ARTISTS UNITE TO HELP AIDS PATIENTS

After one of Larry Baza’s friends, a local artist, died last year of AIDS complications, he decided to do something to combat the disease.

Lacking the know-how to come up with a cure, Baza and a group of fellow local artists decided to stage a benefit for the AIDS Assistance Fund, an organization dedicated to helping needy AIDS patients. The money raised will be given directly to the patients and their families, Baza said.

The project, Artists for AIDS Assistance, will feature a revue-variety show at 8 p.m. today at the Lyceum Theatre in Horton Plaza. More than 50 artists representing theater, dance, music and performance art will perform. There also will be an art exhibition in the lobby.

Those involved in the festivities include actresses Darla Cash and Carla Kirkwood; singers Karin Holloway and Deborah Liv Johnson with Cathy Curtis and the Men’s Chorus; performance artists Alan Kaprow and Berne, and painters Patricia Patterson and Sally Stein.

Kirkwood’s piece is a monologue that deals with an 11-year-old child who died of complications from AIDS. She said she feels it is important to educate the public that children and women are dying from the disease.

“The issue is really a human issue, not a small group issue,” she said, adding that so many people are making moral judgments about the disease that “nothing is going to get done until the disease reaches your family.”

“All the artists have put their egos aside for the event,” Baza said. “The lineup is just incredible. Some of the artists have created special projects for their performance which will discuss the AIDS issue. We feel very strongly about educating the public about AIDS.”

AIDS awareness will even be pushed during intermission, when San Diego mime Mark Wendle will hand out condoms donated by Planned Parenthood.

However, Baza said, “This will certainly not be a show that would offend people.”

Baza said he put the show together carefully, to provide a happy medium of comedy and drama. Each solo act will put on a five-minute performance. Group acts such as Three’s Company, the Gaslamp Quarter Theatre and Starlight will get 8 to 10 minutes.

Baza and Paul Best, fellow benefit organizer, said they would like to raise $8,000.

“Up until now, we have all been feeling very frustrated because being an artist means we don’t have access to a lot of money,” Best said. “So this is the way we can show our support. And this is just the first in a long series of events.”

According to the AIDS Project, 233 people have died of AIDS-related causes since 1981 in San Diego County. There are now 402 reported cases in the county.

“This project isn’t just going to raise money,” Best said. “It’s important that we get people to discuss the seriousness of AIDS and raise consciousness. Although the disease has affected mostly gays, we are proud to say that this is largely a non-gay event.

“It has been quite a challenge to get all these people together for one evening. It is really amazing.”

For Best, working on this event has been like creating an artwork.

“Because I’m a conceptual artist, I see this whole evening as an art piece,” he said.

“It’s been one of the most heart-warming experiences I’ve ever had.”

Tickets are on sale at Arts Tix, the Big Kitchen and the San Diego Repertory Theatre box office. Admission is $15.