PERFORMERS
ANDREW LIPPA (Harvey Milk)
LAURA BENANTI (Soprano)
Laura Benanti has brought her unique abilities to comedies, dramas and musicals since she took Broadway by storm at the age of 18.
She received a Drama Desk award, Outer Critics Circle Award and a Tony Nomination for her starring role in the Broadway production of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown for Lincoln Center, where she also starred in Sarah Ruhl's In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play. Ms Benanti also demonstrated her comic flair in the Public Theater's production of Christopher Durang's Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them.
Ms. Benanti earned the 2008 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for her revelatory portrayal of Gypsy Rose Lee in Gypsy opposite Patti Lupone and directed by Arthur Laurents.
Her other Broadway roles include her Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominated performance of Cinderella in Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods and her sultry Tony nominated turn in Swing! She also starred opposite Antonio Banderas as his muse in the celebrated revival of Nine. Benanti began her multifaceted career as Maria in The Sound of Music opposite Richard Chamberlain.
Other distinguished theater performances include Perdita in The Winter's Tale at the Williamstown Theatre Festival opposite Kate Burton, Anne in A Little Night Music at the L.A. Opera opposite Victor Garber, and Eileen in City Center Encores Wonderful Town.
Ms. Benanti can currently be seen on NBC's Go On, in which she stars opposite Matthew Perry. Most recently she starred in the NBC series The Playboy Club. Other television roles include recurring roles on The Big C and Law & Order: SVU. Benanti can be seen in the Films Take the Lead and Meskada.
For more about Laura Benanti, visit her website at
NOAH MARLOWE (Young Harvey Milk)
Noah is thrilled to be a part of I am Harvey Milk! Broadway: Mary Poppins (Michael Banks); Off-Broadway: Fun Home (New York Public Theater), My Mom is Trying to Ruin My Life (WorkshopTheater); Regional: Gypsy, Nutcracker, Palistage Professional Children’s Theater; Television: 30 Rock;Concerts: Broadway Youth Ensemble (Soloist); Training: Amelia DeMayo group. Special thanks toShirley Grant Management and my family for all their support.
TIM SEELIG (Music Director & Conductor, SFGMC)
Tim Seelig is a conductor, singer, teacher, and motivational speaker. In addition to being Artistic Director and Conductor of San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, he continues an extremely busy guest-conducting schedule throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe.
He is Conductor Emeritus of the Turtle Creek Chorale, based in Dallas, Texas, which he conducted for 20 years. Tim was the first Artistic Director in Residence for the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA).
Known for his enthusiasm and sense of humor, the New York Times calls Seelig an “expressive performer,” and the Fort Worth Star Telegram quips, “Seelig slices a thick cut of ham.”
He is the proud father of two wonderful children and celebrated the recent arrival of his first grandchild.
SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN'S CHORUS
On November 27, 1978, Mayor George Moscone and Harvey Milk, the city;s first openly gay elected official, were assassinated. The newly formed San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus was scheduled to rehearse that night, but headed to the steps of the city hall instead. There, during an impromptu memorial service, the chorus sang in public for the first time.
The following month, on December 20, 1978, the chorus made its official debut, and the response to the holiday shows was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. The impact was profound as the first audiences witnessed the impossible – 150 openly gay men singing on stage, breaking the silence of hate, and changing the world forever. To this day, members who sang in those first few concerts recall the tears of joy and pride from the audience.
In 1981, the chorus left San Francisco to begin a historic, national tour with stops in Seattle, Dallas and New York. The concerts inspired hundreds to come out, share their stories and, even start their own gay choruses. SFGMC had sparked a musical revolution that resulted in the formation of the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses – or GALA Choruses – a global organization which today includes more than 200 groups and over 10,000 members.
The early years of triumph were followed by many more years of tragedy as AIDS tightened its relentless grip on the gay community. Caring for and burying so many of brothers took its toll and funerals were held weekly, but the chorus continued to perform,reaching out with music, spreading a message of hope and perseverance, and raising money for the vital organizations that helped feed, shelter, and care for the sick.
Today, the chorus still does all of these things, and more. On a glorious day in 2004, San Francisco started to allow same sex marriage, and once again, the chorus took to the steps of City Hall and sang. SFGMC contributed to the struggle to fight Proposition 8 and repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell by combining both issues into a hilarious adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “HMS Pinafore” in order to point out the absurdity of those legislative policies. And after marriage equality was taken away, the chorus embarked on the California Freedom Tour, performing in the same conservative communities that supported Proposition 8.
What comes next? No one can tell, but to quote an SFGMC favorite, “the singing will never be done!”
For more information, visit their website: www.sfgmc.org