EXCITEMENT IS building as word spreads that the organisers of the calendar event, 'Powerful Women Perform for Charity' are planning to invite a number of male head honchos from the private and public sectors to display their talents on stage to benefit disabled children and children with HIV/AIDS.
In confirming that the show will, in fact, be held on Sunday, November 30, 2003, on the lawns of Jamaica House, Thyra Heaven, chairman of the organising committee, said about 70 powerful men had already been invited to perform for charity. And, she said the response has been overwhelming.
"We were encouraged to put on the Powerful Men Perform for Charity by a number of the men who attended this year's presentation of the Powerful Women show at the UTech auditorium. I guess, they felt left out of the excitement and fun on stage," Mrs. Heaven said.
"So, we thought, why not? In fact, at the end of the Powerful Women show in May this year, we were also approached by officials of certain corporate entities who made verbal commitments to assist financially if we ever decided to stage a show where Jamaica's leading men agreed to be on stage," she noted.
"We are hoping that the men's show this year will be even bigger than last year's performance by nearly 50 of Jamaica's powerful women, which netted $1.5 million for Mustard Seed Communities," she noted.
INTENSE PLANNING
Members of the organising committee of the annual charity show have already began intense planning for the staging of the Powerful Men Perform for Charity Show, to be choreographed by Bert Rose, who has been stage manager for the annual charity shows for the past three years, with Laurence Tulloch as technical director. Last month, the committee members were involved in co-ordinating excerpts from this year's Powerful Women Show which were presented on September 28 to a group of 500 Jamaicans at a charity luncheon hosted by Heartbeats of the World, at the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan, New York. Air Jamaica sponsored the trip for organisers and performers.
A cheque for US$20,000 (approximately J$1.2 million), representing part of the proceeds from the luncheon, was presented at the end of the function to Mrs. Heaven in New York for handing over to Mustard Seed Communities.
Additionally, the Powerful Women will be performing in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, November 2. A group of 35 performers of comedy, dance, drama, instruments, as well as production and technical personnel, will be travelling, courtesy of Air Jamaica.
This will be the second time that the entire cast will be travelling overseas on invitation from the host country, although excerpts from the show have been presented in Manhattan over two consecutive years, Mrs. Heaven said.
