Posted on 06/03/2004 2:30:04 PM PDT by presidentbowen
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Artists are coming out in full force in support of Democratic presidential contender Sen. John Kerry.
Two major concerts will be held next week -- one Monday in Los Angeles at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and one June 10 in New York at Radio City Music Hall -- to raise money for the campaign.
The Los Angeles gala will feature performances by Barbra Streisand (news), Neil Diamond (news), Willie Nelson (news) and Billy Crystal (news), while the New York show boasts Bette Midler (news), James Taylor (news), John Mellencamp (news), Jon Bon Jovi (news), Wyclef Jean, Robin Williams (news) and Whoopi Goldberg (news).
"It's very ambitious. I don't think the artistic community has gotten together to raise this much money in one effort in my recollection," said Jann Wenner, editor and publisher of Rolling Stone, who is executive producing both events. "The artist community is united on this because of the kinds of values that the artist community shares and feels deeply are very threatened by the current administration. Kerry himself has been a longtime musician, a longtime fan of the arts, a longtime supporter of intellectuals' pursuits of civil liberties. These are all the things that this community depends on -- the freedom of expression, creative freedom. These are core concerns."
Wenner first met Kerry in the 1970s, during the Vietnam era. Kerry, after serving in the Vietnam War, for which he received a Silver Star and three Purple Heart awards, co-founded the Vietnam Veterans of America and became a spokesman for Vietnam Veterans Against the War. The two rekindled their friendship when Kerry was elected to the United States Senate in 1984.
Wenner also was behind a similar concert in 2002 -- in support of Al Gore (news - web sites)'s bid for the presidency -- which reportedly raised more than $6.5 million. It was then that Wenner promised to put on such a show for Kerry if he decided to run for president.
The Los Angeles show also is being produced by Miramax co-chair Harvey Weinstein, Streisand's manager Marty Erlichman and special-event producer Ken Ehrlich. The host committee includes Rhea Perlman (news) and Danny DeVito (news), Laurie and Larry David (news), Warren Beatty (news) and Annette Bening (news), Ted Danson (news) and Mary Steenburgen (news), Dustin Hoffman (news), Ben Stiller (news), Robert De Niro (news), Leonardo DiCaprio (news), Ben Affleck (news) and Rita Wilson (news).
The concert also will mark the first time Streisand and Diamond have performed together in 24 years. The duo, who attended the same Brooklyn school, will perform their hit duet "You Don't Bring Me Flowers."
"The idea for the Los Angeles show was really to present the American classics, the great big standards," Wenner says. "Willie, Billy, Barbra and Neil -- these are people who sing to the heartland of America."
For the New York event, Wenner and Weinstein are working closely with John Sykes, chairman and CEO of Infinity Broadcasting System. The host committee includes Chevy Chase (news), Jimmy Fallon (news), Richard Gere (news), Jessica Lange (news) and Uma Thurman (news). Darlene Love also will be on hand to do a surprise performance with Midler. Kerry will speak at both galas.
"We did very well with younger voters in the primaries but they will be a hard-fought battleground in the general election, so concerts such as these are an enormous asset to us," said Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill says.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
LOL! That's hilarious!
" "The artist community is united on this because of the kinds of values that the artist community shares and feels deeply are very threatened by the current administration"This may be the theme of our anti-Kerry FReep on Monday in Los Angeles, from:Funny...I don't feel a bit "threatened".
[Then again, I love real men]....:) - Salamander
FReep John Kerry, Barbra Streisand at the Disney Concert Hall in LOS ANGELES
- Monday (6/7) - 6 pm
www.barbrastreisand.com ^ | June 4, 2004 | RonDog (with Babs and John "FLIPPER" Kerry)
Posted on 06/04/2004 6:34:39 PM PDT by RonDog
This just in, from www.barbrastreisand.com/newsupdates.html:
Posted on 5/14/04
Barbra Streisand will perform at a Kerry campaign concert June 7, 2004 at Los Angeles' Walt Disney Concert Hall, headlining the show with Neil Diamond, Willie Nelson, Billy Crystal and other artists to be announced. It will be Ms. Streisand's first public performance since she led the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee event in September of 2002, raising a record sum in excess of $6,000,000 in the process. Two years prior to that, her Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium concert brought a record $5,000,000 to the Gore for President campaign.-- snip --The June 7 event is one of two concerts announced by the Democratic National Committee to benefit Kerry Victory Committee 2004, the Kerry campaign and the DNC. The second concert on June 10, 2004 will feature Bette Midler, James Taylor, John Mellencamp, Jon Bon Jovi, Wyclef Jean, Robin Williams and Whoopi Goldberg...
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