Grove Benefit Is Chorus Line of Tributes

“ When the moon is out, and the wind begins to whisper, it’s theater at its best. You can’t beat it. “--Joseph Papp

When Tony Award-winner Donna McKechnie (Cassie in “A Chorus Line”) sang “What I Did for Love” at a benefit for GroveShakespeare on Monday night, she was singing for all of the performers who came to honor the late Joseph Papp, founder of the New York Shakespeare Festival.

From singer Beverly Bremers’ “Good Morning Starshine” from “Hair” to Sally Kirkland’s reading from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” the event was a lump-in-the-throat salute to the beloved impresario who nurtured many of their careers.

Jonelle Allen, a Tony Award-nominee for “Two Gentlemen of Verona,” told of Papp’s penchant for “non-traditional” casting.

“He cast people because they were right for the roles long before casts were called multicultural,” said Allen, who recited “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf” by Ntozake Shange and performed the song “Aquarius” from “Hair.”

“He was also my friend and mentor, someone I could talk to.”

During the gala’s cocktail and dinner sequence, held in the Grove’s Village Green Courtyard, actress/singer Loretta Swit told of the time Papp visited her backstage (a place he generally avoided) on Broadway to comfort her after her father died. “It was a real sharing--a bonding experience for me,” said Swit, famous for her portrayal of Hot Lips in the “MASH” television series. “The thing Papp gave actors was passion--for life and theater.”

It was his passion for sharing Shakespeare with the masses that inspired the Grove to dedicate the gala--”A Midsummer Night’s Eve III”--to Papp, who died of cancer last fall.

“We did it for two reasons,” said Stuart McDowell, artistic director of GroveShakespeare. “First, because we want to keep his memory and contributions alive. Second, to raise funds for the Grove. We want to perpetuate his dream. He was the one who made Shakespeare popular in in the ‘50s when the Bard wasn’t the most popular author around. If it wasn’t for Papp’s vision, our theater might not be here.”

Said Barbara Hammerman, the Grove’s managing director: “Papp gave New York Shakespeare in the park. We like to think we’re the West Coast equivalent.”

Among guests enjoying the gala, which netted about $10,000, was arts activist Elaine Redfield, who recently joined GroveShakespeare has an adviser for economic development. “It’s exciting to have this theater right in the middle of Orange County,” she said. “I’m joining their forces because I want to see it grow and develop.”

Then, looking up at the navy-blue evening sky, Redfield said: “Look at that moon. Isn’t it wonderful to see it right above the stage?”

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