
The rest of the world watches and feels the incredible weight of hopelessness. The horror of the massacre and the 49 murders and scores of injured people are, of course, front and center in our minds and hearts.
You have to wonder, how do we, as a society, get past this darkness?
The answer can only be in small measures, small acts and reaching out to offer hope.
On Monday, Broadway Sings for Pride, an annual fundraising event bringing the Broadway community, media people and personalities together to provide support for LGBTQ services, will do a special dedication for the victims and families of the Orlando shooting. Tickets are still available. Please come to the JCC on the upper West Side of Manhattan and join us.
http://broadwaysingsforpride.com/
And this past week, while enjoying tapas at Boqueria on the upper East Side, our server, Jameson (what a great name) asked if we would be interested in ordering churros and supporting the Orlando victims. We learned that when you order churros there, 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the LGBTQ Center in Orlando, which is providing crisis support and facilitating donations to help the victims and families.
We, of course, ordered the churros (which were beyond delicious) and gave an extra donation to help out.
Churros with chocolate and sprinkles at Boqueria
Churros with chocolate and sprinkles at Boqueria
When things seem the darkest, there are small acts of kindness that can help to provide a ray of hope and light.
Valerie Smaldone is a 5-time Billboard Magazine Award winner and is well known for her unprecedented success holding the #1 on-air position in the New York radio market on 106.7 Life-FM, an iHeart station. She has hosted, produced, and created several award-winning nationally syndicated programs featuring in-depth interviews with stars like Paul McCartney, Celine Dion, Rod Stewart, Elton John and Mariah Carey among others. Her radio talk show "Bagels and Broadway" highlighted theatre and food personalities. She is an accomplished interviewer and voice artist heard on commercials, narrations, promos and audiobooks, as well as a sought after live announcer.
Most recently, Valerie produced and directed a film, The Thursday Night Club, featuring pop diva Gloria Gaynor in her movie acting debut. She is one of the creators and producers of a docu-series, Divine Renovation, starring Erik Estrada, on streaming networks soon.
