A Night of Giving : Hollywood Opens Its Heart--and Its Purse--at AIDS Project L.A. Fund-Raiser at Universal Amphitheatre

In the lobby of the Universal Amphitheatre, 80 panels of the AIDS Quilt served as a solemn reminder of the 160,000 Americans who have died of the disease in the last decade. But inside the theater Wednesday night, the excitement was electric as an extraordinary massing of Hollywood talent performed in a sizzling show that raised a record $3.9 million for AIDS Project/Los Angeles.

Many AIDS activists in the audience were astonished by the amount of money raised, which is more than three times the funds generated by each of the five previous “Commitment to Life” events given by the entertainment community. An APLA spokeswoman said the event would net $3.3 million.

Some 6,500 persons attended, paying from $50 to $1,000 for tickets to the Commitment to Life VI event that saluted Barbra Streisand and music and film tycoon David Geffen for their efforts on behalf of AIDS causes.

Streisand’s very first notes as she sang “One Hand, One Heart” from “West Side Story” with Johnny Mathis, evoked a large response from an enthralled audience. She then accepted her Commitment to Life award with a fiery speech.

“I will never forgive my fellow actor, Ronald Reagan, for the genocidal denial of the illness’s existence; for his refusal to even utter the word ‘AIDS’ for seven years and for blocking adequate funding . . . ,” she said.

Then to cheers, Streisand added: “Then came George Bush, once the moderate, who in a Faustian bargain, allied himself with the same primitive, gay-bashing immoral minority.”

In the weeks since Bush’s defeat by Bill Clinton, Streisand said, “I keep pinching myself. Finally, a President who is committed to finding a cure for AIDS.”

Her comments reflected an evening that appeared hopeful as speakers commented about the political transition. Earlier, APLA chairman Steve Tisch had read a telegram of support from President-elect Clinton.

Streisand also lambasted voters in Colorado for approving a measure that would eliminate equal rights guarantees for gays and lesbians and suggested she would be willing to join in a boycott of the state--one that could affect Hollywood’s participation in the popular Telluride Film Festival held annually in that state.

In accepting his award, Geffen, who previously had described himself as bisexual in an interview in Vanity Fair, told an enthusiastic audience:

“As a gay man, I’ve come a long way to be here tonight.”

Geffen, who rarely makes public appearances, wore his trademark tennis shoes as he strode onstage. He said his contributions ($2 million this year to Los Angeles and New York City AIDS organizations) were in the tradition of “people who simply do what they can to help.

“So many of you have given money, and more than money,” Geffen added. “So many of you have given love and passion and fear and humor and rage and time to stay with those you love and care about those you don’t even know.”

The APLA fund-raiser, chaired by former Fox Inc. Chairman Barry Diller and Creative Artists Agency President Ron Meyer, has served as the primary focus of Hollywood’s AIDS response since its inception in 1985. At that time, actress Elizabeth Taylor, Wallis Annenberg, Mayor Tom Bradley and the now-deceased former APLA Chairman Peter Scott helped organize a Hollywood event in the months just before Rock Hudson died.

While many have said that the entertainment industry did too little too late, Diller on Wednesday claimed otherwise. “People, the media, lots of noisemakers have said that this community has not done its share in this AIDS fight. That this community has hidden in the closet, is homophobic. That it doesn’t take its responsibility.

“You be the judge.

“With all the economic difficulty, pain and dislocation in this city, you would have thought it would have been a hard fight to get even close to a million dollars,” Diller said. “But it was not to be. This night, this year, APLA made it into the mainstream of everyone’s charitable conscience, where it belongs.”

The show itself was a continuum of high moments, conceived by producer Bernie Taupin and staged by Vincent Paterson to give the impression of an informal session, with some of the biggest names in music gathering to sing a few songs: Kenny Loggins, Mathis, Lyle Lovett, Aaron Neville, Billy Joel, Patti Austin and Elton John. Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty introduced the participants. Country star Clint Black rocked the audience with a foot-stomping rendition of “Put Yourself in My Shoes” and Liza Minnelli stepped into the spirit of a gender-bending evening as she sang a soliloquy as a man who questions what it takes to be a “man.”

In the second half, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s “West Side Story” songs were given unusual treatments: Natalie Cole, Patti LaBelle and Sheila E did a rousing “America” and Wynonna Judd and Loggins sang a vibrant rendition of “Tonight.” Streisand closed the concert with “Somewhere.”

But if anything set the show on fire, and there were many such moments, it was Elton John, camping it up and prancing and dancing for joy, singing “I Feel Pretty.” It brought down the house.

A TAUPIN TRIUMPH: The APLA event is the fund-raiser of the year. E5